Good Gnus by Terry Rainey

“The rain came down like gnus and yaks. You said that. And I was the only one who got it. It was then that I knew. Knew why we met.”
“I like word play. So do you. I used gnus to draw you in. You gnu? Me too. Now we can yak all day.”
“See how you do that? So easy. Like we’d met long ago. Back in time. We find fun in both good gnus and bad gnus. It’s all good when we chat. “
“I knew as soon as you hit the city. I said that is one guy I have to meet.”
“But I was shy. And the new guy in town. What role did I have? Did I fit?”
“More than most. Don’t call it fate. I had a plan. Wily girl that I am. Hid the four-leaf omen in my shoe. Saw blue sky turn to dusk. Had to wait for dark. You know the rest.”
“Fate was on our side, even if you don’t call it by that name. More luck than fate. When it got dark, I felt your hand in mine. Then I knew the way.”
“So what do you say? Can we make this last? Or will it all fly away into thin air, fade from view like a sand dune in the wind? I’d like to try. Rest my head next to your head for a time. Reel out a pun or two. Make it real.”
“Yes, I’m here to stay. Rest your body on mine. All else will fade from view. Even if the wind blow and the dune turn to dust, we see with the same eyes, hear with the same ears, live in the same soul.”
“I won’t fear the dark now you are near. You read me like a book, each page a new tale.”
“Lay down with me. As the rain hits the roof, I will spin you a yarn of gnus and yaks.”
“And I will tell you one of a man, once a mere boy, now a poet and a king.”