The Fight For Us Part III | Resident Evil |

5 - Fireworks, Glitter, Balloons, and Panic

| August 5th, 2011 |

The fair was more active than Henry would've anticipated. People are all around, adults, teenagers, and younger kids all running around laughing like crazy. Crazy lights litter the area, some colorful, some white. They dawn everyone in different colors as they run around, some in face paint, some holding balloons.

Fireworks were being set up, men in black jumpsuits fiddled with fuses and launch tubes on the stoned floor of the park. There was a show planned. Henry noticed them immediately, but Leon didn't as they walked into the fair. Maybe he was thinking of something else, but Henry was on alert. He didn't need to be. Norway is one of the safest countries in the world to live in. It's actually number seven in the world. Seventh in safety, eleventh in overall quality.

"Kan jeg kjøpe sukkerspinn?" Henry asked the man at the stand, his Norwegian is a bit mixed in its annunciation but it gets the job done. Leon's was better. He can pick up new languages without much effort, it's a gift he's always had.
"To nok." The man at the stand replied, holding out a palm when Henry handed him the money—thus getting the cotton candy he asked for.
"Takk."

With Henry holding one hand, and Leon holding the other: Rose was just barely able to walk without being held above the ground, a few months ago she would have been too short. Once they got to a bench, Henry handed her the treat,
"Here." He smiled, and Rose happily took it. Her face drops from a smile to a scowl, intent falling onto her face as she goes to town on the treat—eating it like it was her last meal on death row.
"Candy floss? Or cotton candy?" Leon asked, his smile a blatant showcase of his less-than-serious small talk.

A joke is a setup, followed by a punchline to induce laughter. Leon doesn't do either of those things. Most of the time it's either a pun or a question he asks with a snarky response in mind.
"They're the same thing," Henry added,
"Really?" Leon ripped a piece from Rose's bundle of cotton, looking at it closely as if looking for the floss hidden within its silk-like fluffiness.
"Candy floss is dumb, I can't even floss with it."
"You can if you try hard enough." Henry then nabbed the candy and rubbed it on his teeth, the candy just melted with his saliva. "Never mind."

The first ride on the itinerary was the graviton, according to Rose because she was practicing dragging them to it. At first, Henry figured she wouldn't be old enough for it, but nope the ride had a harness for smaller kids strapped to one of the walls which was hilarious to see. It wasn't a wild ride, she wasn't in much of any danger. It just spins. So Henry and Leon get on the mats on both sides of her, sandwiching Rose just in case.

As it began Henry recalled just how much this ride fucked with his head. Being spun so hard you're stuck to the walls... It's bizarre, but Rose wasn't crying so she must've been a fan. He couldn't even move his head to look at her and Leon, so Henry just enjoyed the moment. This really was something special. Just him, Leon, and their Daughter.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy just living. Life is cold, it can be a drain on hope itself. Like an endless cascade of challenges and regrets being thrown at your head. What is there to like in that? Where's the time for anything as you try to avoid the cascade? But he found it, time to just enjoy something.

And then the ride stopped, they stepped off and Rose was beaming with energy and enthusiasm. Her cheeks were red from giggling so much, eyes wide and full of wonder. She managed to escape her parents, running wildly in front of them through a crowd of people.
"Rose!" Henry shouted as she disappeared into the sea of people, he and Leon shoved through it—wading through a swarm of strangers.
"ROSE?!" Henry screamed louder, moving faster he escaped the crowd and landed his eyes on her again.