It was A.M. in the office, and everybody was avoiding their email. Of course, that only works for a few minutes before the morning's priorities come and find you. Usually I get hit with reality's blunt push before I even make it to my desk, but this time I got to be the messenger! It was a nice change-up.
I approached my victim. "K-too, Cowboy says he needs to talk to you today. He wants to get a start on Project Wossname."
K-too's eyes widened. Project Wossname is a big and tedious one. Plus, K-too misread me, thinking there was some kind of urgency behind my words. His mind instantly went to "worst case scenario". "What?!? He doesn't want that done today, does he?"
P-Ziddy put on his best poker face. "I think so, yeah."
As K-too started to panic noisily, I contradicted 'Zid. "No, he doesn't." K-too relaxed.
Then I realized what P-Ziddy had been playing at. "NUTS!"
P-Ziddy shook his head sadly at me. "You should have played along! We could have made him cry."
I put my head in my hands. "Gah... that would have been glorious."
Big Dawg grinned. "This is what a life of regret looks like."
Fast forward a bit.
The four of us went to lunch that day, wandering through the mean streets of Downtown. Between a couple of the tall buildings, the "wind tunnel" effect was so strong that we could see people being knocked nearly off their feet. "No thanks," said Big Dawg. He turned to cross at the intersection rather than go down that street.
"I'm not gonna fight that wind," he said.
"Well," I offered, "You could go that way, tie a string around my foot and fly me like a kite."
Big Dawg grinned ear to ear. "I kinda want to do that now."
"But you CAN'T!", I shouted. I even pointed at him dramatically, hamming it up as best I could. "We're already halfway across this intersection, so your chance is GONE, baby GONE!"
Big Dawg made a sad face. I grinned. "This is what a life of regret looks like."
I believe I could fly, if only Big Dawg was bold enough to reach for his dreams. And some string.