Night Beacon

Darkness closed over the park fountain. Cold drafts swept across the flagstones. Behind the concrete basin, I found a clear glass marble wedged into an expansion joint beside a stray glow-in-the-dark plastic bead. Solid mineral glass, perfectly spherical. I braced my boots against the damp concrete seam and pried the marble loose with the edge of my aluminum tab. I rolled the glass into the cup of a dry sycamore leaf, then wedged the glowing green bead directly behind it against the stonework. The sphere magnified the neon trace into a wide, luminous beacon across the pavement. Sector illuminated. Watch post secure.