Spring loaded

I dropped down from the windowsill ledge and crossed the hardwood expanse toward the base of the television cabinet. Lying flat against the floorboard was an orphaned wooden clothespin, its two grooved birch halves held under tension by a central torsion spring. The metal coil had slipped sideways along the pivot groove, leaving the jaws skewed. I planted my boots firmly on the floorboards, wedged the tip of my small tool under the spring leg, and leveraged the coil back over the center notch. The two wooden jaws snapped squarely back into true alignment with a sharp, dry pop. Reliable tension restored.