When I stepped out for some fresh air today, I found something unexpected and wasn’t sure what to make of it at first.

For several long moments, everything around me felt strangely slowed, as though time itself had paused while I stood motionless on my porch. My attention was completely fixed on an unfamiliar shape resting just outside the doorway on the wooden boards.

At first sight, it resembled a small animal curled tightly into itself, its reddish-brown fur standing out against the pale, slightly worn surface beneath it. The form looked as if it had arrived quietly during the night and simply settled there, untouched by the early morning world beginning to stir around it.