If Things Should Stay the Same

Chapter 11: Chance

It had been an awkwardly silent trip at best to Paralogue Amusement Park.

Joshua had tried to initiate a conversation with Alex more than a few times. However, it was barely a little more than a few back-and-forth exchanges before he would find the young master fast asleep, the latter's head slumped against the car window and unable to respond any further.

Having to contend with the passive Aiden Johannes who only wanted the radio tuned to some jazz music, Joshua was just grateful that the journey was a relatively quicker and smoother one than usual.

An estimated thirty-five minutes where everything beyond the window simply blurred away, ranging from the evenly-spaced residential homes with meticulously-manicured gardens to the cityscape's closely-knitted buildings of varying sizes before reaching the countryside with lush vegetation and a few crossing domesticated livestock.

Unfamiliar with the scenery that had flashed past his eyes on their way to the amusement park, Joshua could only assume Aiden had highly likely used a different route involving the freeway and a bridge connecting two less-frequented roads which wound around at the outskirts of their town. Although it actually increased the total distance traveled, it saved a substantial amount of time to get to their destination, considering the heavy traffic at this time of the year on the main roads.

Sitting just beyond the border of the town and in what could be called a rural location, the amusement park was like a refreshing change of ambience from the stress, the noise and the pollution associated with the city. A popular attraction for both tourists and local folk alike, there was seemingly no shortage of people flocking to it every year.

Joshua was just thankful that the night of the Svane Fyrsten meteor shower was a lot less congested than he had expected. Otherwise, Alex would be resenting him for having to come along this evening instead of idling around at his birthday party in the mansion.

He checked his admission ticket. A brown piece of cardboard with a glossy surface. The logo of the amusement park – a childish-looking angel being carried by an adult version of it – at the upper left corner. The faint image of a large gate in front of a shining castle set as the background, printed on the center of the ticket were "HALF-DAY ADMISSION" in a bold font while directly underneath the emphasized text was a smaller and finer lettering used to type "extra charge for the cross star show" along with the date and time of purchase.

"Nine hundred crowns each," Joshua muttered under his breath, reading the price messily written in blue ink at the small rectangle near the lower right corner. "It certainly had not increased by a lot after all these years. Some things just don't change," he smiled as he began to pick up his pace, noting that Alex had already gone ahead without him. "Some things just don't change," he repeated to himself.

Briskly walking past a pair of arguing sisters as well as a family of tourists refilling their bottles at a nearby water station, Joshua felt a surge of nostalgia as he traversed the ever-so-familiar Main Street after coming through the admission gate.

Although the amount of people pouring through was not as many as he used to see back then, it was enough to keep the place feel lively enough with their movements – most of them walking towards the Central Square casually, some of them running for the attractions that had an early closing time, a few kids jumping around in excitement, even a handful of elderly eagerly shuffling to watch their grandchildren have a good time.

He could still see the handful of shops selling character-themed merchandise in their original spots. Alongside them were a line of restaurants that catered full-course fine dining meals or on-the-go food for those just arriving or about to depart. Just beyond them, Joshua was nearing the Central Square where most of the entertainment resided. Flat rides, roller coasters, various booths and stalls were all waiting to be visited.