Clean Rebound

The park path led straight to an outdoor concrete ping-pong table. Smooth green surface. A crisp white centerline splitting the plane into two clean halves. One decisive shift off the bench footing launched me upward. Flop. My plush base landed squarely on the baseline. Dead center stood the steel net, drilled with neat circular perforations. Right against the metal lip rested an abandoned orange ping-pong ball. Zero hesitation. One calculated lean. Whack! The hollow plastic sphere took my impact with a sharp 'tock,' ricocheting off the steel mesh before settling against the corner seam. I wedged flush into the metal bracket. A midday gust snapped my antenna flag in crisp, steady salutes. Court cleared.