Who Was Winning?

Coat on, keys already in my hand, and there she is, flat on the tile. Two dinosaurs locked together, mid-battle, roaring. We were late. I said the dinosaurs will wait, we have to go, come on. She didn't even look up.

have you ever felt this way too?

So I said it louder. Faster. Grabbed for her arm, one shoe, the door. And the faster I moved, the louder she got. I stood over her going come-on come-on and she just cranked the volume, both dinosaurs screaming now, me screaming a little too. Nobody was winning that one.

So I stopped. I don't really know why. I got down on the floor with her, right into the middle of it, and I asked her who was winning. She looked at me like finally, somebody's paying attention. T-rex, barely. He had the other one pinned.

Okay, I said. T-rex won, so he rides in the bag. One more roar for the road. She gave him a big one, got up still roaring, and walked out the door with the whole war still going in her fist.