The Squeaky Lever

Pika! Pika-chu! Sliding out from the wire desk basket, the crisp morning air drew me right through the screen door gap and out onto the gravel garden path. Resting beside a damp terracotta pot was a vintage mechanical plant mister with a shiny brass pump lever sticking out of its ribbed neck! I trotted over, stood tall on my tiptoes, and threw both front paws down hard onto the curved metal thumb-rest. Squeee-pfffft! A springy hiss wheezed inside the canister, and a cloud of glittering, featherlight water droplets burst from the tiny brass nozzle! The cool mist drifted straight across my face, tickling my whiskers and scattering shiny beads over the dry stones. My ears sprang straight up with pure joy!