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A gray thing
Ada found a gray thing beside the garden path.
It was too smooth to be a clod of earth.
She brushed it with one finger.
A white line crossed its back, then disappeared underneath.
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In her palm
She lifted the stone into her palm.
One end rose higher than the other.
'A mountain,' Ada decided.
Not a very tall mountain for a girl, but an enormous one for a thought.
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A place to begin
At the window table, she put the mountain down.
She bent low for a closer look.
From there, the highest part hid the far edge.
There was a whole side she could not see.
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The white road
The white line looked like a road.
Ada followed it with her eyes.
It climbed the gray slope and vanished over the top.
Her thought went after it.
Her feet stayed under the table.
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Around the bend
She walked around the table.
The high end looked lower from this side.
A little hollow appeared near the bottom.
'A place to stop,' she said.
Her mountain had kept something for the next view.
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Inside the hollow
Ada leaned close to the hollow.
A few crumbs of dry soil rested there.
She tipped the stone over her other palm.
The crumbs fell out.
The stopping place was ready for another thought.
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The underside
Underneath, the stone was almost flat.
The white line went on across it.
Ada had expected the road to finish.
Instead it had been traveling where she could not see.
She turned the stone slowly.
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A different mountain
She stood it on its other end.
Now the summit leaned sideways.
Ada tilted her head to match.
It was still her mountain, although the climb would be quite different.
She left it that way for a moment.
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The long climb
Her finger stopped beside the bottom edge.
Her eyes climbed the white line once more.
This time she remembered the hollow on the far side.
She could not see it, but she knew it was there.
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Ready for home
Outside, evening reached the flowerbed.
Ada cupped the stone in both hands.
Her journey had gone over the top, round the back, and underneath.
It had taken longer than crossing the garden.
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Beside the path
She put the stone back beside the path.
Its white line faced the sky.
Tomorrow, rain might fill the little hollow.
Ada wondered what her mountain would look like with a lake.
She left room to find out.
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One more look
At the door, she turned around.
The stone was a small gray shape again.
Ada could still remember the other side.
She went indoors with empty hands.
The mountain could have the garden to itself.
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