A Perfect Day

(This story won third place in "Invalid Item" )

A PERFECT DAY

There is something about a spring day in an apple orchard that's like a glimpse of heaven. And especially this day. This was the day Steven was going to propose to Iris.

As he walked through the trees, he took a deep breath, savoring the sweet air. It was the kind of day that Nature made for just such romantic interludes. The sky was a bright blue, and the steeple of a small church could be seen in the distance.

Steven hopped over a small rivulet that bordered the clearing where he and Iris always had their picnics. She was already seated underneath their favorite tree, a thoughtful look on her face, writing something in her old-fashioned diary, as Lincolnshire Posy played from her portable CD player.

"Not many people still write with a feather," he playfully called out as he walked up. He bent down and gave her a short but sweet kiss.

She leaned back and smiled up at him. "It's not a feather, it's a quill. It's what civilized people wrote with before the advent of mass produced writing instruments."

Steven was spreading out a blanket and placed an odd looking picnic basket on it. The basket was made of yew wood and bound with brass. The inside was lined with a soft, vermillion cloth. The carrying handle was attached to the basket with intricately wrought baby's-breath.

"Specifically, it's a grape hyacinth," Iris had informed him when he had pointed the feature out to her. They had been in an antique shop, and Iris had fallen in love with the basket and all of its oddities at first sight. It was her odd quirks, such as starting so many of her observations with the word 'specifically', that Steven found so endearing. But then, Steven knew there was a myriad of reasons that he was in complete and utter love with Iris.

Iris immediately dove into the basket and excitedly pulled out the prize she was looking for: a loaf of acorn squash bread that Steven picked up in town.

"You might unwrap it before biting into it this time," Steven teased. Iris just stuck her tongue out at him as she unwrapped the loaf and quickly consumed a slice, a blissful smile on her face.

Steven quickly set out the other items he had picked up in the town of Brandon's Cairn. It was the kind of small town that had tiny shops that made things that people came for miles to buy. There was the bottle of damson wine, with a picture of a falcon ("Specifically, a kestrel", Iris would say) on its label. The apple and walnut salad was from the Wandering Gypsy Inn, a bed and breakfast that the couple had stayed at the night before. And for dessert, there was Gram's grape pie, from Gram's bakery. The box had a fir tree drawn on it by Gram's nine year old granddaughter, Juniper, who had assured Steven and Iris that the fir tree was in fact a juniper tree.

As Iris excitedly examined the prizes set before her, clapping her hands like a child at Christmas, Steven once more took in the woman he wanted in his life forever. She was fair-skinned, with her long, dark blond, curly hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.She was wearing a white Aran cardigan and a gold necklace, on which was an old-fashioneded heart shaped locket, which Steven knew held his own picture.

Iris caught Steven staring at her and blushed, quickly turning her eyes back to the meal. There were times that Steven's eyes were so full of love for her that it simply overwhelmed Iris. To try to hide her embarrassment, Iris pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment, tied with a blue ribbon, from the basket.

"What's this?"

"After lunch entertainment," Steven said, with more than a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Save it for after the pie."

It was a lunch filled with laughter and flirting, though Iris was growing just a little impatient with waiting to discover what was on the parchment.

After one more glass of wine, Steven closed the bottle of wine with a pewter wine stopper in the shape of a talon (he had picked it up at the same small winery that he had gotten the wine at).

"So, shall we see what's on the paper?" Steven said with a smile.

Iris laughed. "You know I've been waiting to rip it open." With a laugh, Steven handed over the parchment. Iris quickly unrolled it.

"It's a map!"

"It's a treasure map! See, there's even an X that marks the spot where the treasure is." Steven leaned over and pointed at the big red X on the map. "Well, the first clue anyway."

"A treasure hunt, eh? What's the treasure?" Iris asked, Steven tried his best to look both innocent and non-committal.

"I suppose that's supposed to be Echo Bridge?" Iris asked, pointing at a spot on the map. Steven nodded. Echo Bridge was a small, picturesque pedestrian bridge made out of stone that crossed the creek that bordered one side of the orchard. "And what's this arrow pointing to? Or is it a zenith angle?"

Steven chuckled. "Bear in mind, Iris, that I used my brains, not yours, in making the map."

Iris waited impatiently as Steven cleaned up their picnic area. As soon as he was finished, she almost ran to where the first clue was buried.

In a few hours, Iris would find the treasure. In a small, wooden box, tucked away carefully at the fork of the trunk and a limb of an apple tree, was an engagement ring. The treasure hunt would end with tears, joy, and a promise to spend the rest of their lives together.

It was a perfect day.