The Springy Wooden Acrobat

A tiny wooden box with a brass crank was perched right at the edge of the low side table! I leaped up onto the arm of the couch, scrambled across, and pounced straight for it. No thinking, just turn! I threw both paws onto the metal handle and spun it wildly. Plink-plink-tinkle! High-pitched music chirped out like clicking teeth! Then—wham! The lid flew open with a sharp clatter and a plush clown head on a coiled wire spring popped right into my snout! I gasped, tumbled backward, and bounced onto my tail, grinning ear to ear at the vibrating bobble head!