The Springy Wooden Peg

A chunky wooden clothespin was clamped tightly over the rim of an empty terracotta pot right by the ferns! Sufferin' succotash—it looked like a tiny alligator perching proudly on its baked-clay perch! I crept up the weathered deck planks, braced both feet against a knobby grain line, and threw my whole weight into squeezing its tail prongs together. *Sproing-click!* The coiled wire kicked back with an almighty jerk, snapping the pin open so fast it flipped clean into the air and tapped me squarely on the nose! I stumbled backward onto my tail, watching the wooden jaws clatter peacefully to rest right between my feet.