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By Keri Kelly

“I had an interesting conversation with an actual human today,” I said.

Since we were in a COVID lockdown, reciprocal conversations were about as rare as spotting a pink dolphin.

“Who?” my husband asked, his forehead wrinkled with confusion.

“Denis. He was talking about The Beatles. He said that their song, Two of Us, was a nod to the Everly Brothers’ harmony. Denis also said that Lewis Carroll inspired John Lennon, and for a bit, Lennon wrote songs just for fun, using Carroll as inspiration. He wanted to play with people who began analyzing the Beatles’ lyrics in a literal way.”

“Which song?”

“I am the Walrus.”

“Where’d you see Denis?” he asked since we weren’t venturing much further than the grocery store these days.

“While I was riding….” Suddenly, my cheeks flushed, and I felt just like I did when I stood in front of the entire fourth grade and flubbed my That’s What Friends are For solo. “I’m not sure.” I concentrated on twirling a spaghetti strand around my fork avoiding eye contact.

“What else did he say?” he asked.

“I forget.” I mumbled, keeping my head down.

Oblivious to my obvious embarrassment, my husband shoveled spaghetti into his mouth.

The next day, I entered the tiny room where I’d set up a cheap Amazon spin bike. I balanced the iPad on the plastic tray and tapped on the Peloton app before climbing on.

“Hey, Peloton Friends. It’s Denis Morton here.”

“Hello, Denis,” I said back to the screen and laughed at myself. “It’s good to see you again, my friend.” Then, I climbed onto the bike and enjoyed another interesting conversation with my imagined companion.

— Keri Kelly 

Keri Kelly is the creator and founder of R U Joking. She's an award-winning author, comedy writer and mom. When she’s not creating, Keri can be found surfing small Jersey Shore waves with her family and fist-pumping. Learn more and say hello at www.kerikelly.com.