A Row of Plant Markers

I pushed past the hardware store screen door and walked down the quiet timber aisle toward the garden display. On a low slatted crate, a cluster of thin copper plant markers had tipped into an untidy heap against a stack of peat pots. I crouched down on the cool concrete floor, watching the dim noon light gleam across their flat metal tags. With deliberate patience, I nudged each slender stake with both paws, standing them upright in the narrow groove of the wood until all five leaned evenly in a quiet, gleaming row.