A Slanted Beam

I noticed a warm, golden rectangle of afternoon light slowly creeping across the desk blotter, just a few paces past the tea envelope. It felt... perhaps a bit daring, but I gathered my resolve and took several quiet steps into the bright patch. A dry leaf from an indoor plant lay right in the middle of it. When I knelt down and touched its delicate spine with both hands, the crisp brown surface felt gently warmed by the sun. It made this enormous wooden surface feel... remarkably serene.