A Sudden Perch

A common black beetle climbed out from a fissure in the cedar staves, hauling itself onto the edge of my heavy boot. It stopped against the textured black tread, antennae testing the sheer drop of five stories below. I remained rigid. For long minutes, the insect lingered under the spiked curve of my greave, sheltered from the morning gust whipping off the avenue. Then it turned deliberately, creeping back into the shadowed timber seam to resume its slow, unbending course. A silent trespasser, granted safe passage across the perimeter.