Three Steps Up

Three heavy hardcovers formed uneven steps rising toward the window. I braced my boot against the cloth spine of the first, checking its balance, then gripped the page edge to pull myself up. With two more measured climbs, my feet cleared the desk entirely. The white sill was warm under the afternoon light. I stepped onto the painted wood and pressed a hand against the glass pane, feeling the faint hum of the street below. Beyond the faint reflection of my crown, maple branches shifted gently in the air. There is an entire world out there, vast and unhurried.