One Day in Summer

One Day in Summer

  A Short Story

  By Garry Grierson

  Copyright 2011 Garry Grierson

  The proper dress can be crucial to a period traveller; one mistake can get a person noticed for all the wrong reasons, thought Aran.

  He stood in front of the hall mirror, checking each item of clothing. Last time, he had almost worn his ‘Screaming Darns 2040 Tour’ t-shirt with the moving video-transfer.

  Navaya always wore the same pink dress when going to the gardens. She waited behind him, fidgeting with her low-cut neckline as she swayed back and forth.

  “Come on, come on, lets’ go. You’re as handsome as you’re ever going to get, lover,’ she said.

  He sighed. “And you’re going to moan a lot, and spent too much money.” He slipped his hand in hers as they stepped through the front doorway.

  “Oooh, hand in hand,” Navaya cooed.

  “Behave. We’re due to gate in twenty minutes, and I don’t want you getting lost, that’s all.” He smiled.

  The New-London gate-port stood in the middle of the recently re-opened Diana memorial park, where it loomed over the surrounding buildings.

  They arrived, still hand in hand. Navaya gawped at the assembled throng, as they moved slowly towards the three shimmering white portals. As always the surreal sight of the departure queue greeted them. A happy murmur of excitement rose from the line of bizarrely dressed people. There were people in numerous different period costumes, some were naked, and some had even been surgically altered.

  “Oh, look at the donkey-man.” She jumped up and down whilst clapping her hands.

  Aran sighed and shook his head. With his elongated snout, ears and other appendages the donkey-man was indeed a sight to behold. But as always he thought her cheeriness misplaced. This was not a jovial outing.

  ##

  William Lawrence lay on the grass under a tall leafy tree, silently tapping out a rhythm with his fingertips. He watched two young boys play in a flower bead. Kevin Arnold Andrews lay beside him, staring into the blue sky.

  William broke the easy silence. “You know what?”

  “No. What?”

  “Hey, you know this reminds me of the first time we met at primary school.”

  Kevin laughed. “Yeh, I remember. Right out of the blue, this funny little kid came up to me and asked if I’d be his friend.”

  “Well, you said yes. Hey, remember we lay in the sun for ages and I got burnt. We ended up being an hour late for afternoon class. We used to sit and talk about how much better things would be when we got older.”

  “School was ok, but University isn’t what I thought it would be,” said Kevin.

  “What, warm girls and cold beer, kev?”

  “It’s been more like cold girls and warm beer.”

  They lay under a small clump of trees. William took a small sketchpad from his hip pocket and began drawing a nearby couple. The woman in the pink dress looked very vivacious. They seemed to be arguing about something. He looked at Kevin. “You not hitting the science stuff today then?”

  “Nah.” Kevin smiled. “Extracurricular activities day today. I thought I’d give it half an hour then hit the pub.”

  “You wanna go get a sarsaparilla and whisky, par’ner?” William said in his best John Wane impression.

  “Yup, are you coming?’

  “Just the way I’m sitting, dearie.” William pursed his lips and blew a kiss. Kevin gazed at his shoes, pretending not to see the gesture.

  William pulled his legs up into a tight lotus position, and bit his lip hard as he took in a deep breath. “Kev,” he said slowly.

  “What?”

  William twisted his body, crossed his fingers and looked at the ground.

  “Kevin, I have to tell you something.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, I just have to say something. You’re my best friend. Please, always remember that. And I’m your best friend. I always have been and always will be, and, and…” He choked. “And…” He looked away. “And, I love you.”

  Kevin turned chalky white; his jaw hung open as he stared. Of course he knew, William had been his best friend for most of his live, and he knew…

  “Well, say something,” William prompted.

  “I, I’m not...” Kevin’s words faded to an unintelligible mumble.

  William jumped to his feet; his arms drooped by his side. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean, I… You don’t…” He stopped and took a deep breath.

  “I’m off to the pub then, you can join me if you like,” said Kevin.

  He stood up and ambled across the park, towards the stone steps leading up to Princess Street.

  William fell back on the grass as a tear rolled down his flushed cheek.

  Wiping away the tear, he noticed that the woman had removed her pink dress. She now wore a small yellow bikini. He stared as she went past, walking in the same direction as Kevin. Her partner lay asleep on the grass.

  The woman ignored his starring, but walked close enough for him to smell her expensive perfume. She bore a striking resemblance to William, in-fact she could have been his sister.

  “Kevin might love me if I looked like that,” he mumbled into the wet Kleenex.

  He closed his eyes.