A Week at Dragon Park

A Week at Dragon Park

Monday

It was a beautiful June day, the sun was shining, birds were probably singing. I'm sure it was a day made for movies. Had it been a movie day, the female lead would probably be wearing some sort of sundress, yellow, quite likely, carrying a nice big picnic basket and making her way to the park I was about to enter myself. Of course, in the movie, the male lead, well muscled, wearing some roughed up jeans and a slightly too tight T-shirt, his dark hair still wet from a shower, would be waiting for her already. He'd be in the park, probably carrying some flowers, daisies perhaps, to compliment the yellow sundress. They'd embrace, then sit down and enjoy a lunch of apples, cheese, crackers, and wine.

But there was no movie. I hadn't seen a movie in years, at least not in a theatre. And I was wearing my grubby jeans, and old T-shirt with a barbeque sauce stain. My lunch was half a tuna fish sandwich. Canned tuna at that. I hate tuna. And I hadn't seen anyone else in this park during school months in about two years, so the muscley tall dark handsome man of my imaginary movie was unlikely to jump into real life.

I unwrapped my sandwich as I headed into the park. It had been the only sandwich left at the London Zoo cafeteria. Tuna on white, even worse. And it was dry. Lovely.

The bench I'd sat on for lunch every weekday for the past seven years felt rough, but familiar. I took my first bite as I sat down. Yuck. No mayonnaise. I threw the rest of the sandwich into the bin behind the bench and sighed. The day was too nice for brooding, which was too bad. I'm such a good brooder. I have been ever since Philip died. Well, first I'd cried. A lot. I'd nearly lost my job at the London Zoo. Not that it was a great job, who really likes cleaning animal feces? But it was a job I'd enjoyed before. After all my crying, I'd moved on to sleeping. But then my job really was threatened, so I'd turned to brooding. Instead of eating lunch at the zoo cafeteria like I'd used to, I started bringing my lunch to a nearby park. It was a sweet little park, always busy during July and August, when the local kids would climb all over the play structure. That was a big green monstrosity; I was surprised it didn't scare the children. It was meant to look like a dragon, but since the slide was supposed to be a shot of flames coming from the dragon's mouth, I found it a bit creepy, and it reminded me more of a fat lizard. No matter, the park was usually quiet and I found I needed the quiet to brood. And while I rarely stopped to admire the landscaping, it was rather nice.

"Oooh, a dragon, Uncle Charlie look!"

I jumped and looked over to the park gate, where a little girl with bright red hair was running in.

"What kind is it, Uncle Charlie?"

My Movie Man, carrying a picnic basket even, entered stage left. Well, maybe not stage left since it was a movie not a play, but he entered the park at any rate.

"Hmmm... what kind of dragon do you think it is Emily?"

Movie Man had muscles. Yum. I saw them ripple a bit as he used one arm to lift a second red-headed girl off his shoulders and set her down. She ran ahead a bit with Emily.

"Mmmmm, a Welsh Green?"

Muscles, but he was a bit shorter than I'd pictured.

"What do you think Charlotte?"

Shorter, and he didn't have the dark hair.

"Which kind did Uncle Harry fight again?"

His hair was a deep red, but not wet from a shower. More tousled mess, probably from carrying Charlotte.

"A Hungarian Horntail."

Muscled, not too tall, tousled red-headed Movie Man had a sense of humor too. Nice.

"That's what I think it is then. A Hungarian Horntail."

Charlotte gave Movie Man a big smiled and turned to run at the Hungarian Horntail play structure.

"Who's right Uncle Charlie? What kind is it?"

Movie Man set the picnic basket down near a big oak tree, and moved close to watch Charlotte and Emily climb.

"It's whatever kind we want it to be."

Movie Man had a sort of swagger when he walked. It was a nice swagger.

"Let's make up a new breed then, okay?"

Movie Man grinned and held his hand out to help Emily jump from the end of the dragon's tail.

"Okay, where should it come from girls?"

The little bit of lunch I'd eaten tossed around in my stomach as I gazed at Movie Man's grin.

"Godric's Hollow."

If Movie Man's grin tossed my lunch a bit, it had nothing on his laugh. It was more of a guffaw than a laugh, and it sounded so innocent and happy. My ears tingled a little.

"Okay, so what about a Godric Golden?"

The tingle worked its way from my ears a bit further south as Movie Man bent over to catch one of the girls at the bottom of the slide. His rear looked exactly how I'd pictured in the movie. Weird. No, not weird. Nice.

"Golden? No, what about a Godric Galleon Eater?"

So now Movie Man has shown off his lovely, um, assets, and I glanced at his left hand. No ring. Excellent. My ears and, er, other parts are tingling now, my lunch long forgotten, and I realize, this is the first time I've felt attracted to a man since Philip died. A wave of guilt passed over me.

"Or Godric Glumbumble."

The guilt tamed as I listened to Movie Man make the two little girls giggle. His guffaw mixed with the kids' laughter, and I smiled. I smiled, and caught Movie Man's eye. Well, both of them. Both of his deep blue eyes.

"Hullo."

Uh-oh, I'm staring! I'm staring and I've just been caught. Say something, say anything!

"Hi."

I'm a genius. Definitely rocket scientist material.

"I'm Charlotte."

The shorter red headed girl walked over to me.

"This is Emily, one of my big sisters. And this is Uncle Charlie. He's visiting from Romania, and he brought us here for lunch to show us a dragon, since he can't take us to work with him to show us any real drag-"

"Charlie Weasley." Movie Man held out his hand.

"Sarah Pritchard." I held my hand out to meet his.

Charlie's handshake was firm. His fingers were rough and calloused, I wanted to look down at them to try to make out why they were rough, but those eyes were staring right into mine. My ears tingled again.

"Aren't either of you going to say anything else?" It was Emily this time. "You just look like a couple of plimpies with your legs all tied together."

Oh, how I would like to tie our legs together. My left leg and his right...

"Why don't you and Charlotte go get the picnic basket Emily? Bring it over here and we can sit down for a few minutes, okay?"

His Movie Man eyes still hadn't left mine. Another vision of legs tied up passed through my head as the little girls scampered off together. It would be some movie.

"So, dragons. Your niece sure has a great imagination."

Yes! Surely that line would earn me a smile. I'm so smooth! One point for Pritchard.

"Uh, yeah, imagination. You just never know what they'll say." Charlie gently dropped my hand as he gestured toward the girls. "And these are just two of my nieces."

"Just two of them? How many are there altogether?"

"We have three other sisters who aren't here today." The pig-tailed nieces were back. "And Uncle Bill has two more. Well, not two more sisters, but two more cousins. One's a boy though. He doesn't play with us much. Then Uncle Fred and Auntie Angelina have three boys, and they like to play with us. Especially Felix. He's the oldest. He gives us piggy back rides."

"Okay, thanks Charlotte." Movie Man grinned apologetically at me, while rummaging in the picnic basket. "Here you go. Roast beef, just like you wanted. And Emily, here's your tuna fish sandwich. White bread, no crusts, just the way you like it."

"Thanks Uncle Charlie."

The girls must have been hungry, because they immediately sat down side by side and began munching in silence. Wow.

"Sorry about that." Movie Man was talking to me again. Pay attention Pritchard!

"Oh, it's no worry at all. I don't have any nieces or nephews. Or any kids I'm close to at all. I think these girls are sweet."

"None at all?"

"It must seem odd to someone with what, nine nieces and nephews?"

Movie Man grinned. "Seventeen actually," he answered me. I swooned. "Well, for now. My older brother, that's their Uncle Bill, he's got a daughter and a son. Then my brother Fred has three boys. His twin brother George has four boys. And there's my little sister, who's got two boys and a girl, and baby number four on the way."

"Wow. Big family."

"Yeah, everyone with red hair and freckles, save a few of my sisters-in-law and my brother-in-law. The whole clan can be a bit overwhelming."

I chewed my lip, which, along with my ears, was tingling. "So, how many siblings do you have then?"

"Five brothers and a sister. All married, all but one with kids."

"And everyone has red hair? I didn't realize the red hair gene was so strong."

Pritchard scores another point as Freckled Movie Man guffaws again. The guffaw makes me melt a little again.

"Well, I guess it is in our family. Red hair and lots of boys."

Another guffaw, more melting. How hot is it today, anyway?

"What about you, Sarah? Any siblings?"

My name sounds fantastic coming from Freckled Movie Man's lips.

"Well, Movie Ma- um, Charlie, my family is a lot smaller. A lot smaller."

"I used to wish for a smaller family when I was a kid." Charlie smiled at me again, flashing bright white, perfectly straight teeth at me. "I got stuck baby sitting a lot. These days I volunteer." He gestured to the girls who were getting dangerously close to being finished their lunch.

"I'd volunteer to baby sit if I could, but I have no one to sit for." I took a deep breath. It's been a long time since I've talked about my family. "I don't really have a family."

Charlie looked at me softly. "None at all?"

I shook my head. "None at all. I'm an only child. My mother died when I was young. I ran away from my father when I was fifteen, and I haven't heard from him since."

I let out the shaky breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Sorry. I don't usually blurt all that out minutes after meeting someone." I added quickly. I didn't want to ruin this by dumping my whole emotional load on him straight away.

"Hey, it's okay." Charlie's rough hand brushed next to mine again. I looked down at it this time. Rough and freckly. With some odd scars marking the back. "I don't usually list my nieces and nephews when I meet someone either. But I don't often meet people while taking my nieces on a hunt for a dragon."

"A dragon hunt in a park for Mugg-"

"Emily, if you're done your sandwich, do want biscuits for pudding?" Charlie interrupted the older girl, who nodded quickly. "Okay, here you are then. And share them with your sister, okay?"

Emily grinned and moved to sit back with Charlotte again.

"Listen I have to get back to work." I didn't want to, but I had to. "I come here for lunch everyday though, so maybe I'll see you here again?"

I held my breath a bit and looked up at Charlie. Please let him say yes. I want to see those freckles again. Please.

"Yeah, definitely. I'm here for the week, maybe I can bring a different handful of nieces tomorrow."

I grinned. "Tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow."

"Bye Charlie."

"Bye Sarah." Have I mentioned how good my name sounds when he says it?

"Bye Sarah." A higher voice that time.

"Bye Emily, Charlotte. Good luck with your Goodrick Glumber."

"Godric Glumbumble."

"Right. Glombemble. Have fun."

That earned me a pair of grins from the girls. I walked toward the gate. Before leaving to walk back to work, I waved back at Charlie.

He waved back, the sun shimmering off his red locks, his pearly white teeth showing as I heard some birds singing, I could almost picture a bouquet of daisies in his hand. No, not daisies. Yellow looks terrible on me. Roses. A bouquet of roses and snapdragons. That's what Freckled Movie Man would hold.