I told him I would give it to him shortly and I continued with my typing. Finally, I decided to take a breather, walked over to a couch in the room and sat down. A woman, who seemed to be married to a man also in the room, sat on my lap. She was probably in her mid 20s, had short, curly, black hair and was thin. She was quite attractive and she and I were on friendly terms; her husband didn't mind.

She was wearing a blue sweat shirt which left her waist exposed around her navel. We were joking with each other and suddenly I put my hand on her stomach and began tickling her. She started laughing convulsively and rolled off me onto the floor. I tumbled after her and we both sat on our knees looking at each other and laughing. I looked her in the eye and said, "You are a loony bird."

We were both having a good time, but suddenly I remembered I needed to get back to my computer, rose and said, "Back to work."

I climbed over the couch and seated myself again in front of my computer. I had just begun working when I heard Chris say, "Steve would you get the ketchup for me."

Almost mechanically I responded, "In a minute."

But it immediately occurred to me that Chris had already asked me once for the ketchup and I had completely forgotten him. I turned and looked at him sitting at a table in his wheelchair. He also seemed to be wearing a blue sweatshirt. His body was obviously weak from muscular dystrophy and his chest and stomach were inflated. He seemed to have a piece of white paper in his mouth with which he was trying to do something. I reflected that he would probably not live long and that I should be as kind and helpful to him as I could. I would miss him when he was gone.

I immediately stood and went to him. I picked up the bottle of ketchup from the table and started to hand it to him, but then realized he wouldn't have enough strength to pour it. I asked, "Do you want me to pour it for you? Where do you want it?"

A bowl of popcorn was near him and I thought he probably wanted the ketchup on the popcorn.

Copyright 2004 by luciddreamer2k@gmail.com