A Little Space Tonight

I'm Alex, thirty-two and a software engineer. My girlfriend and I have this thing where once in a while she'll ask me to act like her little brother for an evening. She calls it 'little space', something about letting off steam from work by playing with me instead of worrying about responsibilities. Tonight was one of those nights. We started simple enough, ordering pizza and watching cartoons. But as the night went on, she got into this playful mood where she made me do little things like crawl under tables to fetch her snacks or wear mismatched socks just because they were funny. It felt strange but also strangely freeing. When I'm 'little Alex', it's okay to act silly and not have any grown-up worries for a while. That's the beauty of playing pretend with someone who understands.