Xander shifted his pillow a little so his head was more comfortable as he read when Zoey gasped at something on her laptop. He looked over at her.
“What’s up?”
“Peter Falk died. I loved him in Princess Bride.”
“Peter Falk died? Inconceivable.”
“Nice,” she said. “Seriously though, he was amazing in that movie.”
“He was also Columbo. And he was in Vibes with Jeff Goldblum and Cindi Lauper. But yeah, I’ll always remember him as the grandfather. I love that movie.”
“It’s a classic.”
“Hello, my name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
“Stop saying that!”
Xander dropped his book and stabbed her in the shoulder with an invisible sword.
“Promise me money! Promise me wealth!” he yelled as he jumped up and down on the bed pretending to stab her as she pretended to die.
He dropped down and flopped back onto his side of the bed.
“Remember when we had those ROUSs in the old apartment?” she asked.
“Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.” He paused to catch his breath a little. “And of course I remember those rats. Not as big as in the movie, but scary nonetheless.”
She read a bit of the bio and sighed.
He knew he had to cheer her up. “Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?”
She smiled. “If there are we’ll all be dead!”
“Stop that rhyming now, I mean it!”
“Anybody want a peanut?”
“I love that part when Peter Falk says something about television being called books in his day. Classic. And when he skips the final kiss? Priceless.”
“I just loved his role. I didn’t grow up with a grandfather…but when I was a kid I liked to pretend mine was just like him.”
He looked over at her and smiled. “Love you, Zo.” Then he started tickling her until she couldn’t breathe.
Once she could speak again she playfully frowned at him. “Okay, okay, you’re bothering me. Go to bed. I’ll likely kill you in the morning.”
He kissed her goodnight. “As you wish.”
A Flash of Inspiration 