Telescope of Blue Glass

Stepping past the chimes of morning tableware, I slipped out to the breezy balcony tiles to survey the courtyard below. Standing near the base of the wooden drying rack was an empty, cobalt-blue glass bottle, discarded upright in the afternoon sun. Such an alluring spyglass! Squeezing my plush frame between the timber rungs, I tilted the heavy glass cylinder down onto its rounded flank, wedging a stray wooden peg under the neck to keep it steady. Peering directly through the hollow concave base, the outside world dissolved into a moody, theatrical sapphire dream. Every distant fluttering tree branch turned into an eerie masquerade swirl, perfectly framed for my eyes alone.