Ice Cube Wars

I realise that I said that I'm too busy to post, but I have a paper to write over the next 24 hours (due 3 weeks ago), and I have writers-block, so I need to get into a writing frame of mind - thus this post.

When my parents - Mum and Charlie - visited me in Japan the other day, they stayed in a hotel located near my dormitory. There was nothing special about the place (and no, it wasn't a love hotel), but it did have 3 elevators... lined up in a row. "So what?", you ask. "Big deal", you say. Well, with my family, whenever there is three of anything, it lends itself to being the basis for a competition. So with these elevators, my parents and I each selected a particular elevator, and we would press the button, and if our elevator came in first, we won (there was no actual prize, as such, but we did get to point and laugh at the other two as though they were losers and that the whole competition actually mattered). Sometimes, if we got on at different times, it would be a race up to the 6th floor, where they were staying.

This one time, I got on the first elevator, and mum caught the second one while Charlie went to go and get the key from the reception. Now another important feature of this hotel, or the 6th floor actually, was that it had an ice machine. I, personally, have no use for ice but to use it for its very effective projectile function when I hurl it at people. So, being the first to the 6th floor, and mum quickly in tow, we raced to the ice machine to fill our paws will ice cubes to throw at Charlie when he got off his designated elevator. She stood with her back to the wall to the left of his elevator, whilst I stood against the wall to the right - our hands getting numb and wet from the ice cubes.

Mum had a better vantage point to throw the ice at Charlie, and as the elevator doors opened, she started to move. Like a panther - smooth, quickly and deadly - she hurled an ice cube with frightening accuracy (she's had practice, clearly) and her aim was true - or at least it would have been had the person that got off the elevator first been Charlie. Instead, some little old Japanese lady, 1 foot shorter than Charlie, who was dressed all in black and had probably just been to a funeral, all distressed about losing a loved one, got off an elevator only to be greeted by some foreign lady pelting her with ice cubes.

Actually, it may have just missed her face, but I wouldn't know because I saw only part of it - it all happened in slow motion. As the doors opened, I heard a ladies voice talking. I knew that it was probably the lady I saw in the lobby just a minute ago, but I couldn't get the words out of my mouth quickly enough to tell mum, and I only got to see her let loose the ice cube before I spun around - facing the other way, doubled-over against the wall, trying to hide - doing my best not to giggle. All I heard was mum saying "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry". We both burst out laughing once we made it to the safety of the hotel room.

Sigh. Who's going to throw ice cubes at little old ladies with me now that my mum has gone?

------------Exhibit #1: I caught my mum red-handed--------------

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