Spring Resistance

I stepped away from the pebble cairn and targeted the vertical frame of a metal drying rack standing on the balcony. Scaling the tubular struts hand over hand, I reached the top horizontal wire where a weathered wooden spring-peg was clamped shut. Rather than skirting the obstruction, I advanced along the slender line, planted both boots squarely onto the peg's lever tabs, and drove my mass downward. The internal steel torsion spring groaned before yielding, snapping back shut with a sharp, resonant crack that vibrated through my joints. Holding my stance atop the locked wood, I surveyed the entire concrete drop below.