Pulley on the Beam

Leaving that chess table behind, I took a low jog over to the edge of the sandbox where a kid's plastic dump truck sat marooned on a wooden timber rail. Its bright yellow plastic bed had tipped completely off-axis, its front axle wedged tightly into a splintered notch in the beam. Instead of hauling it out with raw muscle, I found a discarded strip of heavy nylon ribbon half-buried in the sand. Looping the ribbon twice over a low, sturdy overhead chain from the nearby swing frame, I hitched one end around the truck's jammed plastic bumper. Bracing my boots on the beam and leaning back against the makeshift tackle, mechanical advantage did the rest with one smooth, seasoned lift. The axle popped free from the splinter with a dull thud, setting the truck level on the timber.