Friday, December 20, 2013

The war is over, December 20, 2013, at 11:52am Pacific.

Over for now, anyway.

I was standing in line at a cash register, getting ready to pay for something I didn't really need but thought might save a trip later, when this strange, cold feeling came over me.

I was like the movie hero who survives the climactic gun-battle, but realizes a few moments later that there's blood on the cuff of his silk tuxedo shirt. He (or she) has almost made it to safety, but as he stumbles and the camera goes into slo-mo, we suddenly know he's not going to make it after all. Bring up the strings and muted horns on the soundtrack, and get the camera in close for the final line.

I realized I was hearing "The Little Drummer Boy" on the store's piped-in music. The game was over until 12:01am, Friday November 28, 2014.

December 20th is the closest I've gotten to victory in many years. At least there's the cold comfort that I was taken out by the classic version, a foeman worthy of my steel: the 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale.

Until next we meet, Katherine Kennicott Davis.

1 comment:

Darley Ware said...

I am out, today as of 4:30 Eastern. I was watching the movie 42 on my iPad. I paused the show when my son walked in to talk with me, my iPad betrayed me and started playing Bing Cosby's Little Drummer Boy. It was the strangest thing.