At the Park

Time has a funny way of passing. Sometimes it feels like it's just dragging by, the hours moving so slowly it almost makes us tired. Then other times it flies by so quickly that we can hardly believe it has passed at all. A week and a half seems to some an eternity, to others a speedy trip.


“Hey, you got those hotdogs?”

“Who took the lighter fluid?”

“Anybody got matches?”

“Where are those extra chairs?”

“I could use some help over here!”

“Phil back the pickup truck here so the coolers are closer.”

“Has anybody seen Jen?”

Family chaos in the park was only chaos to the outsider. But to the Mitts family, it was normal. Kyle, Phil, Jen, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all dragged picnic tables together, prepped grills, got out food and spread blankets on the ground.

“Are we gonna swim yet?”

Kyle looks down at his seven-year-old cousin and sweeps him up for a short airplane ride. “You hot or what, Bub?”

Tommy squeals and giggles. “Yes!”

“Well me too. Let’s go see if we can get that pool open so anybody can go for a swim.” Heading toward the pool, he stops and points. “Hey, look! It’s Katie and Scott. We’ll take a detour to say hi to them first.”

Approaching, Kyle gives a wave. “KT! Scott! How’s the engage-ees doing?”

Scott smirks and holds up a couple bags of potato chips, his other hand holding Katie’s. “We come bearing food.”

“That’s always a plus.” Kyle grins and points to where most of the people are gathered. “Just toss ‘em anywhere up there. Tommy and I were just going to open the pool. It’s a warm one today. I think by tonight everyone will have taken a dip whether they came prepared or not!”


Carson leans back against the tree in the shade, watching everyone scurry from a short distance away. There were several people here from TJY now and he didn’t feel so out of place, but it did feel a little odd to be here. He’d only decided to come since so many people had asked, and it was something different to do. He’d opted not to get involved too much though, sticking close to Misty as she took it easy.

It did feel a bit good to get away from things for a little while. After spending several days with Misty at the hospital, then spending half the time at home and half the time at her place, still job hunting, just sitting down and doing nothing for a while didn’t feel so bad. Relaxing came just a little easier now that he knew Frankie had been shipped to the Utah State Mental Facility and Morgan was behind bars. That was one big stress removed.

Dressed in a t-shirt and khaki cargo shorts, his sunglasses shade his eyes and he rests his head back against the hard bark. Turning his head he looks to Misty. “Not too hot in this spot…you doing alright?”


Jason winces as he gets out of his truck, his knee turning the wrong way. “Dang it,” he mutters. His whole day had been like that. Since he’d rolled out of bed, nothing had gone right. He’d overslept, his shower had gotten stopped up, he’d stubbed his toe on his dresser, he’d gotten to work late, he’d fouled up something for Reese, he’d forgotten to call someone at another TJY base, Rick had told him that his knee wasn’t healing properly, he’d lost a whole file of computer records, his phone had gone dead, and he’d jammed the copy machine three times. A twisted knee just added to the misery.

“You okay?” Camryn comes around from the other side.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Jason grumbles. “Just run on ahead, I’ll get there in about an hour.”

Camryn rolls her eyes. “Take your crutches, move yourself and quit whining. We’re here to have fun, remember?”

“Oh yeah…fun.” Jason heaves a sigh and grabs his despised crutches. “Lead the way.”

“No, I think I’ll walk beside you instead.” Camryn throws him a sly grin. “I came along to be WITH you, not in front of you.”


Con slings an arm around Jamie’s shoulder as they walk across the grass from the parking lot, to the group gathered at the far end in the wooded park.

“Con, Jamie, glad you could make it,” Mike greets them. He looks to Con with a smile. “You’re just in time to help move some picnic tables.”

Con chuckles. “Sure, as long as Jamie doesn’t mind fending for herself for a few minutes.”


Bret slows his car as he drives past the park, glancing at the activity going on. It looked like some kind of private party. It was a perfect evening for it. Though hot, it would be one of the last good days of summer to take advantage of.

It was also a good day for finding things to do as it came, as he and Charlotte were doing once more.

Looking out the window, he spots a familiar person. “Hey, it’s Con.” Bret turns and grins at Charlotte. “Heads we stop and crash the party to say hi to him. Tails we just honk and wave.”


“You can put the chips here, and the salads over here, be sure they stay covered until we eat to avoid the flies…” Kyle, Phil and Jen’s mother busies herself around one of the tables, directing Aerith and Wyatt. “And Wyatt, you can help Mark get started with those grills – he can’t start a fire if he got paid to do it.”

Wyatt throws Aerith a grin to show his amusement at the organized chaos. It was fun to get away from everyday life for a while. He’d still been spending most of his free time with Aerith. Lately it had been to lend a shoulder as she faced her family and buried her grandmother. Now that she was cleaning out her grandmother’s house, he was gong over to help her, knowing it was hard for more reasons than one. But tonight…tonight it was all about relaxing and enjoying themselves in the midst of friends. “Well then I guess I better go show him how it’s done, huh?”

“As long as you don’t tell him I sent you,” Nancy laughs.


“…and then I thought I’d better call her back because…oh, there they are.” Laura points out the window, directing Nate where to park in the gravel lot. “Looks like they got a nice bunch of people here…I’d feel strange, but Kyle insisted that even though their family is the host that everybody and anybody was welcome.” She grins at Nate. “Thanks for coming along…I needed time away from the office.”