The Boy In The Park

Hello future readers!

On Saturday after the cartoons were over, I called up Lisa to see if she wanted to have a picnic in the park. She said yes, so I packed up a lunch and walked to her house. She grabbed a blanket and we walked to Springfield Park. We looked around for a good place to lay our stuff out.

We found a great place under a tree and set up. I brought ham and cheese sandwiches, apples, chocolate chip cookies, and 2 cans of orange punch.

I was a really groovy day. The sun was shining and there was a warm breeze blowing. Even though it's Spring, it felt like Summer was just around the corner. Lisa and I ate and rapped about this past week at school. Then from behind me I could hear yelling and laughing. Danny and Kyle came running up from the other side of the park, flying their toy airplanes. They almost ran right over our picnic!

"Hey why don't you turkeys look where you're going?!" I called after them. Boys! Lisa and I were almost finished, when she looked over by the tree and saw someone standing there.

"Hey Julie, who's that?", Lisa asked, nodding towards the tree. I looked over and saw a boy, about our age that I'd never seen before.
"I dunno", I answered.
"I'm gonna find out who he is", she told me as she jumped up. She ran over to where he was leaning up against the tree.

"Hi, I'm Lisa. What's your name?"
"Marc", he answered.
"Groovy day, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Are you new in town?", she asked him.
"Yeah, we just moved here from Texas", he replied.

"Far out. Springfield's a super place to live.  My friend Julie and I were just over here having a picnic."
"That's cool."
Then I came running up.

Lisa introduced us. "Marc, this is my friend, Julie. Hey Julie, Marc just moved here from Texas."
"Outta site! It's nice to meet you, Marc."
"Nice, to meet you too, Julie."  He had an accent that made him sound kinda like a cowboy. I thought it was kinda neat.
"Hey Marc, we were just finishing up our picnic. Do you want a cookie? It's chocolate chip."

"Thanks", he said taking the cookie. "That's my favorite kind."

"Say who were those 2 guys that ran past here a little bit ago?", he wanted to know.
"Oh those are our friends, Danny and Kyle", Lisa told him. "They're usually not so rude, but they forget everything and everyone when they're running around."
"Speaking of Danny and Kyle", I began, "I better clean up our picnic stuff, before they come running this way again."
I went over to the blanket and started to put away the plates and the food.

And then suddenly a blue toy airplane landed in my cooler bag.

I pulled it out as Kyle came running up to me, all out of breath.

I just rolled my eyes and looked up at him. "Is this yours?"
"Whoops, sorry Julie", Kyle said, taking his plane back. "Say, who's that guy talking to Lisa?"
"His name is Marc, He's new in town." Then Danny came running up.

"Marc, this is Danny, and that's Kyle", Lisa said.
"Hey Danny, hi Kyle. What's happening?" Marc asked.
"Wow, that's a cool accent", Danny said. "Where are you from?"
"Texas. We just moved here 2 days ago."

"So how do you like Springfield so far?", Kyle asked Marc.
"Well I haven't seen much of it, yet. I've been too busy unpacking."
"I know how that goes", said Danny. "It was the same for me when I moved here from San Diego."
"And when I came here from Laguna Beach", Kyle added.
"And for me when I moved here from Florida", Lisa said giggling.
"Hey now, were any of you actually born here?" Marc wanted to know.
"I was!" I piped up. "I'm a Springfield girl, all the way." Everyone laughed.

"So what kinda stuff do you like to do, Marc? Danny asked.
"Oh I like riding my skateboard,  shooting hoops, playing with cars and action guys, and reading comic books."
"Man, you are gonna fit right in!" Kyle said with a smile.

"Hey, wanna see my plane?" Danny asked.
"Cool", Marc answered.

Lisa and I stashed our stuff under a nearby tree and asked the guys if they wanted to play tag

. Of course they wanted to. The boys always jump at the chance to chase us girls.  So Danny and Kyle stashed their planes with our stuff, and we all put our feet in to pick who was it.

After a couple of go-arounds with "Engine Engine Number 9" and "Eeny Meenie" , Marc was the one who was it!

"5....4....3....2...1, scatter!" he yelled. First he chased after Danny and Kyle....

....but he couldn't catch 'em, so he went after me and Lisa!

He finally caught me and I was it. We had a super time. By the time I got home, I was pooped! But it was a groovy day, and we all made a new friend! I think Marc is really gonna dig Springfield.

Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman