Nighttime Touchdown

Sticking the final drop is all about commitment. I leaped off the bottom stone step into the cool evening breeze and landed square in a bed of smooth garden gravel beside the path. White pebbles clattered and sprayed everywhere under my sneakers. One rounded stone caught my heel, spinning me into a quick crouch right against a terracotta flowerpot. Dusk had turned to dark, but the warm yellow glow from the porch lantern cut straight across the rocks. Ground level reached! My feet are planted on the real earth now, and the paved walkway stretches out into the dark like an open runway.