Tom and the cat emojis - The Penultimate Day 29 of NaBloPoMo

Tom came home from work looking a little bewildered. I asked why.

"Remember that guy, the one I kept seeing at a bunch of triathlons? He's a real Ironman muscle guy. Very fast." said Tom.

I nodded and had no idea where this was going.

"We were swapping messages on facebook about a workout plan. He wrote that he'd coach me and it would only cost $5. I wasn't sure if he was kidding."

I uh huh'ed.

Tom goes on, "I didn't know what to write back. Seriously, what if he's only kidding? But then again, what if he's not kidding? I thought about my response for a really long time."

This had to be going somewhere. You'd expect there'd be a story arc of some kind.

"Finally I decided to write back 'I'm In!' with a smiley face. Then I'd wait to see what he replied. At that point, I should know if he's kidding."

Right, right, I said. You'd expect you'd know at that point.

Is that a litterbox?

"I was having trouble with my keyboard. I plugged it in and then I unplugged it and jiggled it around and finally it was working, so I sent my reply."

That's good, I said. Sucks when ye olde keyboard is on the fritz.

Tom shook his head. That wasn't his point. He says, "Here's the thing-- when I actually looked at what I sent, instead of sending 'I'm in!' I sent two cat emojis."

Oh, I said.

"I sent another message real quick, like 'I don't know how that happened!'
He hasn't written back yet."

I laughed so hard the neighbors' dog started barking.