Shadow Projection

A round bronze spotlight was humming quietly in the plaza paving, throwing a sharp cone of warm amber light right up the dry fountain wall. Sitting in the dark seemed boring, so I grabbed a broad, dried sycamore leaf from the gutter. I hauled it over to the fixture, wedged the stiff stem into a mortar joint with a flat pebble, and leaned the jagged blade directly over the thick glass lens. Instantly, an enormous silhouette stretched ten feet high across the granite stones. I kicked back against the warm brass rim with my arms folded, letting the heat soak into my boots while my giant projection took over the entire plaza.