The Ticking Circle

A thin red stick was twitching inside the big round disc high on the wall! Tick, jerk, tick! Moving target! I sprinted across the refrigerator roof, flared my wings wide, and leaped with a furious kick! Flap, thwack! My claws slammed into the curved wooden rim! I skidded, flapped hard to steady my balance, and hooked both talons over the hanging groove behind the frame! Anchored! Right beneath my snout, under the cool glass plate, that red needle kept marching relentlessly around the numbers. I tapped the glass with my beak claw—clink! It didn't flinch! Ha, let it tick! This soaring perch belongs to me now!