Day 139: 26 March 2026

 Short Story -- The Picnic

Her favourite part of spring was seeing the trees bud and blossom. It was all of the green.

Today she was treating herself to a day out. A day outside. The sun was shining. The birds were swooping and soaring and singing. And it was the perfect temperature: warm enough for sandals and cool enough for a jumper if you were in the shade.

She packed everything she’d wanted into a small backpack and was walking to her favourite park. It was along the river. The nature was beautiful. The city wasn’t far away. And there were always plenty of interesting people to watch.

She was now sitting on a small blanket in the sun, listening to the gentle sound of the water. She’d pulled out her picnic: a sandwich, some crisps, some fruit, and a chocolate brownie for dessert all packed in neat little containers. She’d also set to the side her current read and a journal.

She was indulging in a cosy mystery read at the moment. It had an extravagant setting and a quirky cast of suspects. She was quite enjoying it!

She has just about to start eating when she heard a splash.

She looked towards the river expecting to see that a dog had jumped in. This park was popular with dog walkers.

Instead, she saw the fleeting of shimmers of what looked to the largest fish tale she’d ever seen. The scales appeared an iridescent grey-blue. They were there and they were gone. She sat stunned. That must have been a ginormous fish! The tail had looked feet long!

After watching the water a little longer, she took a bite of her sandwich — simple, classic: ham and cheese on sourdough — and opened her book.

This time, she didn’t just hear the splash, droplets of water sprinkled down around her.

She tried to shield her book with her sandwich, looking towards the water again.

She heard a giggle. And saw what appeared to be the same tail again diving back under the water.

How deep was the river at this point? She wondered to herself. It must be deep to be home such large fish. And what about that giggle?

‘I’m going mad,’ she said aloud to herself.

She looked at the river. Seeing nothing more. She took another bite and picked up her book again.

The rest of the day passed without any more mysterious splashes, giant fish or droplets of water on her book.

But as the years passed, she would think back to that day from time to time… and wonder about the river and what sort of human sized fish it must be home to. And she could still hear that giggle, if she closed her eyes. And she'd shake her head in disbelief.