Another glorious day at the park. The goslings gathered to the call of Father Goose. He had asked that they meet under a huge bridge to start their morning hike around the lake. The Girl was excited for Mother Goose was expected to show up as well.

She told her friend Foxy, “We should be honored for both goose parents will show up.”

Foxy giggled. She was forced out of bed to walk but did not mind. She enjoyed being the “shadow” to the Girl.

One by one, they gathered around. Avocado was absent this time. He must have wanted to sleep late. Who can blame him? Sadly, Mother Goose did not show up either. It appeared that Father Goose had to play the single parent again. Bea was absent too for she was busy eating delicious foods in Japan and taking photos between fat sumo wrestlers who looked like giant babies in diapers.

Thankfully, Suzie-Q was present, as well as Dee-Dee who was ahead of everyone during the hike. Also, Ph-Balance joined them. He was a new favorite by the Girl. She got to know Ph-Balance while looking for parking at MGM, but that is another story. It was an amusing story, and the Girl, Foxy, and Ph-Balance had shared an interesting adventure at MGM’s parking lot. And then there was W who was too eager to run through the woods. He who would never grow old—at least in spirit.

He complained that he looked like a hobo, but Suzie-Q exclaimed, “You look like you are mimicking GQ magazine.”

His jogger pants were dressy-looking, and he was angular and tall.

As they set off, W complained of being hungry while Dee-Dee was walking like a champ. It was amazing that Dee-Dee could beat everyone during the hike. At the mention of hunger, the Girl became ravenous too. She had to pick up Foxy and did not have time for breakfast. She had to rush out the house fearing the wrath of Father Goose—although he never became angry. He was a gentle Father Goose. However, he was very punctual. He jested that he would leave the goslings behind like lost children—like that of Hansel and Gretel—if they should be late. She didn’t bring any breadcrumbs and didn’t want the chance of being left behind.

As the hunky, male joggers ran past them, the goslings pointed them out to Dee-Dee like offerings. However, she shook her head and rejected them for they were not up to her par. It appeared that they were not muscular enough. Her standards were high. Suddenly, Father Goose realized that one gosling was missing. He must have counted heads. He was such a good Father Goose. He halted and looked for the lost gosling, but Ph-Balance informed him that the lost gosling Mango was merely talking to the bear. The group laughed. They all knew what that meant. Soon the lost gosling Mango was rushing toward the group. Smiling with relief, the goslings continued their hike through the forest. However, they did not walk two-by-two and annoyed the other joggers.

The hike was lovely, but the goslings began to tire. When Father Goose suggested they walk another round, the goslings decided that kayaking may be preferable. Immediately, the goslings agreed. W reserved the boats. The Girl could not swim, but she decided that drowning was no longer so fearsome. The Girl trailed behind Ph-Balance and went into his kayak.

He was fearful that the Girl would become a dead weight and asked, “Girl, are you going to help me paddle?”

The Girl was amused. She was strong and intrepid.

“I’m no wallflower. I can help you.”

Liking her response, Ph-Balance and the Girl paired off.

Finally, two-by-two, except for W thanks to Foxy who was cowardly and thus did not wish to paddle, they set off in their kayaks. The goslings glided on the lake, and they were finally in their element. They were where they belonged.

Once on the surface of the lake, the Girl became jubilant. She felt like a swan gliding on the water. Unlike the boat rides, kayaking was different. She felt that she was part of the lake itself. It gave her a different view of nature. It was as if she was looking at a live painting of Renoir. They became the “boating party.” And just like the painting, the goslings were etched in time.

They were getting wet but it did not matter to them. Suddenly, they felt like children again as W’s kayak was constantly bumping into theirs. The Girl and Ph-Balance had to use their paddle to push him away in case his boat would turn theirs over.

W said that he was too tired and hungry to paddle and tried to tag along behind the Girl and Ph-Balance by hanging onto their kayak. Feeling sorry for W, the Girl complied, but she could no longer paddle as well as she did. W was the tallest of them all and thus heavy.

As the Girl tried absorbing the beauty of her surroundings and became dreamy, disturbing laughter could be heard.

The Girl wondered and said to herself, “Could it be?” and turned her head to see Dee-Dee cackling as she was paddling wildly.

The Girl could see that she was about to catch up to their kayak.

Laughing, the Girl yelled at Ph-Balance, “Oh no! It’s Dee-Dee who’s ready to catch up to us. We need to paddle harder, or she will win.”

So, they paddled as hard as they could, but W was hanging onto their kayak like a dead weight, which slowed them down. They could barely move.

Soon, Dee-Dee was gliding past them with that wild look of delight in her eyes. The Girl who was peeved stared at them and saw that Father Goose wasn’t paddling at all but appeared to be resting behind Dee-Dee. All who saw them thought that he did well to pair with Dee-Dee since she appeared to do all the work.

The Girl said, “Look at that! Father Goose did right to share the kayak with Dee-Dee. She’s doing all the work.”

Ph-Balance and W agreed. Father Goose just reclined in his seat and didn’t paddle at all. He had the good life. Poor Dee-Dee looked like the happy-slave unlike the ones on a pirate ship where the pirates whipped their slaves.

All good things come-to-a-close. Their kayaks were rented for an hour, and the four kayaks had to return to the shore. So, two-by-two, the goslings returned to shore. Their muscles were sore. They were hungry. Happily, they went off to Eden Center to eat lunch. The Girl sometimes thought of the Eden Center as the Garden of Eden instead. There were many exotic plants on sale and the air was filled with the scents from afar. Was it also a place for Adam and Eve to meet again? One never knew. All things were possible.

As they sat at the table, Dee-Dee showed them the picture of Father Goose who looked stricken from fear while he was sitting behind Dee-Dee. Everyone blurted out laughing. Contrary to what they all thought, Father Goose wasn’t abusing Dee-Dee by having her paddle alone. She was paddling so wildly that he was petrified. He feared that the boat would turn over and thus was trying to be still.

The Girl laughing exclaimed, “I thought that you had the good life and relaxing behind Dee-Dee while she worked as if she was a slave!”

Again, they all laughed together.

Ph-Balance had commented while on the kayak to the Girl, “You all appear more like a family than friends.”

Indeed, the Girl agreed. Ph-Balance, being a scientist was very observant. As the Girl glanced at her friends, she felt certain that there was magic at that moment. She looked at them and wondered, did good friends make life worthwhile? She had not drunk any wine, but she felt drunk from life itself.

Smiling mischievously, the Girl asked Father Goose, “Could we paddle for two hours instead of one next time?”

The Girl was adamant that Dee-Dee should pair up with Father Goose again.