Two For One

Matt Powers had bought a newspaper and a cup of coffee and come to the park, where he could sit in the shade and read as he enjoyed the hot beverage. He'd been divorced for two years, and his days were mostly empty, so he invented such routines as enjoying his daily newspaper over a cup of coffee in the park to fill the vacant hours. He liked the park's shade trees, flowering shrubs, and green grass. He also liked being surrounded by families and by single mothers and their children. He didn't feel as alone or lonely, surrounded by young women and laughing, shouting children.

Today, there was an especially good looking woman to ogle. He wasn't making much progress in reading his paper. Instead of scanning the headlines and perusing the articles that caught his attention, he found himself studying the young brunette with the long, curling tresses. She was beautiful. Full-bosomed and leggy, with a great ass, she had a lovely face, too, with dark Bambi eyes, thick with long lashes. She had a girl with her, about four years old, whom she called Susie. It was her daughter, Matt supposed. After swinging Susie, she played with her on the playground equipment that resembled a gigantic gerbil habitat. Susie climbed through its maze of bright tunnels, to the top of an attached sliding board. She looked down the spiraling trough, and began to cry.

"It's all right, honey," the brunette reassured her. "Come on down."

Susie wailed.

Other kids were stalled behind her.

"Come on down," the dark-haired woman encouraged her again. "I'm right here, waiting for you."

"No!" Susie shrieked. "I'm scared!"

The other children were becoming annoyed. "Go on!" a chubby boy demanded.

"Yeah," another, skinny boy agreed. "Get out of our way!"

"Maybe we should help her down," a freckle-faced redheaded girl suggested. "Give her a little push."

"Don't you dare!" the brunette ordered. "I'm coming up to get her."