Unseen

Chapter 4

"You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes." (2 Samuel 22:41)

Star pushed through the crowd.  She passed the merry go round, the hot dog stand, and the face painting station.  She was at the carnival with Ley and his family and she couldn't find Ley anywhere.

Star walked over to the game booths.  There was bobbing for apples (yuck!), a shooting ducks game, even a whack-a-mole.  Finally, she found Ley at the balloon dart booth.

"Where were you?" she exclaimed.

"Well, I was at the candy cart, and then at the monkey show, and then—"

"You know what I mean," she interrupted.

Star looked at the colourful booth.  It was one of those games where you had to pop a balloon with a dart.

"I thought you had terrible aim," she teased.

"I do, but Hope wants the purple monkey."

Hope was Ley's eight year old sister.

She looked up at Star with her shining blue eyes, "It looks so furry!"

Star looked at the back wall of the booth.  The purple monkey was furry, but it was one of the bigger prizes.

"You'll need to pop three balloons to get it," Star whispered.  "Do you think you can do it?"

Hope nodded, a determined look on her face.

Hope received her three darts.  She threw each one... and missed all of them.  She pouted sadly.

"Ley, can you do it for me?" she begged.

"I don't know, Hope.  I don't have very good aim-"

"You have terrible aim," Star whispered, elbowing Ley good naturedly.

"Pleeeeeaaaasseee!!" Hope whined.

"Ok, ok!"

Ley received three darts.  He aimed at one of the balloons... and suddenly, it was as if all the gears connected in his brain.  Ley knew how to aim the dart, he could see the exact precision in his mind.  He threw it, and the balloon popped.  He aimed the next one, threw it, and the next balloon popped.  He threw the third one... and Hope had won her purple monkey.

As the man took the monkey off the wall, Ley saw a shadow in the corner of the booth.  It was the same shadow he had seen at the school bus stop!  Ley tried to get a better look, but the man had turned around and handed Ley the monkey.  Ley gave it to Hope who hugged it tightly.

"I'm gonna name you Fuzzy!"

Star gaped at Ley.  "That was crazy! I thought you had terrible aim!"

"I do, I mean, I think.  It feels like something clicked in my brain and now I can-"

"Aim like a pro!" Star finished.

Ley shrugged and turned to look at the booth.

The shadow had disappeared.

"Let's go on the Ferris Wheel!" Hope exclaimed excitedly, pointing at the large attraction.  She dragged her brother over to the line.

Star laughed. "I'll be waiting down here."

She walked over to the viewing area and watched as Ley and Hope got into the passenger car.

Someone yanked her sleeve.  Star turned around and saw a little girl holding a bright red balloon standing behind her.

"I like your headband," the little girl grinned, pointing up at Star's headband.  It was a headband made out of stars that were painted sparkly gold.

"Aw, thank you!" Star smiled.  "I like your dress."  She gestured towards the girl's sparkly pink dress.

"Thanks," the girl blushed.  She pointed at the Ferris Wheel. "I want to go on the Ferris Wheel, but I'm too short." she pouted sadly.  "Even if I stand on my tippy-toes, I still can't go on."

"It's okay, next time you'll probably be big enough," Star comforted.

"Star!" a voice called out from far away.  "Star! Over here!"

Star looked up and saw that Ley and Hope were waving to her from the top of the Ferris Wheel.  She waved back.

"Who is that?" the little girl asked curiously.

"Those are my friends, Ley and Hope," Star responded.

"They're tall enough to go on the Ferris Wheel?"

"Yes, they are.  Do you want to say hi to them?"

"Hi!" the girl yelled, waving her arms rapidly, trying to get Ley and Hope's attention.

Star laughed and looked up at the top.  She could see Ley, peering over the side, occasionally pretending to cover his eyes.  Hope had her arms stretched out like she was flying and was pretending to soar through the clouds.

"No!" a tiny voice yelled.

Star looked back and saw the little girl looking up at her balloon which was slowly floating away.

"My balloon!" she cried, sniffling.

Star reached up, but the balloon had just floated out of reach.  She jumped into the air, but still, she couldn't get it.

Star bent down, and leaped up into the air, her hands really close to the thin string of the balloon.  

"I'm almost there," she thought, kicking her legs in the air, trying to get closer to it as it floated higher up.  "It's only slightly out of reach!"

Star pushed her arms down against the wind, and grabbed the red balloon. 

"Yes!" she cried, looking down at the girl- who was a couple feet below her.  Star looked around and realized she was really, really, really high up in the air.  How had she jumped that high?

As she floated down to the ground, she caught sight of a strange looking shadow behind the Ferris Wheel.  It looked like some sort of alien, and it had red glowing eyes.  She blinked, and the shadow disappeared.  Star landed on the ground, and looked at the little girl who had curled into a ball, sniffling.  She tapped her on the shoulder and smiled at the red face and puffy, teary eyes.  Star handed her the balloon, and the little girl lit up.

"You caught my balloon!" she exclaimed.  "My red balloon! How did you catch it?"

"I... I jumped as high as I could," Star replied, trying to hide her own wonder.  "How did I catch the balloon?"

Ley tapped her on the shoulder as Star watched the girl run to her mom, excitedly showing her the balloon.

"Hey, I saw you catch that balloon."  He had a bewildered look on his face.  "How did you get up that high?"

"I really don't know," Star shrugged.  "Hey, Ley... you were pretty high up, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did you see anything... anything strange?"

"Strange?"

"Yeah, like... I don't know, a weird looking shadow."

"You saw one?"

"Behind the Ferris Wheel. Did you see it?"

Ley shook his head in disbelief.  "I didn't see it behind the Ferris Wheel, but I saw one when we were going on the bus the other day at school, and one in the corner of the booth where we got Hope her purple monkey."

"Do you know what it- or I guess they- are?"

Ley shook his head.  "Maybe-"

"I love Fuzzy," Hope interrupted, running up behind them.  "He's my best friend."

Star and Ley chuckled, their previous conversation forgotten as they walked with Hope away from the Ferris Wheel.