AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You think?” I opened my mouth in mock surprise and looked myself over. “The Easter Bunny told me it was cool.”
She snorted. “That guy’s not real.”
“Then I better watch where I get my fashion advice from now on.”
She belly laughed and beamed at me. “I like you. You’re silly.”
“Well thank you very much. I like you, too.” I offered her my hand.
Miso accepted, and we walked through the crowd, taking in the sights and smells. Sticky caramel corn crunched under our shoes, animatronics waved, and excitement filled the air.
As we passed a funnel cake stall and sweet greasy goodness called to me, I realized that Miso’s dad hadn’t handed over any money before making a run for it. Since I had little more than spare change to my name, I couldn’t bankroll our excursion.
“What should we do?” Miso asked.
I had no idea.
“Let’s keep exploring,” I said. “We’ll make it a game. Every time you see a red balloon, you get a point.”
She flattened her lips into a line, which I took to mean she didn’t like my idea.
“There!” She pointed and bounced on her heels with glee.
I guessed she liked the game just fine.
I followed the direction she pointed and spotted the balloon in question. “Nice job. One point for you.”
“No,look.”
I leaned the same way she was, only to find it was a whole row of balloons.
“The game just started, and you’re already crushing me,” I told her. “How will I ever catch up?”
“You can’t. I already won.”
“We’ll see about that.”
We kept walking. The sounds of live music played through the space. Watching a local bluegrass band play would be free—exactly our budget.
“What do you say we check out the entertainment?” I asked.
“I can’t gotoofar,” she said.
Too far from what? The ride? I’d get her back to the octopus in plenty of time.
“It sounds like it’s just around the corner,” I assured her. “Plus, there are probably more balloons over there.”
“Okay!”
We followed the flow of foot traffic and the sound of fiddles to the edge of a crowd by a small stage.
Miso nodded her head a bit.
I swayed my arms back and forth around my hips, doing the perfect bunny floss. Between the oppressive summer sun and the dancing, a clammy sheen of sweat coated my skin from head to toe.
Miso laughed, so I did a twirl, took her hand and twirled her, too. She laughed so hard I thought she might hyperventilate. She was so happy, grinning from ear to ear. This was the best part of my job.
As her chuckles subsided, she said, “Here.”
