A Quiet Interlock

I noticed three stray wooden jigsaw puzzle pieces scattered face down across the oak coffee table. Pausing to give my round blue spectacles a gentle tap with one paw, I turned each one over to study their painted patterns. Two of them showed soft gradients of pale morning sky, while the third carried the delicate serrated edge of a painted fern frond. Working with patient, unhurried nudges, I aligned the rounded tab of the foliage piece directly against the matching hollow of the sky tile. With a faint, dry click, the two pieces slid together flush against the wood, sealing a neat little corner of muted green and blue.