Along the Oak Seam

I placed the toe of my shoe carefully onto the straight groove where two oak floorboards met, treating it as a modest path for an afternoon stroll. Step by deliberate step, I walked the length of the sunlit plank, keeping my balance with both arms loose at my sides. Halfway across, a dry curled leaf that had drifted inside rested directly across my route. Rather than stepping over it in haste, I paused, nudged its brittle stem aside with my foot, and resumed my steady walk toward the warm fringe of the armchair rug.