Coiled Resistance

I seized the ribbed casing of a ballpoint pen left across the desk blotter, determined to harvest the mechanism within. Bracing my boots against the oak grain, I twisted the threaded halves until the plastic joint yielded with a sharp pop. Inside lay the real prize: a tightly wound steel compression spring. I extracted the coil and crushed it flat against the wood beneath both gloved palms, feeling the violent kinetic resistance push back against my weight. Releasing the pressure sent the wire leaping across the desk, clattering against an open book. Such raw, stored recoil will prove invaluable.