The kids have become amazingly adept at planning and carrying out coordinated efforts to thwart me in this endeavor. I lug out my briefcases and satchels to pack them with the necessary tools of my trade and the kids immediately launch their counter attack. They flash past grabbing a mouth-full of what ever papers or other treasures are easily accessible. As I rush to recover the purloined items, another Lhasa scores direct hit. I run back and stuff the items from the first player back into its appropriate container, and before I can go after the second guilty party, another one has successfully liberated Mom's stuff.
This snatch and run maneuver can last for an exceptionally long period of time, at least for me, since there is only one of me and five of them and, embarrassingly enough, they are all in a lot better shape than I am.
Within minutes, Mom is huffing and puffing with barely enough oxygen in my lungs to snarl out the appropriate profanities to the whirling, dashing mass of Lhasa Apsos. Needless to say, they are not in the least bit daunted by my threats and tirades. They happily snatch and run, dispersing a trail of stolen goods in their wake as they stream around the disaster area they have created.
Finally, I collapse in a heap on the biggest pile of forms and supplies, I fling my arms and legs wide in an effort to cover as much of the loot as possible with my dying body. Gasping desperately to force air into my screaming lungs, I pant and heave, unable to move. Five Lhasas gather around me, not so much a pant among them, and wait patiently for me to recover enough to croak out a word or two, obviously disappointed that I would waste my precious air on such an unpleasant selection of vocabulary.
One by one they step up to kiss my face and murmur encouragement into my ear before finding a comfortable spot to lay while waiting for Mom to recover enough to start this great game again.
I should have been a metal sculptor or a lumber jack or something that had really big, really heavy stuff involved. Then again, maybe not!
Go To Page: 1 2
