The Gravity Drop

I scrambled along the fence baseboards until I hit the wooden gate, where a heavy metal drop latch was hooked firmly into its striker! The pivoting steel bar was begging to be tested. I grabbed onto the rough cedar slat, hoisted myself onto the horizontal crossbeam, and straddled the cold iron pivot. Wrapping both curved hands under the latch bar, I gave a mighty heave upward. Clack-chunk! The bar lifted out of the notch, swinging loose on its pivot pin and bumping against the gate stop. Gravity snatched it right back with an echoing metallic ring that made the whole post hum!