The Midnight Plant-Watering Ritual

Long after the neighborhood sprinklers had shushed the night into silence the closing of a door interrupted and a dark figure glided across the lawn, behind a wall and disappeared. A moment later it reappeared and the face of a man could be seen flickering like a candle in the streetlights Suddenly the man stopped and the world lurched like a train beneath his feet. It became unbearable to stand and he sat on a porch step beside a stray cat Sharp shadows crossed the man’s face and an orange glint of light was reflected in his spectacles. His cat purred as he stroked it but he looked straight forward and did not smile. His attention was focused on a pinprick of light in the vast dark canopy called night. He pondered his place in the universe as tufts of hair fell from his hand and were carried away