elmo is stuck

(photo:www.balloonanimal.com)

'Twas 630 pm and I had just finished a most excellent yoga session. I stepped into a crowded elevator which included a young mother, her (presumably) husband, and a small child carrying a red balloon animal miraculously twisted and tied into a perfect rendition of Elmo.

It's seldom an occasion when I am amused by children. I'm much better with sinister adults, but once in a while I will be completely taken by a precocious youngster.

The elevator doors shut. For a moment it was completely silent, until the two year old announced in a calm, and almost patronizingly adult tone "elmo is stuck." For a moment, she was brushed off (as childspeak often is), but as my eyes shifted their gaze to the bright-eyed red mess, behold! elmo was stuck! His arm had been savagely sucked into the elevator door, though, by the crux of his left appendage, leaving his fragile body perfectly in tact. This was a true medical miracle I was witnessing. I couldn't help but cackle unabashedly as the child valiantly struggled to set her friend free; the elevator did not relent.

POP! child screams, cries. i exit, amused.