September 27, 2004

The hour was late and they were both weary from another long day of life and living. She slipped into his mind while he was lost in thoughts too deep to disturb. He never moved as she slowly began the methodical process of sifting through the folds and wrinkles of his dormant brain. Quietly...careful not to jar anything too quickly or shake lose any unattached memories or ideas...she peeked cautiously into corridor after corridor of happy memories, angry moments, sexual adventures.

“Damn,” she whispered to herself, “it has to be in here somewhere.”

Sensing a drift in his consciousness, she increased the pace of her search. With practiced agility she dug deeper into the pockets of his mind...careful not to trip over old phone numbers and the lyrics to long-forgotten Annie Lennox songs. It had to be here...she always found it here.

His head began to droop and she knew that in only a few seconds, the lights would go out and finding anything would be impossible. Time was critical now and there was still a maze of brain nooks that she hadn’t checked. It seemed the older he got, the more hiding places he created.

In desperation, she veered left just past his 50th birthday party and there it was! With the fluidity of a starfish sucking the soft heart out of an oyster, she quickly retrieved her prize and exited just as the walls of his mind began to reverberate with gentle snores.

She sighed audibly.

“Man,” she muttered, “maybe it’s time for me to start keeping track of who’s turn it is to clean the cat boxes.”