A Story starting with ‘I saw…’

    I saw an ice cream peddler surrounded by happy kids. I would love it if I have an SLR camera to capture the whole scene in front of me. The colours are just so rich! The sky is so blue, the blouds clumped together but not too much so that sunlight passes through just about enough. The grass is so lush and green, the pond so blue.

    A small toy boat got pushed into the pond boy a little boy in a red cap. I saw people playing all around me, laughter filled the air and everyone is just having a great time. Someone started to play a banjo and jumpy tunes joined the fun of the time.

    I smiled and turned around to my own pack of joy. A picnic is ready to be unfolded. A piece of red and white cloth spread on the ground. Food and drinks placed on top of it. A whistle told me to lookup and I saw him wearing a casual top and beach shorts, looking relaxed and totally comfortable with himself.

"So, the idea is to sit under the sun, getting a tan or possibly a sun burn and maybe contracting a skin cancer and eat all the food we have here?" he teases me for my back to nature ideas.

"Oh, shut up! Sit down and enjoy the scenery!" I laughed and sat down.

    A familiar soft sound of music reached my ears. Smiling, I wonder what song is that. Straining my ears, I realise that it is Against All Odds by Westlife. I love almost all Westlife's old songs, except this one because it features Mariah Carey. However, today, it just seems right. Wondering where it came from, I turned to him and saw him working on a mini portable radio. I laughed out loud and he looked up in surprise.

"Have you ever heard of a phone?" I laughed. I know I will annoy him by doing this because he have a better phone than I do and that radio is an effort he made for this picnic, but I just couldn't resist especially with his facial expression like he is asking me a question. Laughing again, I said,

"Well, thank you, I love this song."

Sniggering, he answered,

"I know."

    I am such a sucker for Westlife songs when I am in the mood and this is definitely just the time to be in the mood. Smiling, I put a chocolate covered cherry into my mouth. I felt him coming beside me and lying down, relaxing. I looked down at him and dipped another cherry into the chocolate.

"Aeroplane coming!" I said and deposited the cherry into his mouth.

"Hey, watch out!" a voice sliced the surrounding noises.

Huh?

    I turned just in time to see a black and white football ball land on a container. Luckily, the container is closed, so no harm was done.

"Sorry!" Came the voice again. I looked up and saw a guy coming our way to collect the ball.

"No problem, no harm done," I said and passed the ball to him.

"Wow, nice little picnic you have there, isn't this place just fabulous?" the guy started a conversation.

"Yeah! Totally fantastic, the peace, the laughter in the air, the wind," I replied dreamily. He laughed, extended a hand and introduced himself as Christan. We introduced ourselves too and after a few exchanges, he invited us to play ball with him and his friends. We agreed and after keeping all the food in the car, joined them in their game.

    It was a fantastic day. If a person would have taken pictures of us, I can imagine it to be him sliding and falling down on the ground, of me kicking the ball, of others playing and laughing all around. It rained all of the sudden in the middle of the game. As others ran to take cover, we walked to the nearest shelter slowly, arms linked.

    When we finally reached the shelter, the guys took the food we have in our cars and we started to eat and chatted there. Once, a girl offered me a strawberry. Before I could answer, he told her that I do not like strawberries. Smiling, I looked away, pretending not to hear.

    He has always been the one that knows me best and he knows that too. I hope I can say that I know him a lot too even if not as much as he does me. Then it was time to go home. By the time we reached my house, it was already dark. I was about to get down from the car after saying good bye when he pulled me and hugged me, and it was just so predictable, I laughed out loud.

"What?" he asked, surprised. I laughed again.

"Well, you may be the one that knows me best, but you are the most predictable to me," I replied.

"I am not predictable," he smiled.

"Oh, OK," I answered and mumbled, "We will see about that."

"Bye!" I said cheerfully and leaved the car.

"Hey, come here," I heard predictably and went over to the driver's side of the car from the outside. He had his window rolled down. I stooped to talk to him.

"See? What I said about predictability?"

"Ha ha ha, very funny, what am I gonna do next?"

"You're gonna knock my forehead lightly with your knuckles"

    He smiled and did just that.

"Bye," he murmured into my ears and when I stepped back, he drove off.

    Smiling to myself, I spent that night thinking of what a fantastic day that day was.