L'esprit de L'escalier

Today’s prompt: “That snappy reply you never had a chance to say”

The French have a phrase, l’esprit de l’escalier. It translates roughly to “staircase wit,” and means the perfect rejoinder to something someone said to you, but that you thought of too late, at the bottom of the staircase as you were leaving the party. When I think of the phrase, I am reminded of my late dog Sarah. Once, a neighborhood cat got pregnant and decided to have its litter under the deck in my back yard. She strolled through the back yard as if it were hers, and if Sarah happened to be out, the cat arched her back and acted so unpleasant that Sarah gave her a wide berth. Eventually the cat and all her kittens left our yard, but long afterwards, every once in a while, Sarah would stick her head under the deck and bark, as if to say, “And another thing!”

And so it is now with you. All these witty comments running through your head as the cult priest drones on and on about the Old Ones this and the Old Ones that. Oh, they’re so old, you think, positively geriatric. Where does one find adult diapers in their size? It’s such a pity you’ll never get a chance to say them, being bound and gagged and all.