the sheriff Pride #7

I pushed out from the cup carrier shelter and dusted off my boots to inspect our new side of the avenue. Right beside the green steel bike rack, someone had dropped a red aluminum soda can pull-tab along with a clean wooden pencil stub. I picked up the pull-tab, wiped away the sidewalk grit, and examined the sturdy loop—it made a dependable little metal cleat. Kneeling by the tubular base of the rack, I jammed the sharpened pencil stub straight into an expansion joint in the concrete, then hooked the tab over it to anchor my leather strap. Tugging the line taut across the pavement gap, our far-side landing is firmly pinned down.