Carnival Lights

I forgot my loneliness. It was lost somewhere in a dunk tank. I left it there when he took my hand. Now, all I could see were lights flashing around him, an illuminated halo. The joy in is eyes was infectious, and I felt ethereal. We ran around the festival, and I thanked him for his kindness.

He smiled at me, "I've always heard pretty girls shouldn't be lonely."

I beamed. As the night wore on, we talked, walking around the grounds, sharing stories, and I learned that I wasn't the only one who was lonely. A bit of prodding later, and he confessed that it was the anniversary of a friend's death. He needed to keep his mind busy on this date for the last three years. After that confession, we rode every amusement ride that could give us a bit of a thrill, from the Monster to the Orbiter. In between, we didn't stop talking about things like loneliness, but we found that the more we talked about them, the less we felt them.

Sitting on a bench, eating cotton candy, he smiled at me like a boy. "I think this may be my favorite day, now, though."

"Why?"

He looked over at me and the boyish look was gone. He smiled, but this one made him look funny. Or maybe, it made me feel funny. Fear and excitement both sent tingles through my body and I swallowed just before he answered. "Because I met you."

I would have lowered my face for the blush I felt on it, but his eyes held me in place. I licked my lips, which suddenly felt very dry. He leaned in, slowly, and I took a breath, leaving my lips parted to release it. My eyes lowered, looking at his mouth.

After the fun we had, the way we connected, the talk, this felt natural. I closed my eyes, leaning forward. I found out, after, that his lips tasted like the cotton candy. Neither of us pressed too hard, it was a test, I think. For both of us. It was nice, though. It made my lips tingle, and I wanted more, but he was a gentleman and pulled back. As much as I wanted another one, a better one, I smiled when he looked around. "Well, that was a thing."

He nodded when his attention returned to me. "Yeah, it was."

I bit my lip and leaned back against the bench, reaching over to take some of his cotton candy and eating it. He gave me a look and I grinned. "It tasted good."

He laughed, "So, you want to do this, again, some time?"

I looked up at the sparse array of stars, filtered out by the lights of the festival. I thought about how my loneliness seemed more like a memory, "I think that'd be nice."