Press. Release. Wait.

The (ill-advised) Plan

Ignore it.

I wanted to ignore it.

I really wanted to ignore the dog but I knew it would get stuck in my mind.

"Adam?" I called after a few seconds.

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about the dog?"

"Sure," he answered quickly.

"Okay... But you go first."

"Wait, what?" He questioned.

"What do you think about it?" I asked.

"That's not fair."

"What?"

"That's not fair. You're the one who wants to talk about the dog." He said.

"Okay, fine. We won't talk about the dog."

"Fine." He blurted out.

"Fine!"

I heard a few breaths over the intercom.

Is he seriously crying again?

The breaths continued.

He wasn't crying. He was laughing.

"What the fuck, Adam?"

"Sorry... sorry, Cheyenne. It's just funny."

"It's so not funny."

"No. No it's not."

An involuntary exhale of breath came from my mouth.

I'm not laughing right now. I can't be.

A few more. I couldn't stop myself. I turned my head away from the speaker to prevent Adam from hearing. I knew he still could though.

"Damn it..." I gasped in between stifled laughs.

I heard wheezing from the other side. "Stop!" Adam gasped. "My arm!"

He was still giggling slightly as I heard him adjust his position.

"Okay. Okay. Okay." He called out, trying to calm himself.

"Alright," I said, "I'm done. I'm done laughing."

A snort of laughter erupted from me as I went into another fit.

"I'm... sorry..." I said. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." My voice died down as I tried to stop myself. I put my hands up defensively. Like I was fighting myself. "Okay. Okay. I'm done."

Adam took some deep breaths.

"I'm done too," he said.

I knew it was going to come again. I could feel it lurking in my throat. Desperately attempting to pop up. I moved my hands up and down slowly, watching them and matching my breathing to their movement.

"Okay... How's the arm?" I asked.

"It hurts."

"Did it hurt before?"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Yeah."

"Okay. That's okay. I'll take care of it when I see you." I answered hopefully.

"Cheyenne, I know you're just trying to make me feel better..."

"Well..." I said, "here's the thing. I've been thinking about it. If the dog can see both of us. There has to be something. An opening. Something."