A Shoelace at the End of the Alley

The morning light settled thin along the cracks between the alley's stones. The rustle of fallen leaves was a sound long unheard. One person's right shoelace had come undone. Where the knot had sat, pressed so long, the threads had frayed. He stopped to tie it again. The one beside him stopped too. Two shadows lengthened side by side on the stones. That lace knew the times of being tied and untied and tied again. It wore a little thinner each time it passed this alley. The knot was smaller now than it used to be. Before he lifted his head, a hand was already held out.