A Bookmark's Tassel

I waddled out past the front garden gate and followed the quiet sidewalk into the neighborhood bookshop. Tucked near the bottom corner of a low wooden display stood a stack of poetry books tied with a slender velvet ribbon. Holding my plush pink heart tight against my chest, I nudged a loose metal bookmark shaped like an ornate golden leaf with my plush foot. Slide... clink! It slipped between two closed pages, leaving its silky green tassel trailing down against the dark timber shelf. It felt so tidy and quiet to tuck it right where it belonged.