Wiggles arrived early despite prior commitments to misfortunate events prior to his 4th date.
He was sweating profusely. Not because of the heat or anything. It was a cool evening. The pink and orange sunset had faded into an (almost) cloudless twilight sky. The stars coming out. Frogs chorusing from the nearby pond. Crickets chirping from the trees. Wiggles the Clown sweated excessively whenever he got nervous. He did a lot of things when he got nervous. He hoped he would not propose to her again like he did on the first date. She didn't seem to like that. Even if she stuck to him like a burr while giggling. The unlicensed clown got nervous a lot.
Wiggles straightened his posture to peer down the hill, searching for his companion Melo. She was brightly coloured with her stripes and her large patterned hat. Melo would stand out against the inky landscape of the impending nightscape. The silvery glow of moonlight- almost romantic.
Dusting his hands, Wiggles set out two plastic plates and a stack of sandwiches. The edges of the sandwiches oozed thick, golden honey. He learned to make sandwiches just for this occasion. He lost count of the amount of microwaves he'd set fire to trying to cook for his date. He was trying not to get too nervous or else he would throw up. Usually in potted house plants. Dating Melo had gone pretty well considering his 'honesty' in dates 1,2 and 3. Lucky number 4!
Wiggles licked the tips of his fingers and reached up to slick back his short, but scraggly red and purple hair. He sat down cross legged. Something grabbed his shoulders and he jumped. Whirling around when he heard laughter. It was Melo. Identifiable by the brilliant blue of her hair and her iconic purple hat decorated by golden yellow diamonds. Her arms wrapped around him. She was clingy as she was upbeat and positive. She was the lucky one to counteract his unluckiness. Wiggles lived by the motto that if he didn't love anything, he could never get hurt.
Melo giggled and squeezed him tighter from behind, kissing him on the cheek. She rubbed against the pink-haired clown like a cat trying to mark Wiggles as hers.
"Goooood evening Wiiiiggles! I thought you didn't know how to picnic. This looks suuuuper awesome!"
She had brought her own picnic basket just in case. She worked with Clownlings and loved doing that, so she knew to prepare for the worst. The female clown set the patchwork basket -with ribbons bobbed with fluffy pom-poms- down on top of his brand-new woven wicker basket.
"It has a baby! Isn't that cute? See? Hug me!" Melo cheered in the kind of way that only she could. "What's the matter Wiggly Piggly? Is this your first picnic with a...girl?"
Wiggles looked at her with confusion painted on his face like his red lips.
"No!" She gasped, theatrically covering her mouth with her hands. "Is this your first ever picnic?"
Wiggles scratched his head. He had not heard it before, but it was becoming louder than the crickets and frogs.
"What's that buzzing?"
"Buzzing?" He dropped the knife as the cloud of bees formed behind Melo. How could he have been so stupid? Bulging from a fork in the tree was a beehive. There was an enormous cloud of bees. Attracted by the honey. He ran around in a panic like his microwave had burst into flames.
Melo was quick witted. She scooped up one of the honey sandwiches. She threw it away from the picnic. It bounced down the hill. Most of the bees followed quickly behind. Some lingered. Melo grasped Wiggles's hand and ran to the pond she noticed on her walk up to the picnic. She laughed the whole time. She was the happy one. It almost made Wiggles feel something nice.
By the time they climbed out of the pond and started to walk home, Wiggles apologized profusely for the disaster of the date.
"I'm sorry for the whole fiasco. I'd understand if you never want to see me again."
He was used to failure.
She reared up on the tips of her toes and kissed him on the cheek.
"I don't mind."
"How about some pizza?"
"We can order some pizza."
"I don't have money."
"I do!" She laughed, withdrawing a towel she packed into her picnic basket just in case. "Here. Dry yourself. I'll order the pizza. My place or yours?"
"Probably yours." Wiggles admitted as he toweled his electrifyingly pink hair, stark-white face and cherry-tomato red permanent smile. The makeup stayed in place impeccably well. "Mine's…" He paused, thinking of the flickering lights. The vibrations and cacophony of noise as the train rumbling overhead. The demonic cat. His roommate. His constant almost eviction. "...A bit of a mess."
"Because of your roommate?"
"He is a dunce."
Melo giggled behind her hand. "He didn't seem so bad on the first date. He was really funny. A bit of a loony. Definitely NOT Clownling friendly." She did not seem to mind that he -everybody's unfavorite clown- confessed his hatred for children in his dating application. That was what the video was called right? How else would one find love? It wasn't as easy as finding clown shoes.
She twirled around in the moonlight, picking flowers from the sidewalk while she placed the order for pizzas. After the order was placed, Melo stowed her phone into her hat and flopped onto Wiggles the Clown's back with all of the whimsy of a Clowling, begging for cuddles with her large, sparkling eyes. She was super clingy. Wiggles was fortunate that he didn't trip on his shiny, oversized shoes under her weight. She didn't seem to care if he was sweating like a slip n' slide. Wiggles swallowed his timidness, wiping his palms on the front of his shirt and suspenders.
Maybe this wouldn't work out romantically, but the female clown might be worth keeping around. Not in the sense of hiding a dead body with his roommate, but in a 'just friends' way. He didn't have many friends, but Melo displayed an odd charm about her that grew on his cold heart.