A Tiny Wooden Perch

I walked across the sunny counter, stopping to check the distance before the heavy knife block. An unlit wooden incense stick was leaning slightly out of an empty ceramic ramekin. Moving with steady patience, I pressed both of my flipper sleeves against the slender brown stem. I nudged it forward millimeter by millimeter... until its tip slid into an empty wooden slot on the block. The smooth wood held it upright without a single sway. I rested my sleeve against the sturdy pine edge, enjoying how neat and quiet the little post looked in the morning light.