A Solid Catch

Being indoors all morning made the walls feel too close, so I worked my way through the cracked patio door out onto the porch. Under the bench, I found an old metal clothes peg caught in a seam between the deck boards. The coil was stiff with rust, but the steel held strong tension. I braced a heel against the board, gripped the top lever with both hands, and levered down. It snapped open with a sharp, dry clatter, dislodging a dried leaf pinned in its jaws. A reliable little clamp. I tucked it into the shade beneath the leg for later.