make me stay.

six

♜

the first five days passed within the blink of an eye. we arrived home after the moon had rose and had the sun rising on our backs as we made our way up there each morning. 

falling asleep should've been impossible with the butterflies in our stomachs, but each and every one of us were completely drained both physically and mentally when we finally climbed under our covers. every day at the festival had something completely new to offer. 

yesterday, stages had been set up on every street corner where people were dancing in pairs, in rows, alone or in large groups. the people between the stages had seemed to forget the norm of walking to get places and seemed to either skip, hop, run or even dance along. 

today, the second to last day, the king was set to attend the festival, and it wasn't taken likely. delia and her husband were joining us for the last two days, and she had gotten up even earlier than us to make sure we didn't leave before sunrise like all the other days. 

apparently, the king rarely showed and most citizens never got a single glance of him. it was said that the young king had taken over from his father almost a year ago by now, but the crowning and celebration had only been open to the highest towns up the mountain. it had been the year mercer left, so i had had my focus completely elsewhere, and would have missed the entire event going down in history, if my parents hadn't been hopelessly trying to keep themselves updated. 

the royal family mostly kept to themselves, but they hadn't succeeded in keeping their life completely private. they had two sons. the youngest, at twenty, had been crowned, chosen to follow his father. 

it was seen as an honour to even be near the king, or any member of the royal family. massive respect was given to the castle, and the family running our kingdom since anything else was by law, a direct way to a death sentence. 

celia had cooked breakfast for us all worrying that we were fed up with colours and excitement but actually starving. we had all taken turns to shower, put on the nicest clothes we had brought and filled up every chair around the dinning table. 

the conversation was speeding away, people yelling to get their word across to someone on the other side, or just to jump in with an opinion on something currently being said. it was madness, all of it, but it was clear we would all be returning home with a million stories. 

"i found a smaller booth right next to the town square where they sold animals as pets. i believe i spend an entire hour petting rabbits, cats, mouse and even a few fish. when i finally left, the sun had sunk behind the roofs of all houses, and i had even forgotten where i was." lily rambled on, meanwhile spreading butter on the piece of bread in front of her. 

we all laughed at her story, and she took a satisfied bite from the bread. 

everyone took turns telling stories, and it never seemed to have an end. i, myself, had gathered more stories in these last five days than in my entire life. my heart had never beaten so happily, especially seeing how everyone else's heart seemed to do the same. 

before we had finished anything, or even begun to clean up after ourselves, the sun was shinning heavily through the windows, telling us it was mid-day already. the king's event in the town square would be starting in a few hours if not less.