The Mnemophobic

Chapter 34

Telling Xavier gave me a sense of relief, that now at least somebody knew and I could avoid being paranoid all by myself. However today was not the day to spend worrying about all these problems, at least that's how Xavier described it. Today everyone apart from Ryan and Grandpa were coming to the carnival, Ryan admitted he had some catching up to do with the old man and I happily let it be.

We drove out to the carnival site that was half an hour drive from creekside and got there late in the afternoon. The area was inundated with people with kids up to my elbows and up to my knees. The lights shined like stars would in the night sky and the it felt like a mini city! Hudson and Cara went their seperate way almost instantly leaving me, Dawn, Xavier, and Chase. The music, lights and extravagent smell of food captivated me. The only time I had gone to a carnival was when James and Yuni took me in their 'nicer times'.

I raced in front with Dawn seeing all the rides, food stalls and activity centres up ahead. There were characters in costumes coming from a distance singing and  dancing about. The music in the background felt as if it played to every step I took, to every move I made. Now that was theatrical thinking but everyones smiling and joyous faces conducted a degree of happiness in to me.

We rode on horses as a group. I had never seen them up close and they were much taller than I expected, I couldn't get on them without the wooden steps. The saddle was very smooth and comfortable for when the horse was stationary but as it galloped along it did take a toll on our backs and behinds. Xavier was a natural and to my surprise Chase was too. I had the instructor keep a hold on the horse from the ground as I moved on mine with a steady pace. Dawn rode a pony much smaller than our horses but even he adjusted quickly and sped in front with the rest of the boys. Chase pulled back to me and rode at my pace besides me, Xavier gave us our space and for once I didn't feel stuck to the end of two strings.

I saw a face painting stand and directed Dawn to it. While he was getting a full batman face I insisted that Xavier, who was increasingly reluctant to get any on his face, have a small portion painted. He was so uptight and just wouldn't listen. I asked the stylist if I could paint on his face myself and when she agreed he let me be creative with his face. I drew a symbol of yin and yang on his cheek bone and in reply he drew the same on me too.

We took a lot of pictures everywhere, in different poses, with different attractions, numerous people, even clowns! Those laughs that we shared were genuine, with no strings attached.

"Hey!" He caught up with me as I waited for Dawn to get out of the bumper cars. He had a large stick of cotton candy as big as his head in his hand. "Wow, you're gonna have a sugar rush."

"It's for you, idiot." He playfully bumped in to my shoulder and I gasped all of a sudden. He used the opportunity to stuff some cotton candy in to my mouth as I hit him for that.

"What?" He said between his laughs. "Imma hrget gase"

I cleared my throat and tried again. "I forgot Chase! Did you see him anywhere around?" It suddenly hit me that he wasn't with us. Xavier, obviously not amused by my question said, "Why do you care?"

I growled back. "Be nice."

"REN!! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" That boy was having the time of his life. "I hit so many people and I drove that is so cool."

"Yeah buddy I saw you." I answered delighted to see the glow on his face. "You were really rocking out there." I passed him a wink.

"Oh Dawn have you see Chase?" Xavier asked from behind reaching forward to pick up Dawn.

"Yeah he met a friend I think, I saw him roam around with the guy."

"Okay." We decided to move on to the rest of the carnival giving Chase his space. We bumped in to Cara and Hudson who had just come out of the photobooth. Cara snatched the pictures from the machine before we could see them. Gag.