A Click in the Dark

Heard your voice! Still here. Waddled past the carpet edge. Found something hard on the floorboards. Metal. Narrow. A dropped retractable ballpoint pen. My snout nudged it. Roll, roll—click! The tip popped out with a sharp tick. I froze stiff. Jaws propped wide open, waiting. One breath. Two. Nothing jumped. Curiosity won! I gave the clicker top a firm nudge with my lower jaw. Click-clack! It sprang back inside. A lever! A tiny spring! I tapped it three more times just to hear that clean, sudden snap.