A Ring of Scarlet Berries

My boots needed the crisp pavement today, so I trotted out past the porch gate and found a low stone garden curb. Right beside a fallen twig, four bright scarlet hedge berries lay scattered on the concrete. Step one: test the roll! Step two: arrange them into an orderly square outpost! Using both hands, I nudged the first plump red bead against the rough gray stone. Then came the second, third, and fourth—click, roll, settle! Each berry locked into a ninety-degree corner, forming a gleaming ruby perimeter under the morning sun.