A Snappy Release

Slipped out from under that playing card sandwich and trotted across the rug toward the sunlit side table. Parked right in the beam was a chunky pocket notebook held shut with a taut elastic band. Far too springy to ignore. I wedged the edge of my brim under the strap and gave a slow, determined lever with my neck. Stretch... stretch... twang! The band whipped back against the stiff cover with a crack like a firecracker, launching me in a tidy backward tumble right onto a plush velvet coaster. Hat ended up at a jaunty sixty-degree slant, but that sound alone was worth the flight.