Today’s expression: “under the weather.”

Meaning: Sick.

Example: I’ve had a temperature since last night, I didn’t sleep well, and I’m still feeling under the weather this morning.

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“Another piece!” I placed the edge piece on the table and clicked it home. The border was done; now on to filling it in. I had never done a puzzle like this one.

“I wonder how it’s going to turn out,” he said, speaking my mind. 

“Me too. It reminds me a lot of a different puzzle I did in college,” I said. “Except I can’t remember which one it was.”

We labored on and filled the corner closest to him. At this point, we didn’t know which way was up, left, right, or down. He clicked another piece home and stared at the image being birthed before us piece by piece. “Uh…Where did you say you got this puzzle?” he asked.

“The neighbor who just moved away had it at their garage sale. They threw it in with an old vinyl I snagged.” He looked up from the table and over my shoulder, squinting. “What is it?” I asked as I turned and glanced at my kitchen counter and the wall beneath it where an electrical outlet powered our coffee machine.

I turned back to face him and saw the bewildered fear on his face as he held a piece with shaking fingertips. “Let me see that,” I said. It was unmistakable. The same outlet. The same wall coloration. “What the hell?!” I dropped the piece, stood, and crossed the room to peer out the window towards our old neighbor’s house. It was someone else’s house now, as the SOLD sign indicated.

“This is nuts. Why would your neighbor—No. Why would—No, I don’t know, man, this is—” 

“Yeah, I have no idea what this bullshit is, but I’m not havin’ it.”

We stared at the remaining pieces. The colors were clear now that we had the puzzle guide right before our eyes. “So…You don’t want to finish it?” he teased. 

“No way,” I said. “I’m burning it right now.” I started to tear apart the border when I froze. My breath caught after the black pieces became evident. A shadow? I wondered. There are too many of them. They weren’t here before. Are there more now?

I wondered.

“Maybe it’s a picture your neighbor took and they wanted it to be a sentimental gift,” he said to assure himself. 

“No one really like them. They let their grass get too long, and their dogs barked late at night.” I couldn’t help but notice an intense curiosity within me that longed to see the full picture. What form could these black pieces possibly take?

“Whatever, man, if you wanna burn it, let’s do it.” He started to sweep some pieces back into the box. I stopped him.

“Let’s just see what these black pieces are for. There’s nothing black in my kitchen, so I don’t—”

“What are you talking about, black pieces? Don’t play with me, man, you seem too serious right now.”

Riddle:

I always fall down but never get hurt. What am I?

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A+