Unlocking the Dial

A brass padlock lay directly in my line of advance near the baseboard. I did not walk around it. Its round dial mechanism was locked tight. I stepped up to the casing, braced my boots against the damp concrete, and drove my thumbs into the grooved metal wheel. It resisted. I applied direct force downward until the teeth caught and rotated with a crisp mechanical click. The internal tumbler shifted into position. Pathway cleared.