Liberating the Sprout

I forced the sliding screen door open just enough to slip out onto the balcony tiles. Out here in the open, I spotted a hostile clamp: a heavy metal clothespin snapped tight around the tender stem of a potted fern. Damn spring-loaded trap trying to crush fresh green life. I drew my sword, slipped the flat edge into the mechanism, and torqued the coil until the jaws popped loose and clattered across the concrete. The crushed leaf sprang right back up. Any rogue junk trying to strangle nature on my perimeter is going to face the edge.