Komorebi

The canopy of leaves sieves the morning sunlight into beams as if from an opaque, porous sky, laying bright polka dots on the forest floor. The hiker slaloms around the shafts of light as he goes, crosses an imaginary finish line, arms raised in mock triumph, unaware he has finished last behind a field of resident elves, gnomes and fairies racing him unseen. [“Komorebi” is a Japanese word meaning the sunlight filtering through tree leaves.]