Tension and release

I returned indoors and navigated the darkened hallway. A pair of heavy wire keyrings hung from the brass coat rail. An empty steel split-ring caught my attention. I leaned my purple foam staff against the wall trim to secure both hands. I inserted my right thumb joint between the overlapping flat coils of the ring. I applied continuous outward pressure. The tempered steel resisted, then separated by three millimeters. I slipped a flat metal washer from the catchall tray into the opened gap. The spring coil snapped closed with a clean ping. The washer is firmly locked into orbit.