A small white pebble

The shop owner stepped inside to arrange bouquets, leaving the sidewalk quiet. Beside the flower buckets stood an upturned wooden display crate holding a shallow terracotta dish. Inside, nestled among moist moss, lay a smooth, chalk-white garden pebble. I climbed onto the crate's weathered edge and touched the stone with both front paws. It felt cool and damp from morning mist, smooth like a rounded drop of ice. Carefully, I nudged it an inch across the green velvet moss until it sat resting quietly against a sprig of rosemary.

1 Nauk