Mike and
his family climbed out of the car into the summer air. He shut the door and stood looking around the
parking lot. A glance at his wristwatch
confirmed their late arrival at the park; the plan was to meet up in the park
around ten. Not motivated to meet up
with his sisters and their families at a place he had avoided for years he had
found one reason after another to delay their departure from home, figuring if
they arrived about noon they could join in lunch, visit for a bit, let the kids
swim or ski and take their leave before it got too awkward.
“Ready for
this?” Debbie slipped her free arm through
Mike’s, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“As ready
as I will ever be.”
Together
they made their way to the back of the car, opened the trunk and pulled out
their cooler and bags to be taken down to the beach.
“Here,
Matt take these.” Mike said handing the
cloth bags to his son. Matt settled his
backpack on his back before reaching out to take the bags from his father. The firm set of his chin let Mike know he was
too keen on being a part of the day’s activities.
“Anything
else you need a pack mule for?” He asked
meeting his dad’s eyes with a flat look.
“Hey,
enough. Let’s make the best of
this. It’s a nice day and your uncle
will have his boat for water skiing.”
“Whatever.” Matt turned away and headed for the steps
leading down the hill.
Mike
watched his son’s back for a moment before sighing and turning back to the
cooler on the ground.
“Can I
help carry something?” His daughter
asked smiling up at him.
“Looks
like you have your hands full.” He said
taking in the book and water bottle in her hands while he tousled her hair. “Thanks for your offer to help. I think your mom and I have the rest of
it.” He shut the trunk lid, pushed the
key fob to lock the car doors and bent down to grab one end of the cool while
his wife grabbed the other.
“Let’s go
have fun.” He said making a grimace at
his wife. She crinkled up her nose in a
mocking manner, her eyes tinkling with humor at his not so unobvious reluctance
to the day’s outing. He snorted at his wife’s
face making and shook his head.
“Alright,
I will follow my own advice and make the best of things.”
The three
of them followed after Matt. Above them
another cloud floated in front of the sun sending a shadow across the parking
lot, dimming the surroundings and creating a momentary coolness in the air. Mike shivered un-expectantly. He lifted his shoulders a bit and lowered
them feeling a slight apprehension of something just outside his awareness,
something perhaps hidden within the trees to either side of the stairs leading
down the hill or just below the surface of the water glimpsed through the trees,
something unseen he was moving toward.
To Be
Continued…
