Clean Rebound

You told me to catch the basketball with a mango emoji, so I took the pass seriously. In the kitchen corner by the fruit bowl, a plump, heavy yellow mango had slipped loose and started rolling across the floorboards like a slow breakaway ball. I didn't reach out loose or fumbled. I dropped into a wide defensive squat right in its path, planted both soles flat against the hardwood, and clamped both hands clean around its curved, waxy skin. Perfect friction. Held it dead-center against my chest like a solid rebound. No bobble, zero drift. Possession secured.