Revisiting Delilah's

Co-Incidental Meetings.

Dedicated to the unicorn. ;)

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We reached the fair around sundown. However, the loss of light couldn't dampen out enthusiasm. We got in after buying our wrist bands and as per tradition, visited the fried Oreo stand for our first destination.

Brent grumbled a bit when I asked him to buy for me. Hey, I'm just trying to get him off of his miserly ways. Stuffing ourselves was the main priority and we quickly ate while Dennis went off on a tangent about something he witnessed during his gym session the other day.

As soon as we were done, we started looking around at all the brightly lit rides and attractions, making a list of the ones we were gonna get on.

First stop, the lot of us made our way to the Droid-X, which happened to be an epic roller coaster. The adrenaline junkie within me could hardly be restrained as we waited in line. Alex chickened out at the last minute and left the queue.

Finally, it was our turn to go. And we quickly took the available seats. Since we were odd in number due to Alex not being here, poor Dennis got to sit next to an overweight old man who had to squeeze himself behind the safety bar which resulted in his beer belly being split into half and bulging over and under the handles.

"Man, you guys suck. He kept shrieking the whole time. And he sweated a bucket load." Dennis grumbled as soon as we got off the coaster.

I burst into laughter at his wounded puppy look that he gave us. Alex quickly came to her boyfriends' rescue and patted him on the back as a consolation.

We moved along and got on a few more rides. By the time we got off from the sixth one, we all agreed that we were starving and it was time to feed the beast. Max, Dennis and Alex decided to volunteer and get us hot-dogs and chips from a stand we saw sometime back.

Meanwhile, Brent and Hayden got into a silly argument regarding who is a better best friend to me. To determine their status, they decided to try and win me a stuffed toy from one of those sleazy game booths set up all over. I rolled my eyes as they continued their banter while standing in line at the counter, waiting their turn for a game of can knockdown.

They let up for a few blessed minutes to crack a few inappropriate jokes that had me chuckling when I spotted a toddler standing nearby crying. I dismissed the little girl and thought that she might be a kid throwing a tantrum and her parents would be nearby.

However, I noticed after a minute or so that the toddler was still standing at the same spot and was still sniffling while looking around as if trying to spot someone in the crowd. I abandoned my two friends as they negotiated the terms and conditions of their challenge and made my way towards the little child.

I bent down to her level and took one of her tiny hands in mine, the other was holding a cute little teddy bear with a purple bow.

"Hey little one. Shh. Don't cry." I tried to soothing the distressed little girl.

She stopped wailing and hiccuped a few times. " What's your name sweetie?" I asked her while retrieving a few tissues from my pocket where I'd stuck the extra ones from our snacking earlier.

I wiped her face clean. "M-my name i-i-is Lana." she responded.

"Alright Lana, where is your mommy? Or daddy? Or anyone who came with you?" I inquired further.

Tears gathered in her eyes at this. "I-I don't know. My uncle went to get me fairy fluff and I was waiting for him to come back but he didn't." she said in a wobbly tone.

I hugged the frazzled child to me and tried to soothe her once more. I then quickly took out my cell phone and send Hayden a short text informing her of the situation. After putting back the phone inside my pocket, I took the little girls' hand in mine, intent on finding her uncle and and giving him a piece of my mind about letting a kid stay alone.

I bought a lolly from a nearby stall and gave it to Lana who looked considerably elated at this. Moving through the crowd with the little girl now on my back was a little hard but I was determined to look for a security guard or a police officer who would help me look for Lana's uncle. I was nearing a security officer who had his back towards me when I heard a familiar voice talking to him in a distressed voice.

"Are you sure you haven't seen a little girl about four years old with brown hair and red ear muffs holding a purple teddy?" he asked the security guard.

"No sir, I haven't, unfortunately. However, if you could please come with me, I need you to give a proper description so we may have a good picture of who we're searching for." the officer replied.

It was at this moment that I made my presence known. "Sir, I believe this is the child you're looking for?" Hearing my voice, the security guard turned around to reveal Mikael looking at us in shock on the other side.* Lana jumped down from my back, ran past me and the guard who were nothing more than spectators as we watched her attached herself to Mikael in a hug... at least as much as she could reach. He bent down and picked up the little girl holding her to him tightly.

After a brief moment, he looked at me and held up a finger in a pause indication. I watched as he turned to the guard and talked to him. Then, he waved him off and moved towards me, Lana holding his hand tightly. I waited as he made his way over and swiftly, in a surprising move that left me frozen, hugged me tightly. "Thank You." he whispered in my ear.

I stared open mouthed as he shuffled away. At his amused expression, I shook myself out of the stupor and mumbled a no worries in response.

"No really. I don't know how to thank you for this." he said. I just waved him off with a shrug and told him the entire story of how I found Lana. I may have, admittedly, taken out my anger at him with a couple of choice words in between.

"Let me treat you out to dinner?" was his response after my monologue. I sputtered at his abrupt proposal. "Whatt? Why?" I managed to ask. He rolled his eyes at my question. "As a thank you for getting me back my niece." He replied while glancing at the little girl who stood staring at the lights of the ferris wheel behind us.

"Please." he insisted. I gave him a doubtful look and he returned it with an adorable puppy one of his own. His brown eyes were too much for me to handle and I agreed to his treat. After informing Hayden once again about my sudden plans, we started walking towards the parking lot.

We would have gotten to his car in a few minutes if Lana hadn't insisted on a ride on the ferris wheel. Judging by how easily Mikael agreed to the little girls' whim, it wouldn't be wrong to state that she had her uncle wrapped tightly around her little fingers. Surprisingly, the little girl insisted I too -join them on the ride and who was I to refuse an adorable four year old?

We had to wait in line for a couple of minutes and then, we finally got into one of the little compartments. Mikael and I took the opposite sides next to the door and Lana sat between us. It was fun with her chattering incessantly, lisp and all. I took a moment to look outside at the view and stared in awe at the spectacular sight in front of me. We were reaching the highest point of the round and I could see the whole fair laid out below us. Looking up, I could see the lovely smattering stars across the night sky.

Turning back around when I noticed how silent my fellow passengers had become, I was met with a solemn faced Mikael who was just looking at me. When he noticed my questioning look, he just shook his head and sent me a dazzling smile that made his eyes twinkle with mirth.

All I could think while he turned around to point something out to his niece was,

What was that all about?

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as always,

peace,
sam. x