An Unexpected Occurrence

The Fayre

The rest of the week passed without event. Darcy continued to work as usual and on her days off went for a walk, watched some Netflix, read a book, anything she could find to waste a bit of time. Soon enough it was Saturday, the day of the fayre.

She finished work at three and headed home. She could already see the commotion in the park from her house and knew it would get significantly busier as the evening arrived. She always thought it was beautiful at night with all the lights beaming into the dark, it created a little excitement in this usually drab town she called home. Every year her and her sister aimed to arrive at the fayre for half past six and she intended to do the same this year. So, at about six she left her house after having something to eat and getting changed into something more suitable, including putting on her standard military boots to combat any mud she would encounter.

The walk took about twenty five minutes, but with her earphones in it seemed to pass in half that time. She didn't want to admit to herself just how excited she was that it was this time of year again. In her childhood, her parents would always try their best to take her, but things didn't always work out, so now that she was older she felt like she could make up for all of those lost days. It sounded a bit dramatic, but Darcy told herself she was allowed a little drama every now and again since she always tried to steer clear of it usually.

So there she was, back at the fayre once again. The noise was almost deafening as she stood at the entrance, with the rides and screams all around her, the music was booming out of giant speakers scattered all around and she wondered, not for the first time, how it could be possible that this level of maddening sound could be enjoyable to her. But all she knew was that it was. She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face as she took it all in, the bright lights, the smell of hot dogs, burgers, candy floss, the crushing feeling of being compacted with so many other people in a relatively small space. And there she was, grinning like a fool.

She smothered her smile and began walking around. The prices were extortionate as always, so she limited herself to going on three rides and buying a bag of candy floss to take home with her. After going on the first ride, a crazy thing that throws the unfortunate passengers around in circles through the air, she stumbled off and looked in her bag to ensure that her money, phone and earphones were still there and hadn't been whizzed off onto the moon. After ensuring their safety she started to look for her next life-threatening ride.

Evening was truly arriving now. It had been a pretty good day with only a few clouds floating around meaning that now that it was sunset, the oranges and deep blues were clearly visible. The lights from the fayre seemed to be getting brighter every minute, and this, Darcy reminded herself, was her favourite part. She was walking again when she felt a tap on her shoulder and a tentative "Darcy?". She turned around and came face to face with the boy who had been a regular in her dreams for the past few days. Tristan.

"Hello" she said as she tried to suppress the blush that was threatening to spread across her face. He didn't need to know what she'd been dreaming about. "That was unexpected."

He was smiling now, "I knew it was you! I saw you on that ride over there, and quite frankly, I think you have a death wish if you enjoyed it".

She started laughing, seemingly a common occurrence whenever he opened his mouth, "As a mater of fact, I did enjoy it, although I think I may have lost my brain on it since I'm now considering going on that one" she said while pointing to what looked like a catapult directed at the sky.

Tristan's face dropped in horror as he looked at the ride, he turned towards her and said, "Wouldn't you prefer the teacups instead? Somehow I think your life might last a bit longer if you went on them".

She smirked, "Ah the voice of reason, I guess you do make a valid point. It doesn't look like the safest thing here I must say". She laughed a bit before asking, "So are you here alone then because I can't seem to see a group of people walking around saving peoples' lives?".

"Well it seems like you and me have a bit of something in common I'm afraid because, as it turns out, my friends are 'seasonal hermits' too. I believe that's the phrase you used the other day?".

"That would be correct," she answered while laughing, "so I guess we're equally friendless tonight then."

"Yeah looks like it". He looked around for a minute and then said "Come over here, my throat's hurting from having to shout". He led the way to a little park bench that was a little away from the hubbub of the fayre. He felt around in his pockets and then said "I'm going to go and get a drink, do you want anything?".

"Well I do fancy a coke but it's alright I'll give you the money. There are some advantages of working all that time" she said while smiling.

"Two cokes then. But you're not giving me any money, I'll run off if I have to. After all, I am allowed to buy a pretty girl a drink aren't I?". Darcy thanked all that was holy that Tristan turned round and walked off before he noticed the major blush that made her face glow in the dark.

She watched him walk off and took the time to notice how his dark hair almost matched the dark night that was nearly upon them. She also noticed how the back of his shirt was all creased, probably because he didn't iron it before he left, and how the coat he was carrying had a bit of paint on the sleeve. She smiled despite herself, because as he stood there giving the money to the woman in the trailer, she noticed a bracelet around his wrist that matched her own. It was silver with a small jewel in the centre, hers was a red jewel while his was black, but other than that, they were identical. And from that, she knew he'd lost someone important to him, turns out they really did have more in common than originally thought.

When he returned with the two cokes he sat down next to her and she showed him her bracelet. He took hold of her wrist and looked at her, showing a bit of vulnerability. "Who?" he asked.

"My brother," she responded, "he died nearly four years ago in a car accident". She pointed at his wrist, "Who?".

Tristan looked down, "One of my friends while I was in school, he had cancer so we all knew it was coming, but it was still so awful. His parents were kind enough to give me some of his ashes so that he could live through me". He smiled at her. They sat there in silence for a little while, slurping their cokes until Tristan said "Come on, let's go on one of the rides, just maybe not the catapult of death".

"Okay, but we're not going on the teacups either, that's just boring". They were smiling as they walked side by side back into the middle of the fayre. Darcy thought to herself that this night might just turn out to be the highlight of her summer, and it was only just beginning.