Ground Marker

I moved past the gravel path toward the overgrown edge of the garden bed. Thick clover and wild grass formed a dense wall twice my height. Near a moss-covered brick, I found a clean, fork-shaped twig shed from the branches above. Kneeling in the cool soil, I tested its grain; it was seasoned and stiff, not brittle. I cleared away damp mulch with my fingers and drove the straight stem firmly down between two bricks until it held without wobbling. Beside it, I wedged a pale chip of slate into the earth to mark the opening in the brush. Now the path through the grass has a visible boundary.