It had been niggling at him. Like a jigsaw piece lost down the back of the sofa, or three odd socks in the laundry basket. He tried to shrug it off but it was there... Why? Vanessa was a little worried but said nothing. December 2004 came and went. January 2005 came and was almost gone when he felt it. A tingle. From far away. A nascent *tingle*. Vanessa caught him at breakfast, smiling as he dunked his soldier in his runny yolk. She patted him on the head and let him be, returning to her croissant. February. The tingle grew. The jigsaw piece was pushing up from the springy depths of his mental couch, up to the light... Three socks were crawling like wool-nylon blend caterpillars from behind the washer/dryer combo in the basement of his mind... One day in mid-February, Vanessa found him in the bath with their daughter's rubber kangaroo in his hand, squeezing the bubbly water from it in a squeaky flow. Australia. Of course. "She loves me," he said, simply. Vanessa leaned down and kissed his fragrant shoulder. "Of course she does, darling," she said, with some relief. "But why did it take so long?" Johnny asked, puzzled. "Ed Wood didn't do it. Sleepy Hollow didn't. Not even *Pirates*..." Vanessa perched on the edge of the bath; she gave a gallic shrug. "Sometimes, it just takes time. But in the end, they all fall, my love," she said, simply and Frenchly. Johnny considered this and then nodded with dignified acceptance of a fundamental truth. Vanessa left him to soak, crisis averted. He had just picked up the soap on the rope when he started to think - if only there wasn't that tiny little pinprick of resistance over there in Equatorial Guinea...
Resistance is futile...
December 2004 came and went. January 2005 came and was almost gone when he felt it. A tingle. From far away. A nascent *tingle*. Vanessa caught him at breakfast, smiling as he dunked his soldier in his runny yolk. She patted him on the head and let him be, returning to her croissant.
February. The tingle grew. The jigsaw piece was pushing up from the springy depths of his mental couch, up to the light... Three socks were crawling like wool-nylon blend caterpillars from behind the washer/dryer combo in the basement of his mind...
One day in mid-February, Vanessa found him in the bath with their daughter's rubber kangaroo in his hand, squeezing the bubbly water from it in a squeaky flow. Australia. Of course.
"She loves me," he said, simply. Vanessa leaned down and kissed his fragrant shoulder. "Of course she does, darling," she said, with some relief.
"But why did it take so long?" Johnny asked, puzzled. "Ed Wood didn't do it. Sleepy Hollow didn't. Not even *Pirates*..."
Vanessa perched on the edge of the bath; she gave a gallic shrug. "Sometimes, it just takes time. But in the end, they all fall, my love," she said, simply and Frenchly.
Johnny considered this and then nodded with dignified acceptance of a fundamental truth. Vanessa left him to soak, crisis averted.
He had just picked up the soap on the rope when he started to think - if only there wasn't that tiny little pinprick of resistance over there in Equatorial Guinea...
;)