"Here we are!"

Evan and Ellie strolled through the carnival's entrance, just two drops in a flood of people. Jaunty music, chattering voices, and sweet scents filled the air... electric street lamps provided the illumination, and some even had tinted coverings on them to produce light of different colors. About two dozen small stalls formed a wide ring, each with its own purpose. One sold snacks and souvenirs, another was a mock archery range, and yet another was home to an old fortuneteller. Ellie crinkled her nose at the woman.

"Probably a fraud." she said. Evan laughed.

In the middle of all the activity was a mountainous tent, one that dwarfed any Evan had seen at the marketplace. Stripes of red, white, and cyan ran over it, and at its summit was a banner that waved in the warm summer wind. Evan identified it as a Republic flag, and that made sense: the troupe that would be performing tonight was from there. He had read that on one of the ads.

As they strolled through the fair, Evan played with the necklace in his pocket. The girl hadn't said anything about it yet, and honestly, Evan was just fine with that. Happy, even. This could just be some nice time alone with Ellie, something he had dreamed about for weeks.

"Ever been to a carnival before?" he asked. Ellie, who was observing her surroundings with interest, shook her head. "Oh, they're the best!"

"What's that thing?" the girl tugged on his sleeve, then pointed.

Evan looked over. A huge, winding line of people stretched nearly from the entrance up to something in the distance. Against the dark night sky, it appeared to be a collection of bright, slowly spinning lights. But Evan recognized it immediately, breaking into a grin.

"Oh man, it's already open!" the girl looked over at him for an explanation. "They've been building it a long time, they already made one over in the Republic. It's like, a big metal wheel that you ride on."

"Wow..." the girl had to stand on her tiptoes to see the top of it. She could spot them now, the little cars that held passengers as they were brought up into the sky. "It's so high up..."

"Wanna go on?" Evan nudged Ellie with his elbow. Her expression didn't change.

"Well... what else is there to do?" she said briskly.

Looks like someone's afraid of heights. Cute.

"Oh, well, there's games and stuff. And a show, too." he said. "And we can get snacks! You hungry?"

Ellie stopped in place - they were in front of one of the stalls selling food. She spied someone with a funnel cake, so greasy the paper plate it was on was just short of being see through. Her nostrils flared at the smell of it, and an uneasy frown crossed her face.

"Err... well, they have more than that, right?"

Evan paused... he was already pulling the money out of his wallet to buy his own.

"Uh, yeah, I mean... yeah." he pushed the bills back in.

"How about that?" she pointed to an odd-looking machine inside the stall. Pink letters ran across it's side: FAIRY FLOSS.

Evan and Ellie watched as the attendant dipped a little stick of paper inside the contraption, swirling it around. When he pulled it out, a stringy cloud of pink had wrapped itself around the top of the stick. The guy handed the treat to the little girl who had ordered it, and Evan saw that the pink stuff tore apart easy, like raw cotton. It reminded him a bit too much of cobwebs, but Ellie wanted it... he put down some money. When the attendant handed it to him, he passed it on to her. The girl sniffed it, then pulled off a bite.

"How is it?" he asked. The girl smacked her lips.

"Sweet. Very sweet." she said, rubbing her fingers together. Pink residue clung to them. "And... sticky."

Evan took a piece for himself. She wasn't wrong about it... the sweet stuff melted as soon as it touched his tongue. He had never tasted anything like it before. It was pretty much just pure sugar.

"Say, that's not half bad!" he licked off what was left on his fingers. "I'll take another one!" Evan reached for his wallet, but was soon stopped.

"Here." Ellie pushed her treat towards him, a grimace on her face. "Just take mine."

As time passed, Evan was beginning to get the impression that Ellie wasn't enjoying the carnival as much as he was. She didn't like any of the food, the music seemed to annoy her, and she had even got pissed off at him after he peeked inside the belly dancers' tent. The whole time, she barely said anything... why did he have to be so bad with girls?

Quietly, he peeked around at the different stalls, trying to find something that might appeal to the girl.

The fortuneteller's? Yeah, he already knew her opinion on that...

Face painting? Probably not, but she'd look cute...

One of the games caught his eye: you just had to wing a baseball at a triangle of milk bottles. If you knocked them over, you got a prize! It seemed way easy.

Alright. Evan rubbed his hands together. He'd win her a nice stuffed animal... what could go wrong?

"Hey, let's go over there." he said, setting off before he was even done his sentence. Ellie followed him up to the game without a word.

There was a guy in the middle of playing when they got there. Eyebrows furrowed, Ellie studied the game as he wound up and pitched the ball towards the milk bottles. It hit straight on, but bounced off without even budging them an inch. 

"This is a scam." her words came late, as Evan was already laying down a few bills to get the next game. "Those bottles are fifteen pounds each."

"How can you tell?" Evan asked. One game consisted of three throws, and the guy was on his third. Once again, the ball was about as effective as a slight breeze.

"I've heard about these games." she said tersely. "They give you a softball, too."

"Next up!" the game's attendant called out. With a sigh, the man who had been playing tossed the ball to Evan, who caught it with ease.

Damn, she's right!

It was like he was holding air. His stomach dropped a bit, but he was fine... he could figure something out.

This definitely doesn't meet regulation standards... what's this even made out of, cork?

"You gonna throw the ball, kid?" the attendant asked, tapping his foot impatiently. He stood behind a small wooden counter, which served as a barrier between Evan and the three bottles. They sat on their own table a few yards away. Missing them wouldn't be an issue, given the distance, but actually knocking over was a different story.

"Yeah, yeah." with one hand, Evan tossed the ball up and caught it a few times, both to be showy and to try and get used to the weight of the thing. "Alright..."

No point in delaying it, he supposed. Stepping back, he gripped the ball tight, then jolted forward and let it fly.

History repeated itself.

As the attendant handed him another ball, Evan fought to not look back at Ellie. Out of all the different stalls, he just had to have picked this stupid rigged game! Fidgeting with the baseball, Evan tried to think up a strategy.

Hmm...

The milk bottles were stacked up in a way that resembled a triangle, two on the bottom, one on top. But one of the bottom two seemed to be slightly ajar... he got it now. The guy hadn't been resetting the game with each new player. Over time, it had been pushed out of place. If he could just whittle away at that one bottle, he might have a chance at winning.

He took out his wallet.

"Hey, can I play again after this?" there was no one in line behind him, so the attendant accepted his money without a second thought. Out of the corner of his vision, he could see Ellie rolling her eyes. He just smiled.

Evan took the next ball with renewed confidence. He aimed for the ajar bottle, and made sure to put a spin on his throw. While one hit didn't do much, five in a row did. Once again it was hard to look back at her, but a stealthy peek at Ellie confirmed that she seemed impressed with his problem-solving. The attendant only realized his mistake on ball number four. When the milk bottles finally fell, he wasn't surprised.

"Alright, alright..." the man crouched down, rustling around for something unseen. He came back up with a tub full of stuffed toys in his hands, letting it drop on the table with a thud. "Take your pick."

Evan stepped aside, gesturing to Ellie. "All yours, madame."

She spared him a laugh. It didn't take her long to select one of the toys - she took a little yellow bird from the top of the pile.

"Thank you." Ellie said, tucking it into her purse.

Excited to try out another game, Evan looked around at all the different options. But, before he could make a decision, Ellie made one for him.

"Hey." the girl was pointing over towards an archery range game, one Evan remembered seeing from the entrance. It was pretty popular. "Can we play that one?"

"Oh, uh, sure!" Evan said.

glenn-fletcher

Don't know if I'll continue this story, but I had this completed chapter laying around, so why not post it for the 0 people who care.