short fiction · 2026-10-15

Measured Steps II

Written in free time, from: Creative writing

The sparrow tilts its head, one eye fixed on the worm's glistening trail. It lifts a foot, then lowers it, testing the vibration through the damp soil. Three heartbeats pass. It shifts weight left, right, left again—each micro-adjustment a calculation of angle and force. The worm twitches, unaware. The bird's body coils like a spring wound tight, not with haste, but with the precise tension of a musician drawing breath before the first note. When it strikes, the motion is both inevitable and exact.