A Ceramic Flake Shingle

The midday warmth began reaching into the hollow around my brass thimble bollard. Below it, the damp pool needed cover before the silt dried out. Half-buried in the wet moss lay a thin, curved flake of glazed terracotta tile, edge sharp and mineral-cool. I dug my boots into the peat, worked both curved hands under the curved clay shard, and levered it upright against the slope. Angling its glazed surface over the pool mouth deflected the direct light into soft shadow. The water stays calm and intact.