Nikki vs Rikky

Chapter 9 - The Carnival

Nikky woke up in hope that it was just a bad dream but everything was the same. The mirror stood erect at its place and her girls’ room on the other side of the mirror was empty.

She sat up feebly against a tree and sought for water. Excessive exhaustion had left her dehydrated. Nikky peered down the hill and what she saw left her spellbound. She rubbed her eyes twice to make sure it was real. Nikky was indeed in Fantastica.

Huge carnival rides, ice cream stalls, a balloon man and everything that an amusement park boasted of lay in front of her eyes. The last time she went to a funfair was a year ago and had a fabulous time with her mother. Now she couldn’t wait to go downhill. Besides, she was thirsty too.

Nikky walked a few yards when she realised that she didn’t have money. She thought for a moment. ‘Maybe if I plead I could get a glass of water at the least,’ she said, dishearteningly. ‘I wish I was carrying some money.’

Nikky shook her head and turned back to look at the mirror and the place she kept her hair clip. She couldn’t see the mirror completely from where she stood because a pile of mud blocked the view. An anthill, she thought, and walked off.

It took Nikky five minutes to reach the foothill. She was extremely thirsty by now. She entered a big golden gate and to her luck the first stall that she saw sold water and fresh fruit juices.

‘Can I have a bottle of water, please?’ Nikky tapped the counter where a lady in a red and black uniform was busy arranging water bottles neatly on the shelves. The woman turned around slowly and studied Nikky for a brief moment.

‘Chilled?’ she asked.

‘Yes, please!’ Nikky replied.

The lady handed her the bottle and said, ‘That would be two V-coins!’

‘V-coins?’ Nikky asked in astonishment. ‘I am sorry. I don’t have any money and I am really thirsty.’

There was a mysterious look on the woman’s face as her eyes strayed to Nikky’s pocket. ‘That seems to be bulging, no?’

Nikky was clueless what the lady was talking about. She dug her hand in her pocket and pursed her lips. Her fingers felt something metallic. Nikky couldn’t believe when she took them out. Strange pea-size polygonal metal coins lay gleaming in front of her eyes. ‘How did they get in there?’ she thought scanning the metal pieces in bewilderment. They looked alike in shape, size and thickness. She flipped them over and over again, trying to guess their denominations.

A few seconds later she found a distinction. A few coins had a bee embossed on them while the others bore images of two flowers, which looked like purple carnations, knotted together, but she wasn’t still able to figure out the denominations. Nikky placed all the coins on the counter.

There was a derisive smile on the woman’s face. She dragged the coins into the cash drawer, slamming four V-coins back on top of the counter. ‘Your change,’ she said gesturing Nikky to pick it up. A confused Nikky picked up the coins and slid them into her pocket. Then she reached out to the water bottle and gulped it down audibly in one go.

After Nikky quenched her thirst, she left the stall hastily expressing her gratitude to the strange woman who kept a curious eye on her until she disappeared out of sight.

Nikky stopped at the bottom of an enormous hoarding. The billboard flaunted a water slide with AquaFun splashed over it in big bold letters. Nikky didn’t waste time and strode towards the ticket booth. But her pace slackened as she neared the counter, looking around in wonderment. There was no soul around her. It looked spooky. She had just thought of retreating when a bored voice of a man broke the stillness, ‘Three V-coins.’

Nikky clutched the counter firmly and raised herself on her toes. Inside the ticket cube, a short, frail man stretched and yawned. Nikky plopped down, fished out a few coins from her pocket and placed it on the counter. The short man jerked out of his seat and precisely like the lady who sold her the water bottle stared at Nikky. Nikky pushed the coins further towards the short man. He quickly counted them and handed her the ride ticket along with some change.

***

Nikky hopped into a bumper boat that was swaying gently on the calm water and sat patiently. Seconds later an equally bored man like the one behind the ticket booth came over and handed Nikky a helmet. Then he buckled the seatbelt around her. ‘This is going to be the best ride ever,’ Nikky said to herself as the ride started. She wished her mother was with her right now, but deep down she knew she wasn’t really missing her that much.

It was still bright and Nikky wondered what the time was. She bobbed her head around and caught sight of the tip of a Ferris wheel. She didn’t like giant wheels because they rotated slowly but this one had bright colourful lights flashing against a reddish-orange hue of the sky. It was too peachy to ignore.

Nikky hopped out of the bumper boat and strode swiftly into the direction of the Ferris wheel. If not for anything else, a ride on the giant wheel would give her the chance to see the whole of Fantastica in one go.

‘Three V-coins, young girl,’ the woman at the counter said.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Nikky asked as she placed the coins on the counter. The woman looked at her blankly as if not interested in further conversation. But Nikky continued, ‘When do other children and their families visit this fair? I mean I have been here for some time now and I can’t see anyone.’

‘You will see them soon. Enjoy your ride,’ the lady said with difficulty while handing her the ride ticket. Nikky took the ticket between her fingers and noticed she didn’t get any change back. She turned around and went started to calculate.

‘So those five V-coins totalled up to eight,’ she estimated and fished out a few coins from her pocket. Nikky stirred them in her palm and flipped them onto the side where the images were engraved. She looked at them carefully and started to decode the images. ‘The bee means one V-coin and two knotted flowers mean two V-coins. This is so simple. I wish I had some more V-coins,’ she said to herself and hurried towards the giant wheel.

Little did Nikky know that she would be up for a big surprise because when she reached the Ferris wheel it was full of children. Most of them were sitting in pairs with their friends, siblings or their parents, and all seemed to be thrilled.

‘Huh! How did I miss seeing them before?’ Nikky thought in disbelief. ‘No wonder that lady gave me that strange look.’ Nikky waited for an empty pod of the Ferris wheel to reach the lowest point and hopped in. A boy, who didn’t look older than her, came over and belted her. He slammed the door shut and pressed a red button on a handheld console. The pod went up slowly.

The lad smiled and said under his breath, ‘Have fun till it lasts, Nikita!’