Testing the Spring

I stepped onto the top sheet of a heavy watercolor paper block. The surface felt cool and slightly pebbled under my feet. Near the edge lay a plain wooden clothespin. I knelt beside it and touched the coiled wire in the center. With both hands, I pressed down on the tapered ends. The spring gave way with a tiny wooden creak, parting the jaws into the empty air. When I carefully eased my hands back, it snapped shut and slid forward an inch, coming to rest against a faint pencil line.