# A Day At The Park

Title: A Day At The Park
Status: Complete
Characters: Anon, Amber Naser, Ozzy
Rating: SFW
Classification: One Shot
Author: Anonymous
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July twenty-eighth, Sunday, year 201M2031 BC. Another blisteringly hot and aridly dry day in Volcaldera Bluffs, at least with that heat also comes a bright and sunny day with no clouds in the sky. I’m driving down the highway, on my way to see my brother-in-law who I haven’t spoken to in quite some time at this point. Not for anything negative, just lost touch due to a lack of-.
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“Daaaad! How much longer until we get there?”
a young voice pipes up from the backseat, reaching a red light I turn to face her, the second joy of my life, my daughter Lucy. Smiling that beautiful bright smile as she kicks her legs back and forth in her car seat. She was a spitting image of her mother, beautiful in every way, every day I get to spend with them I could count as a blessing from Raptor Jesus. Unfortunately, Fang couldn’t come along as well, with school right on the horizon they had the teachers of Volcano High working double time to go over curriculums and events
I smile at her and give her a prompt reply, “Just a few more minutes, I promise.”
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“You said Uncle Naser is going to be there, right? What about Aunty Olivia, and Ozzy?”
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The light switches to green, I return my focus to the road but reply to her all the same, “Ozzy will be there, but Aunt Olivia had to go with her father on a trip and won’t be able to be there.”
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She gives me a slight pout upon hearing that Olivia won’t be there, but shoots a reply I was all but expecting, “Ozzy and I can play pirates and princesses together, right dad?”
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“Of course sweetie, just so long as you two don’t run out too far, make sure either I or Uncle Naser can see you two alright?”
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“I won’t run off this time dad, I promise!”
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“Atta girl.” I smile facing forward as I pull up to the parking lot for the park, I knew that reply could only be half trusted deep down, she’s as much of a wild child and rebellious spirit as her mother was in her teenage years. Keeping an eye on her is a full-time job top of the job I already had, but it’s a job I’m more than happy to do. I put the car in park and climb out, giving myself a short stretch before going to help Lucy out as well, undoing the belt and getting her out of the booster seat I carefully lift her up, eliciting a short laugh from the young ptero as I gently set her down on the sidewalk before shutting the car and locking it. I take her hand in mine, leading her along into the park towards the kids play area, it had been equally long since I had been here as well, with how sporadic my work schedule was year-round it tended to be Fang who would take her on these playdates as I’d often be stuck working on the weekends they planned for.
I lead my daughter along into the park, before long arriving at the spot where I was supposed to meet with my brother and his son. It's a nice little cutout in the sprawling park: a nice view over the waterfront with assorted covered picnic tables for families to stop and eat at, benches, and a sizable playground for kids of most ages: jungle gym, swings, slides, you name it. Before I had too much time to really take it all in the voice of a small boy, accompanied by the poking of blunt plastic to my thigh, quickly drew my attention away from the view,
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“Yarrr! Hand over the princess landlubber!”
I look down in the direction of that prodding to spot my nephew, Ozzy, lightly jabbing at my leg with a plastic cutlass. He bore so much resemblance to his mother, though the crest poking out of the top of that shaggy hair of his was a dead giveaway to who his father was. Before I had much time to greet the little tyke, Lucy had blurted out a statement of defiance, “You’ll never take me alive pirate!”
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The pair started to essentially dance around my legs, Lucy using them for cover while she ducked back and forth as Ozzy kept poking around and chasing her, the mixture of giggling laughing and ‘yarrs’ was soul-warming, it was impossible to not break a full-on smile and begin chuckling a bit myself while watching the pair go at it. Eventually the pirate did end up catching the princess, causing her to let a playful yet ear-piercing shriek, I watch on as Ozzy takes my daughter “captive” and leads her over to the jungle gym he so kindly refers to as the brig as a familiar voice jokingly remarks to me from nearby,
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“Looks like the pirate caught the princess yet again, ‘ey Anon?”
There he was, former track star, current surgeon, and my brother-in-law, Naser. His fashion sense still clearly as terrible as ever, always seeming to have a thing for floral print tops of all kinds, grey slacks, at least his shoes these days seemed somewhat sensible instead of those overpriced Kanyesaurus abominations he had back in high school. He walks over to me with a smile on his face, large black aviators concealing his eyes, I extend my arm out to him offering a handshake, reciprocating his smile to him.
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“It’s been way too long, Naser. How’s life been treating you the last half a year?”
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Naser firmly grasps my hand and shakes it, quickly responding to my question, “I can’t complain really, it’s been smooth sailing for the most part, especially with Olivia being able to take as much time as she is to watch after Ozzy, definite relief on my shoulders in the event I get called in to perform surgery of some form.”
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“That doesn’t keep you too terribly busy, does it?”
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“Sometimes it can, it really depends on what the situation is, if I’m needed for more than one case, stuff like that can really add to the time I’m on the clock. Guessing your job is still as off the wall as ever, isn’t it?”
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“You could say that, I got a job with a studio thankfully but it’s all just working whenever I’m needed, pays well though so I don’t have to worry about any lulls in workdays.”
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Naser gives me a nod and a short pat on the shoulder before walking over to sit on a nearby bench that looked on towards the playground our kids were messing around on without a care in the world. I follow suit, sitting down next to him and relaxing back against the warm metal of the bench.
“So, everything okay with Olivia? Just wondering why she couldn’t tag along with all of us today.”
He gives me a slight chuckle before responding lightheartedly, “Yeah, she and Mark are out on some trip, going to catch some metal concert a few towns over. Basically left me alone looking after Ozzy for the weekend; what about Fang, she busy at the school today or something?
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“Yeah, classes are just a few weeks away so they’ve got all the teachers in to go over curriculums and what not. She did tell me to say hi to you for her, as well as to grab some pictures of the kids playing to send while she’s stuck dealing with tedium all day.”
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“Well tell her I said hi and sorry that she couldn’t make it.” A chuckle escapes from him after completing his response, potentially caught on the same thought as I am of Fang groaning while Principal whoever-it-is-now goes over all the stuff each class has to cover in either an overly cheery or completely bureaucratic manner.
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“You know, Anon, it’s been over a decade now since you and I went to this park, nearly this same spot in it no less, bring back any memories?” he asks me calmly, turning to face me as the discussion draws back to our high school days.
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“Yeah, I remember Fang being moments away from murdering Naomi multiple times. You still got that leopard print mankini she mentioned?”
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I watched with a bit of a cocky smirk as the color quickly drained from his face, before one of his hands slid up to hold his forehead,
“No I do n- of ALL the details you could be bothered to remember that’s one of the ones that stuck?!” He turns his head away from me, groaning as he looks up to the blue skies above, likely questioning Raptor Jesus to when he’d be forgiven for past transgressions.
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I reach an arm around behind him and pull the sulking pterodactyl in closer, “I remember it being a fun double date overall, and that we ended up getting VVorm Drama their first real venue that night, the look of pure elation on Fang’s face when I told her is something I’ll never forget.”
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Naser was slowly coming back to Earth after his being attempted to be anywhere other than next to me, letting out a short and deep sigh as he looked out at the playground again once more, at this point it was the princess attempting to catch the pirate, as Lucy had somehow procured the sword and was chasing him down across a rope bridge, high pitched battle cries included.
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“I remember driving Fang home that night, she couldn’t stop shaking for a moment, talking my ear off the whole way about how great it had gone and how everyone in the crowd loved it. Going on and on about what she wanted to do next, wondering where they’d play next, I swear she probably didn’t get a single hour of sleep that night she was so fired up.”
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I chuckle a bit at the thought of it, she probably kept everyone in that house up all night for all I know, she rode the high of that concert for weeks after. “Remember prom? You wore some suit that made you look like you were auditioning for a Miami Vice reboot.”
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Naser starts to chuckle before giving me a measured reply, “Oh my suit was tacky? What about that tuxedo you wore with all the wine stains on the sleeves from your ‘important announcements’?“ before he burst out laughing, I couldn’t help but join in with him, even if was at my expense.
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“The same announcement I almost drunkenly made at my wedding before Fang nearly choked me out with my own tie?” I continued, still trying to reign in my chuckling and sides before continuing the conversation, “I still remember the gifts as well: your dad got me golf clubs, Rosa got Fang and I some expensive flowers, Stella gave me some anime I still never watched, Reed and his pharma money bought some big television to put in the new home, Trish gave us both personalized pendants. And of course, how could I forget what you got me?”
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I elbow Naser a few times, trying to goat him into saying what he got me as a wedding gift himself, before he begrudgingly decides to accept it and put it out there,
“I got you a bottle of ‘Skinnie Whisky from the Hood’.” He chuckles a bit more, shaking his head as he though back to the gifts given in the past, like that monkey jacket I still kept tucked away in my closet in a garment bag, I ended up keeping that bottle he gave me though the whisky inside it was long gone by now.
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“Thanks for helping keep me posted while I was out at college, must’ve been nice being able to go to med school locally.”
Naser returns a warm smile and a short nod, “It has its ups and downs, didn’t need a dorm and got to stay with my family when Fang needed me around the most, but Raptor Jesus I will not miss the commute to downtown Volcaldera every time I had to go to classes, had to leave home thirty minutes earlier than expected just to get there on time.”
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“At least you didn’t have to deal with campus meals for the most part then, overpriced and under seasoned trash it was. I was probably healthier at the end of the day buying those instant meals and ramen packs than I was trying to wrestle nutrition out of the stuff they served.”
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Naser leans in with a grin, patting me on the shoulder,
“Yeah yeah, couldn’t be any worse than that slop they called vegan options back at Volcano High though, could it?”
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I would laugh at his response but I half to prevent myself from retching first, visualizing that off-color gruel looking nonsense they served so often in that line, how could they ever get a meal like that approved by a school board, no less what kind of sane person would even cook it when shown the recipe? I take another glance over to check on the kiddos, still there and still as lively as when they started, the two of them racing down parallel slides before Lucy dashes off to a small climbing wall with Ozzy giving chase, having recovered his sword from her at some point.
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I let out a soft sigh as I recovered from the thought of vomit inducing food, trying my best to reminisce about much better things than death on a plate,
“At least I was able to come back during the major breaks to spend time with you all, really helped with keeping in touch and seeing where people were going in life. One of those beach trips was when I found out you and Olivia had started dating, and now here we all are.”
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“We really hit it off, ended up getting hitched while I was still in med school, haven’t looked back once to even wonder what it would have been like if I tried stick with Naomi.”
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I grin, thinking back on Naomi, getting back at her during prom and all was great, seeing that look of frustration as Fang stole her spotlight on the stage that night was priceless. Even if she had pushed Fang and I together back then she did an equally terrible job of making Fang herself happy. Everything Naomi ever did was more about herself than anyone else, and I’m glad Naser finally realized that when they split. By this point in my thoughts, I 've swapped my smile for more of a scowl, realizing just how close Naomi was to truly ruining everything for Fang if neither of us became privy to it, if-
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“Hey, Anon, everything alright man?”
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I’m dragged out of the dark recesses of my mind by Naser’s query, back into the bright gleaming light of the sunny day, shaking my head a bit back and forth as I look back over to him.
“Yeah, just thinking about some bad memories from the past, nothing to worry about really.”
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He immediately sees through my dismissive remark, chuckling a bit as his hand reaches over to pat my back,
“It’s over how Naomi nearly ran you and Fang into the ground isn’t it? Might as well just let it go at this point, thankfully she’s not our problem anymore.”
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“Still with Kanyesaurus I bet, wonder if he’s going to try yet again in ‘32, bombed out hard this time around so I’d be surprised if he even tried.”
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Naser gives me a nod of agreement, looking back out upon the playground where our kids are before turning to me,
“You know, I don’t think I’ve given you enough thanks for all the help you gave us back then, not just Fang, but all of us really.”
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I feel like I had heard that enough by now to feel I had earned my thanks, but Naser seemed insistent on continuing with his statement,
“I just tried my best to be me, to help out where I could with what I felt could handle really.”
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“Yeah, and you did that instead of just sitting back and watching everything fall to pieces, you stepped up. The choices you made that year saved Fang from likely becoming some tattoo covered down on her luck girl who could only get stage time in shady dive bars. The band still exists today because of you helping them out, it may just be only a hobby for them now but Fang Trish and Reed still love every moment of it.”
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“Oh come on Naser, don’t act like you don’t help the band as well, half the time you are moonlighting as an agent for them to get them those shows in the first place, give yourself some credit as well!”
He shakes his head at my response,
“Anon where do you think I’d be if you didn’t help out as well? I’d probably still work in medicine but I’d spend a lot of my time just checking patient intake to make sure my sister didn’t turn up badly hurt or worse.”
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Just having these thoughts implanted in me of Fang going down such a path was sickening enough to me, her becoming just another drug addicted dino, working less than stellar jobs she doesn’t care for, giving up on music as a whole. How would I even approach her if I had made the wrong moves in my life and caused that? How would I even go about making things right be her if that had happened? Whatever, doesn’t matter and thinking about it doesn’t change the fact that she didn’t end up going down such a path, she’s happy and full of life today working a job she’s passionate about with friends and family she holds dear to her. Just then I hear a short text tone coming from my phone, pulling it out of my pocket I notice a new text from Fang, speak of the angel.
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>Hey dweeb, got a pic of the kids having fun for me?
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Of course, she wanted pics, right forgot about that. I draw the phone up and select the camera while spotting the two tykes messing around, at this point I assume the pirate and princess have settled their differences as they were joyfully playing with a seesaw together. Lucy must get her energy from her mother as well, by now I would have probably keeled over on a swing gasping for air and begging for mercy. I snap a couple of pics of the kids before sending them off to Fang, imagining all of the cute noises she’s likely going to make upon seeing them. I return my phone back into my pocket, smiling warmly as I continued watching the two play.
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“You ever miss the days where you could run around without a care in the world, Naser? Back when there were no responsibilities and you could just enjoy yourself day after day?”
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He looks up to the sky, contemplating the question a bit before replying back,
“Yeah at times I do miss being able to just do what I wanted day in and out, but I wouldn’t trade what I have now to go back to them.”
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“No way I’d want to go back to them now, I’d give up every last bit of free time that I have in my life if it meant getting to spend the entirety of it with Fang and Lucy. The two of them mean the world to me, I can’t imagine going forward in life without them in it. I bet you feel the same way towards Olivia and Ozzy, don’t you?”
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“Without a doubt,” Naser replies with a short chuckle, “I’d work every day of my life from here out to keep them safe and provide for them, even if it meant doing something I don’t enjoy as much as what I do now, it’d all be worth it for them.”
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“There’s a lot of good times behind us at this point, but that doesn’t mean that there won’t be more in the future of course. It’s good to remember them but we probably shouldn’t dwell on the past for too long.”
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He nods while following along with my philosophical mumbo jumbo before replying and continuing it, “Best to focus on the days ahead and what we can do to make them just as special as the days gone by, especially for our families, make sure every new day is a diamond for them.”
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It’s hard to not laugh at his response but I manage to rein myself in enough to avoid it. Taking another glance over at the kids I see them together on the swings, side by side, faces full of joy. I can’t help but just sit there and watch, seeing Lucy and Ozzy enjoying themselves without a care in the world, I’m nearly moved to tears just thinking of all the things there is left to do, with my wife, my daughter, my family. My thought time is once again interrupted by Naser, giving me a stiff pat on the back, smiling over at me
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“You wanna go join them, Anon? We’ve been sitting here chatting for fifteen minutes now.”
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I return that smile right back to him, along with that pat on the back before standing up, “Yeah, I think we should.” Naser follows suit, standing up with me as we head over to the kids to join in on the fun.
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Our kids.
My family.
My happiness.