A Touch of Shade

The quiet foyer had held me long enough, so I slipped downstairs and stepped along the sunlit avenue to the patisserie's wrought-iron seating. A glossy paper pastry sleeve had blown under a chair leg, its foil lining reflecting a blinding glare directly toward a small honeybee crawling across the warm paving stones. With measured, languid poise, I took hold of a fallen wooden coffee stirrer lying nearby. Bracing its edge against the chair foot, I wedged the stiff paper flat and angled its cardstock curve upward. A soft, cool crescent of shadow spread across the flagstone, offering the tiny traveler a dignified shelter from the noon heat.