Me: "Hey, Alma. I flop over and be dead at you now. After 7 years since this story first bit me, on the fifth? sixth? try... You remember how I started this sucker from when it wouldn't leave me alone while I was trying to finish another book? That was back in November 2021, and I've been trying to finish it since? Is finally done!"
Alma: "Congratulations!"
Me: "The next time I pull out an old unfinished story and tell you I'm going to salvage it and finish it, shoot me."
Alma: "Nerf or water?"
Me: "Taser."
Alma: "OK!"