Through The Eyes Of Children

March 25
Through the eyes of children
We ( boyfriend and I ) went on a shopping excursion today in downtown Portland. We parked in a parking building as the streets were packed with working people and fellow shoppers. It was a busy lot and we ended up parking on the 6th floor.
My knee was acting up so we avoided the stairs and I gimped over to the elevator. Several minutes later the elevator arrived and we packed into the closet sized space along side two other couples and a father with four little girls.
As the doors closed and the "closet with gears" began lowering us towards ground level, I mentally chanted my elevator prayer of " please, God, don't let this thing fail while I'm pressed in with strangers."
Bump...the elevator ground to a halt 1 floor down. The four little girls squealed excitedly at the stop and go movement of our ride peering intently out at the city below.
All elevator occupants eyes slid to the doors as they opened to see who else would be joining our closet commune. No one there. A shallow collective sigh of relief drifted around us as we once again began our journey downward to the street.
Floor 4. Bump (groan) Little girls giggling madly, fellow occupants now sighing with slight rolling of the eyes as the doors open and once again no one is there. I shifted my weight off my aching knee and slid a look at the giggling multi-button pushing culprits. One of the culprits met my look and flashed me a grin, chocolate brown eyes dancing with childish glee as the doors closed and we moved doward again. I felt my lips curling upwards in response to her spontanious joy.
Floor 3. Bump...wild little girl giggles intermixed with irritated adult sighs. All eyes watched as the doors swung open to reveal what we already knew...no further occupants would be joining us.
Two floor delays later I was grinning when our elevator finally came to a halt at our ground floor destination and we all piled out. I reached over and laced my fingers with my boyfriends hand.
"Those little girls pushed all those buttons." He said shooting me an amused look.
Spying my grin he shook his head and laughed. "I knew you were so identifying with them."
I turned to watch people load onto the elevator we had just exited. I thought of the finger I had slid along the numbers of the elevator panel as we piled out the door and laughed.
He knew me well.

HaphazardKat
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