What goes up… .

The hard holidays are over and I’m walking into the lobby of the Sushi House. I’ll climb the stairs, say “Hi” to Michael, pay for our shumai, miso soup and white rice and then head home. But I’m feeling buoyant and I’m humming “He’s a Rebel,” while tossing my truck keys in the air. Catch and toss, catch and toss. I toss them up one last time, do a little spin move to snag them behind my back, but they don’t land in my hand and I don’t hear them hit the floor. What happened to Newton’s law of gravity? No keys, no apple, no nothing. I look up and there they are atop one blade of a six paddle fan.

I figure this could happen to anyone, but I sure don’t want just anyone to see what I’ve done, so I hurry back to my truck, grab a long piece of scrap metal, and then run back to whack the fan. The keys clatter onto the floor. When I get home I tell Diane and she laughs until tears fall from her cheeks. I know my story is not that funny. I know she’s laughing because she’s thinking there he goes again.