There is a cove about forty minutes south of the good brunch place, and on Tuesday a gift card turned up on the flat rock where everyone keeps their things. Nobody saw it arrive. Nobody has stopped talking about it since.
The one on the warm rock found it first, which she says settles the matter. She also says she found the good parking spot, the better oyster bar and the shortcut past the kelp, so her record on finding things is strong and her record on things being hers is less so. She has not moved from the rock. She considers that an argument.
The one who runs the group chat took a different approach. Three polls in two hours. Should the card go to whoever has the most recent birthday, whoever swam the farthest this month, or whoever has been through the most lately? The third option is winning by a wide margin. Everyone voted for themselves.
The one who swam out past the buoys at seven this morning has no idea any of this is happening. When she comes back she will have opinions, and most of them will be about the polls.
Brunch was moved twice during the discussion. It has not been cancelled, because nothing has ever been cancelled over a disagreement in this cove, and a gift card is not going to be the first.
Here is the part nobody on the rock will say out loud. The card was never for any of them. It was for the woman who has had the same tee open in a tab since spring, who closes it every time someone walks past, who knows exactly which one she wants and will tell you she is still deciding. You know her. You might be her. Somebody is going to end this debate by handing it to her, and she is going to wear the tee to the next brunch and say nothing about it, which is the whole point.
A Mermaid Dayz gift card comes in four sizes, works on everything in the shop, and never goes on sale, because it is already exactly what it says it is. The cove has been informed.
Written by Mermaid Dayz. Thanks for reading.