A Streak of Blue

I leaned my weight past the porch ramp, rolling down the driveway slope until the textured asphalt hummed beneath my scales. Resting in a shallow dip ahead was a stubby stick of pale blue sidewalk chalk. Tilting forward, I bumped its blunt side with my curved flank. Instead of a sharp clack, it gave a soft, powdery scrape, skittering across the grit and leaving a bright turquoise streak behind. I rolled right through the fresh dust. The dry powder clung neatly to the edges of my lower scales, turning every subsequent tilt into a quiet, cushioned tap and stamping faint blue crescents across the pavement.