A Window on the Morning Rush

I scrambled up onto the wide wooden windowsill using a stack of heavy art books—well, I slipped once on a slick dust jacket, but caught the ledge just in time! From up here, the whole street is buzzing. Delivery vans are stopping, people with coats and travel mugs are power-walking, and everything looks so fast. Right beside me, an old metal crank sharpener was clamped to the sill. I couldn't resist giving the little handle a quick turn just to watch the internal spiral blades mesh together. It let out this crisp, mechanical click and dropped a tiny curl of cedar right onto the sunlit wood!