Finding the Right Place

      It was a pleasant and sunny morning in Meridell. Melanie was lying in her large bed looking through the window while the rays of sunshine were gently touching her face.

      "Here we go again." Melanie heavily sighed. Melanie, was an adult white Kacheek with brown hair. She was very creative so she was supposed to organize a picnic for her and her friends. It was the end of the Summer and her vacations were almost over. It was the time of the year that Melanie organized a picnic with a different theme and location. She had been doing so for the previous five years. She was the best at organizing their little parties and she was always looking forward to do so. For some reason this year she wasn't quite happy about it, though. She couldn't find inspiration and she was lacking of fun ideas. Lucy was meeting her shortly.

      "Time to get up and get things done, I guess." Melanie said as she was slowly getting up from her warm bed. She went to the bathroom, grabbed a pink brush and while she was brushing her hair, Melanie looked herself into the mirror. "I'm getting old." she sighed.

      Melanie got down the stairs and when she was going to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast, the doorbell rang.

      "Just a minute, please." Melanie shouted as she dragged herself to the door.

      When she opened the door, a ray of sunshine lighted all the hallway. It was indeed a sunny morning and so it was the perfect day for a picnic. A little Cybunny dressed in a fussy red dress was standing in front of her.

      "Hey Mel! How are you today?" Lucy asked as she was already hugging Melanie. "Ugh, can't believe you are still on your pajamas!" Lucy complained with a cheerful smile on her face. Lucy was a very friendly yellow Cybunny, with curly brown hair and rosy cheeks. Like all the Cybunnies she was short and very energized.

      "Hello Lucy. You came earlier than I expected." Melanie babbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

      "Right. Groceries shopping went faster than I expected! I already bought everything for our picnic, I guess I didn't forget anything." Lucy claimed very excited. "Lets see... I bought bread, ham, peanut butter, you love peanut butter, right?" Lucy listed the groceries with a big smile on her face. "I also bought lots of yummy cheese, apple juice, orange juice for Bella, strawberries, blackberries... I may have bought more stuff but I can't recall everything." Lucy finished.

      "I can't believe you bought all that stuff alone! Wasn't Sasha supposed to go with you?" Melanie asked outraged. It wasn't typical of Sasha to not be helpful when she was needed. Sasha was very generous and hardworking and that was a particular thing that Melanie always appreciated in Sasha.

      "Oh you silly, of course we went to the store together!" Lucy said. "I left her in her house. She's preparing the sandwiches as we speak. The food is all set. We are just waiting for you to decide what will be the theme of our picnic." Lucy said. As Lucy was speaking Melanie grabbed a chair and started eating her breakfast.

      "Right, the theme..." Melanie slowly answered, trying to sound a bit distracted. "It's not that I forgot about our picnic, that could never happen as I waited all the Summer for it. It's just..." Melanie said while eating a spoon full of her favorite cereals. "I am not feeling very inspired to decide on a theme this year, I am sorry." Melanie finished her sentence with another spoon of cereals.

      "What do you mean you're not feeling inspired?!" Lucy yelled out of frustration almost knocking over a chair. "We are all waiting for you."

      "I know and I am really, really sorry. It's just that nothing excited happened this Summer. To be honest it was a boring Summer, so I didn't really got any ideas for our picnic." Melanie said, trying to contain her tears. She stopped eating, her throat was so tight she couldn't eat anymore. As she finished her sentence, she got up from her chair and ran to her bedroom crying. She couldn't hold the tears anymore.

      Lucy was shocked and stood petrified in her chair for a second without knowing what to do nor what to say. Lucy shook her head, trying to get back to reality and when she was preparing to follow Melanie the doorbell rang once more.

      "Like I needed more problems..." Lucy squealed while she was heading to open the door.

      "SURPRISE!" A pink Aisha happily shouted at the door, waving a little hand and exposing an arm adorned with gold bracelets.

      "Oh, hello Bella! You look so pretty today! I mean, you look pretty every day." Lucy said feeling a bit jealous. In front of Lucy was standing a blonde and elegant Aisha dressed with a white and turquoise dress. Her sandals were matching her dress and she had a little white flower on her hair.

      "Really? You are just too kind, Lucy." Bella said as she entered the door. "You're looking good too. Where is Mel? I thought she was ready. I can't wait for our picnic, I am so excited!" Bella claimed, exploding with enthusiasm.

      "Speaking of our picnic, we have a problem." Lucy rapidly said as she was heading to Melanie's bedroom. Bella decided to not speak and hurried to followed her.

      As they were climbing the well polished wooden stairs it was possible to hear Melanie crying in her room.

      "I am so sorry." Melanie sobbed when they entered in her room.

      "That's fine, Melanie. Sometimes we have bad days but thankfully we have friends to cheer us up." Lucy serenely said, trying to tranquilize Melanie.

      "But, but... I ruined our picnic..." Melanie couldn't hold the tears and started crying louder.

      "You didn't ruin anything!" Lucy and Bella said at the same time.

      "It's not because we don't have a theme for our picnic that means it is ruined or that will not happen!" Bella said while she suddenly stood up. "We adore you and we loved every picnic you prepared so far. But we also understand that you are feeling down today and so it is our task to prepare something special for you." Bella said while Lucy was hugging Melanie tight. Bella joined them for a friends hug and went to Melanie's closet. She came back seconds later with a lovely orange dress and a pair of yellowish sandals.

      "Here, dress this. It will go perfectly with your soft brown hair. Get ready because we are going outside." Bella said decided as she grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her down stairs.

      Sasha, the Faerie Draik was busy cleaning her kitchen. Sasha was a great cooker and she was also very organized, that was the reason why she was always chosen to prepare their meal for the picnic. Sasha was the oldest of all three, it was possible to spot some white hairs on her beautiful long black hair. Behind her pink apron she was wearing a short blue dress. She just had to retouch her makeup to go meet her friends.

      "Knock, knock!" a voice sounded behind the door.

      "Just a second!" Sasha replied. That voice was familiar, it was Lucy's voice. She thought it was weird and almost impossible because Lucy and her planned to meet in Bella's house.

      "Hi Sasha!" the three friends yelled at the same time.

      "Hello darlings! I am not ready yet but I promise I won't take forever. Where are we going? I can't wait for our picnic! What shoes should I put on today?" Sasha said as she greeted them with hugs and kisses.

      "This year, we are not going anywhere..." Lucy started but was quickly interrupted.

      "What? What do you mean? Are we going to have a surprise picnic or what?" Sasha asked with curiosity and fear at the same time.

      "Nah... There won't be a surprise for anyone." Bella continued.

      "Are you guys joking? What's going on?" Sasha asked petrified. The smile disappeared from her face. All that time cooking was going to end in nothing.

      "I am sorry Sasha, it's all my fault." Melanie placed in front of the others and started apologizing. "I wasn't in the mood for a picnic this year, I couldn't even decided on a theme for our little party." Melanie continued.

      "So now you are telling me that we are not having a picnic this year? After all the effort I've put into preparing our food?" Sasha angrily replied. "Ok, let me calm myself first." Sasha said as she looked for a comfortable chair to sit, it was just too much information at the same time. The three friends entered Sasha's house.

      "I am not telling you that there will be no picnic. I am just saying that I didn't plan anything special for today." Melanie sadly said trying to justify herself. "I am so sorry, it's all my fault. I am sorry you had all this trouble for nothing." Melanie said and started crying.

      "What did we tell you, Melanie?" Bella happily asked Melanie while giving her another warm hug, trying to comfort her. "Everything has a meaning, so it wasn't all for nothing! Right, Lucy?" Bella blinked her eye towards Lucy.

      "Bella is right!" Lucy confirmed and asked, "Sasha, since you have a beautiful garden we decided to enjoy this sunny day and do our picnic in your place, what do you think?" Lucy finished her question with a huge smile on her face.

      "Oh, that would be wonderful!" Sasha claimed amazed. "It would be a shame to miss this beautiful day. We can totally do the picnic in my garden, I'd be honored to be the host this time!" Sasha proudly said, "I'll be right back." Sasha said and vanish into the kitchen.

      "Do you need any help?" Bella asked as she followed Sasha into the kitchen. Lucy and Melanie looked at each other, grabbed the blankets that were sitting in the sofa and went to the garden.

      It was lunchtime and the four friends were sitting on a comfy white blanket in Sasha's garden, under a giant pink umbrella with purple beads. They were eating their ham and peanut butter sandwiches and talking frenetically to each other.

      "See, Mel? It wasn't that hard after all." Lucy said rubbing Melanie's back.

      "You are right, Lucy. You three are the best friends I have!" Melanie replied with her eyes shining of happiness. "Today, undoubtedly was the best picnic ever!" Melanie declared as she took another bite in her peanut butter sandwich.

      The End.