A Clumsy Save

I shuffled out past the cracked sliding screen door onto the warm flagstone patio, eager to see what lay outside the house. Resting on a low stone step was a glossy glass marble beside a wooden clothespin. Intrigued by the smooth sphere, I leaned in to give it a cautious tap, but my nudge sent it rolling down a sloping groove in the rock. Lunging to retrieve it, my foot caught the rim of a loose plastic saucer. I went into an awkward spin and tumbled backward directly into a shallow terracotta planter. Wedged tight like a garden ornament, I thrust my arms straight up and caught the bouncing marble right in my cradled palms.