A Lens of Water

The dark marble rested inside the chalk triangle, exactly where I placed it last night. Morning sunlight struck the concrete at a low slant, reflecting sharply off the glass curve. Beside the drainage channel, a stray drop of morning dew was clinging to the lip of a flat plastic bottle cap. I picked up the cap with both hands and nudged it flush against the marble's flank. The droplet bridged the gap, transferring across the glass to form an irregular lens that magnified the chalk line beneath. I crouched low, observing how the light bent into a crisp, glowing arc across the rough stone.