TOWN PARK PLEASURES

Short Story by Sarah Joy Holden.

Coral was a prolific writer in her mid-fifties living in the county town of Duvetdale. She lives opposite the beautiful town park where she often visits, either to the park itself or just as a cut through to the town centre. There is always something going on in town officially or non-official. Nobody misses a trick. It is a small town with a big community heart, everyone looking out for each other.

On one particular damp and miserable day in December on a Wednesday afternoon: Coral was walking through the park on her way into town. As she walked through the park, a chorus of birds sang from the trees. They were making a right racket. Yet she couldn’t Identify them, because they were high up in the trees. She paused and sat on a park bench because a poem line had just entered her mind. You see Coral was a bit of a prolific wordsmith; it didn’t take much for her to come up with something. Wherever she went or whatever was happening she would always find something in that moment to write about.

The chorus of these birds was temporarily interrupted by some shuffling human feet and the noise of a whining dog; which the owner paid little attention too. Coral sat a little longer, the dog and its master moved on. Once again, the birds’ song could be heard; the park keeper passed by and they exchanged a polite ‘hello, and good-day’.

Whilst sitting there in the park, the church bell struck three and this sent these birds and their song into a startled and frantic chirping. She knew it meant the kids would soon be out of school. Another sound of footsteps passed by and a large fluffy dog greeted her. As she looked up, she recognised its owner, it was the town clerk, they exchanged greetings and Coral made a fuss of the dog. The town clerk moved on and she found herself sitting alone once again. In the distance she could hear dogs greeting each other and the voices of the town clerk and park keeper exchanging friendly banter. Coral started to feel a little cold and so she decided that it was a good time to move and proceed with her day. But as she got up from the bench, she noticed the back of her jeans where slightly damp (she’d been sitting on a damp park bench).

She headed out of the park and into the town, she hoped if she moves fast no one might spot the damp patch on her jeans. Once in town Coral completed all but one of her errands. She had spent longer than expected in the park. She had seen an advert on the television for something and fancied it as a treat for herself, this was her main reason for coming out. Sadly the item wasn’t in store.

Now looking at her watch she realised it was actually only two o’clock and not actually three o’clock. The school children wouldn’t have been coming out of school just yet. So Coral heads back towards the park, as she crosses the road, she sees the town clerk and his dog once again. Now heading back through the park, this time without stopping. It’s getting a little colder and she just needs to get home. She passes the same trees as before, and those birds are still chirping away.

Finally she reaches home; the front door leads in to the lounge, It feels warm and cosy, as she had left the lounge fire on low. She gives a sigh of relief and congratulates herself for actually going outside instead of being stuck indoors. Here she removes her coat, hat and scarf. Then heads into the kitchen and makes a cup of tea, but without that little treat to have with it. With her brew in hand she heads into the lounge and places her cup on the coffee table. Here she kicks of her shoes and puts her feet up on the sofa.

She opens up her laptop, being careful not to knock the cup of tea flying. Making herself comfortable, she begins to pen a story. She could handwrite it in her writing book but she chose to write it out on the laptop instead. This is her story that you’ve been reading and where only the character and town have changed to fictional names.

THE END