A Morning Runway

A stray blueberry sat waiting on the cutting board, perfectly round and plump. Right beside it lay a smooth wooden butter spreader. I propped the broad end of the spreader against a stacked ceramic coaster, checking that the slant was gentle. Placing the berry at the top, I gave it a soft push. It caught momentum, humming down the polished grain with a quiet rush, and landed with a clean tap against a porcelain ramekin. It didn't bruise at all. I lined it back up at the summit, tilting the blade just a notch steeper to see if it would roll even further across the marble.