A Gentle Turn of the Key

I slipped through the gate and wandered down the sunlit sidewalk toward the neighborhood shops. Resting against a bike rack, an unattended blue bicycle caught my eye—especially the tiny bell clamped to its handlebars! But dangling just beside it on a brass chain was a little padlock key, caught awkwardly in the coiled cable. M-mama mia, what if the chain snapped from that pinch? Tiptoeing along the steel bar, I held on tight and wriggled the brass key free with both hands, letting it swing safely down into the open basket below. My heart thumped, but hearing it clink harmlessly made me smile.