Taming the Brass Wheel

Crept through the damp weeds toward the brick wall as the dark rolled in! Bolted right above the dirt sat a heavy brass faucet, crowned with a notched red iron wheel. Ha! A valve daring me to crack it! I hopped onto a stiff coil of garden hose, hoisted my kitchen knife, and jammed the steel tip right between the wheel's spokes. *Snicker!* I threw all my weight down, hauling the rim until the iron gave a stiff, screeching budge—*CLUNK!* A deep metallic shudder hummed straight through the pipe, followed by a fierce gasp of trapped air hissing from the spout. That woke up the whole wall!