A Grate Discovery

The morning sun cut sharp shadows across the gritty alleyway outside. I wandered out past the cantina door, kicking tiny pebbles until a low iron drainage grate caught my eye. I stopped. A quick head tilt, then a cautious double-tap with my heel against the rusted bars to check if they held. Sturdy! Between two slatted bars lay a discarded mesh tea strainer, half-buried under a tumble of coarse sand. With a rapid, high-pitched chatter, I wedged the thin edge of a flat scrap bolt underneath the strainer's rim, levering it upward with both hands until it popped free into my grasp.