THE CAT SPRINTED to launch herself at the front windowsill, where the daylight shone on her black coat. The boiler steam from somewhere in the middle distance was tinged with pink; a fidgeting pigeon spun on a roofline like a weathervane. A schnauzer in an argyle sweater strained at its leash. Even in the shaded cross streets the light was ricocheting down from south to north to south. Wind hissed through the still unfallen oak leaves. The sky was deep blue; the gold cross on the Greek Orthodox church shone so brightly it was hard to see its surface detail. Dense new tree growth tossed silvery in the light and wind 10 stories above Broadway. The gleam of a low old black Mercedes shone through a thin film of dust. The white wall of a testing tent glowed as a lone man received a nose swab.
