One Swing Between Two

There is one swing in the yard, and Alice and Petka reached it in the same second. The counting rhyme does not settle it, rock paper scissors draws five times running, and the swing hangs empty while the two of them hold the ropes.

There is one swing in the yard. Alice and Petka grab the ropes in the same second and both shout: "Me first!" After that they just stand there holding on: Petka pulls his way, Alice pulls theirs, and the swing goes nowhere. The counting rhyme lands on Petka — so the rhyme was wrong. Rock paper scissors draws four times running, and on the fifth both show rock. This is not even funny now. And the swing hangs empty, swaying in the wind: nobody has sat on it at all. Alice looks at the empty seat, then at Petka, red from arguing, then at the swing again. Arguing turns out to be duller than swinging. Alice lets go of the rope: "You go." Petka is so surprised he sits down beside it, lands in the sand and laughs. After that they take turns, twenty counts each, losing the count every time. And by evening they are swinging standing up, both at once.