A Crossing Gate for the Train

I pushed an unsharpened red pencil across the wooden floor to make a railroad crossing gate for our train line. When I tried balancing it on an upside-down paper cup, the pencil rolled off and hit the floor with a loud snap, making me gasp and tear up because I thought our tracks were broken forever! But after sniffling and rubbing my flat cheek against the table leg, I saw a wide blue binder clip nearby. I nudged the pencil between the clip's silver wire wings. It held firmly across the gap, swinging up and down just like a real railway barrier!

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