Overheard

Tonight, sitting on the patio with Dunc, who was watching a bunny scamper across the parking lot, several of the neighborhood children were playing on the grass down below. They each carried a small toy sword that someone had wrapped in colored electrician tape: one neon blue, one dark red and one bright green.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," one little boy exclaimed.

"You can't be Luke Skywalker. You're black," his white sister told him.

"There's no color in space," another boy, the youngest of the group, corrected her.

"Fine, then Zane can be Luke Skywalker, but I'm Princess Leia."

"No," Zane told her. "You have to be Darth Vader because your lightsaber is red."

"But my name is Leia," she huffed. "That means I'm Princess Leia."

"Nope," the young one said. "You're Darth Vader."

"Fine," she sighed, swinging her lightsaber with resignation.

"I'm Yoda," the little one said after a moment of thoughtful contemplation. "My saber is green. And I'm wearing green."

"And you're short," Zane interjected.

"I'm not that short."

"Fine. Leia is Darth Vader, I'm Luke Skywalker and you're Yoda."

Leia, still not happy with being assigned the role of the villain sighed. "Whatever. But Duncan gets to be Chewbacca. Because he's hairy."

"And cute," the little Yoda said.

"Now go ask his dad if he can come out and play," Leia said, unaware that we were on the patio listening the entire time.