The Lost Marble

I pushed a forgotten glass marble along the narrow dirt groove between two paving stones. It was heavier than it looked, perfectly smooth and cool against my palms, but it rolled forward with a quiet, crunchy scrape against the grit. When the noon light hit its curved glass, a bright little ring of amber light spilled across the rough grey surface ahead. I knelt down close to watch the bright spot waver over the tiny grains of sand. Rolling it back and forth felt like guiding a quiet star that everyone else had walked past.