Secret of the Puzzling Picnic Basket



"A-tisket a-tasket
A green and yellow basket
I wrote a letter to my love
And on the way I dropped it"






Is that how it went? The song kept repeating in my head while I walked across the burning stretch of sand past the line of empty lounge chairs to check out the large picnic basket that had been left sitting out all day. Well, at least since earlier this morning when we'd gone for a run. I guess it could have been there all night. Looks like a nice one--saw it in the Crate and Barrel catalogue when I was searching frantically for a Father’s day gift last summer. As I remember, they were pricey…can’t imagine why someone would leave it here. It’s not like it’s a small thing you would forget about once you're finished eating.

Bridget told me not to come down here to check it out. She’s standing back on the boardwalk with her cell phone talking to one of her connected-at-the-ears sorority sisters from Ohio State and shouting down to me, "What is it? What is it?" She thinks it’s a bomb. Ready to take a picture if I blow up. That’s just moronic. Who leaves a bomb on a beach by the ocean? It’s not like this is someplace like DisneyWorld with huge lines of people. It’s not even crowded. Probably too early in the season to tell, but still, our bookings so far are really thin. I hope there's not a head in there. That would be smelling bad by now.

I stopped circling the abandoned basket to kneel down and sniff around the wicker sides, standing quickly to brush the hot, prickly grains of sand from my knees. I couldn’t smell anything but fishy smells from the water and the Panama Jack I was wearing. Couldn't hear anything either except the low drone of a waterbike out in the distance and the waves playing tag with the shore. No flies. Even Bridget was quiet. Well, if it was a head it’d be an old dried up one, maybe a shrunken head; not something rotting the flesh off. Leaning over with my face half turned away I slowly lifted the smooth wooden lid to peer inside.

Nothing. It was empty. I didn’t even see any crumbs or old wrappers, crumpled napkins. Nothing. The basket looked brand new; the chambray liner still crisp and creased and, in the curve of a corner, an ivory colored business card that read, “Don Shoemaker, Regional Sales Manager, Thompson-McConnell Cadillac, 1195 Redbank Road, Dayton, Ohio 41074”.

Well that's weird. Dayton's my home town, but there's no car dealership at that address. That address is our parents' street and house number.

Comments

  1. Is this true? Or did you make it up :-)? Very brave of you to open the basket, I would have to. If the story is true it is a mighty weird thing. Did you take the basket home?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not true other than I saw a fabulous picnic basket like this in the Crate and barrel catalogue. Just a writing exercise using three random objects. I believe my next one is "beetle, playing bridge, Amazon River, and survival." Be afwaid, be very afwaid:>)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, great little story, I was riveted!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew it was too weird to be true, but you had me going :-). great story.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now that you've ensnared our curiosity, what about the rest of this short story of great promise?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm not sure. I'm waiting for the characters to tell me something, but they're not talking. To be fair, I haven't been giving them much attention. There's other stories that have butted in front. Me thinks, though, there's mischief afoot.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have chills.

    I came over from David's blog. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've arrived from David's blog. You justly deserve the Post of the Day award. This is a wonderful piece of writing, the story well-told and captivating! I'll be back for more!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

Popular posts from this blog

A Year with EB White

The Poet Goes to Indiana by Mary Oliver

Goldfinches by Mary Oliver