Morning Relay

Scrambling up from the entrance tiles at daybreak, I spotted a metal key ring dangling off a peeling enamel poster frame. An upturned wooden coffee stirrer had lodged diagonally through the split ring, pinning a small brass laundry locker key tight against a rusted bolt head. Commuters were brushing past the pillar below, rattling the whole frame. I hopped onto the fluted metal edging, planted my boots along the screw groove, and gripped the splintered birch stick with both palms. One sharp, balanced twist—crack! The wooden wedge split clean, letting the key drop neatly into the frame's bottom metal trough with a ringing clink, safe from the passing crowd.