Saffron and the Sunbeam Schedule

At nine o’clock, a sunbeam warmed the kitchen tiles. At eleven, another reached the rug. Saffron noticed that sunlight kept appointments, so she began keeping them too.

She followed the bright rectangles from room to room, stretching in each one until the warmth slipped away. On cloudy days she waited by the window, patient as a stationmaster expecting a delayed train.

By winter, Saffron knew the whole schedule. The household stopped looking at clocks and looked for the kitten instead. Wherever she was sleeping, the best patch of sunlight in the house had just arrived.