Stories From Summer; Stranger Tales From The Summer of '85

28. Having a Picnic

28. Having a Picnic

🔆🔆🔆

With El spending the majority of her time with the Party™, Hopper wanted to spend some more time with his daughter, and the best way that he could think to spend more time with her is to take her on a picnic.

And when he put this idea forward to El, she smiles happily and jumped onboard to his idea, liking the idea of spending some time with her father.

🔆🔆🔆

Thanks to Joyce, she had made Hopper a picnic basket for the father-and-daughter. Which Hopper was extremely grateful for. When Hopper produced the picnic basket and showed it to El, she perked up happily, running away from Max and looked into the elegantly crafted basket.

Hopper smiled down at El, and shuffled her back to Max's side, and kept the basket in a cool and dry place (like Joyce suggested), and allowed his daughter to spend some more time with her girl-friend.

🔆🔆🔆

When it was time for Max to go home, she collected her backpack and skateboard, and El kept waving at the fading image of her best friend after she was just a small speck in the trees.

She turned around and looked at her father when she saw him with the picnic basket hanging from his hand, and a blanket under his arm.

"Ready, kid?" He asks, shutting the cabin door behind him, and smiling down at his daughter.

🔆🔆🔆

Hopper got El to hold the basket as he set the blanket down, and was handed back the basket. He set it on the floor and sat down on the blanket. El watched him and copied his movements by sitting down on the blanket by crossing her legs as she went.

He opened one side of the basket and pulled out the sandwiches and the drinks. Then he turned the basket around and pulled out the rest of the food in the basket.

"So, what do you want to try first, kid?" He asks as El looked over all the food that has been sat in front of her. She didn't know what she wanted to try first but picked up a familiar ham sandwich.

🔆🔆🔆

Hopper and El had almost finished all of their food when the heavens opened and it started pouring down with rain on top of them.

Hopper quickly packed the remaining food (as well as the few wrappers they had left out because they didn't want to litter the forest they live in).

"Come on, let's go back, kid," Hopper said, balling up the blanket they were sat on, and they made a run for the cabin, laughing as they went.