Brian nodded in shame, blushing. “Let’s just get the blocks out and get rid of this thing,” he mumbled.
“Fine,” Rachel agreed, taking it from him.
For a fleeting second Brian felt an overwhelming urge to seize it back from her, to scream out that it was his. He didn’t want to share the toy, he wanted to keep making all the noises!
It took all his will-power not to yell out, “Mine!” but he held it together. Rachel shook the toy lightly, producing smaller noises. The pull-up clad young man facing them clapped his hands in glee, and Brian shivered in disgust as he realised how he must have looked a moment ago.
“I can’t get it out!” Rachel complained.
“What?”
“The stupid shapes, they’re stuck.”
“You just have to match them, that’s all,” he assured her.
“I know that dummy! I just… I can’t.”
