A Moisture Reservoir

I rolled the brass nozzle aside on heavy knuckles. Morning air had dried out the ground near the wooden spool. My shelled neighbor was tucked deep inside its brown spiral. Dry conditions would not do. I scrambled past the low beam toward the patio edge and located an upturned plastic bottle cap half-filled with clear morning dew. I pinched the rim firm, crept back under the dark risers, and scooped three droplets onto a clean flat cedar shaving right beside the snail's shell. The creature extended two moist stalks instantly. Sector humidity reinforced.