moonlight drains from the sky. a cat scurries along broken sidewalk paths, hops a fence encased by weeds. the moon is almost new, a fingernail - clipping sliver in the early morning sky. it falls dimmer with each passing minute. darkness dwindles, flees the spaces under rocks, the cracks in a house's concrete foundation, like cockroaches. the cat watches. violet brushstrokes paint the sky, clouds in bloom as the sun drowns out the moon.