Life Through a Lens

13. The Westford Pier

13. The Westford Pier

Jasmine and Carter began to walk down to Westford Pier— the social hub for everyone around. People came from miles just to go here. The rides and games were where all the excitement began. Jasmine could see them from a her house, not to mention the parking lot where they were currently standing.

For some reason Jasmine could only remember one time that she had been to the Pier with her family. That was before Peyton had been born, she had been about seven or eight. The memory wasn't a very fond one. Jasmine ended up puking on the Spinning Tea Cups ride, but otherwise she remembered the rides and games to be okay. The whole Westford Pier was practically a year-round fair. The Eastford Pier was much smaller, filled with local coffee shops and boutiques; like the one Jasmine worked at. Everyone within a six hour drive radius came at least once a month—or so Jasmine had heard. They always changed the locations of the booths and rides. The only one that remained was a large, colourful Ferris wheel on the end of the pier. Supposedly it had a great view. Jasmine could see its peak from Safe Haven's large front window. 'Too bad I'm scared of heights,' Jasmine thought.

Carter on the other hand had taken Camryn hundreds, if not thousands of times, and he remembered times that Carmen and his mom and brought him from time to time when he was younger. The thought of Carmen made Carter grimace, but not enough that it was noticeable to Jasmine. They walked in silence to the beginning of the Pier, right up until they stopped at the steps that showed that they were stepping up onto and above the ocean. The Pier was already filled with lots of people. Showing that as Jasmine heard, the Westford Pier was the centre of all hustle and bustle in town. She was surprised that so many people were already there at nine in the morning.

"So where to first?" Jasmine asked, glancing around at the various stalls, rides, and games.

"Here," Carter pointed to the closest game that had large balloons pinned to a huge wooden board. It had to be at least eight feet long and five feet high. How you won was by popping at least three balloons with the five darts you were given. Carter gave the person who was working at the booth a five dollar bill.

"That's how much it costs to play one game?" Jasmine asked in astonishment. Carter nodded as he was being given the five darts.

"Have you never played carnival games before?" He asked handing her two of the five darts.

"Not since I was seven," Jasmine muttered under her breath.

"Well then I guess we'll see if you've gained or lost and ability to play since you were seven." Carter smirked as she stepped up next to him to toss a dart. Jasmine furrowed her brow and threw her dart first, before Carter could even raise his arm to throw. She hit a large red balloon right in the centre; it popped revealing a medium sized green circle. She had in fact played darts a good few times with her dad since she was seven. Seeing as they had a dart board in the basement, sometimes they would go down on a rainy day just to play. Carter's jaw dropped open, and the carnie smirked at the two of them.

Jasmine put her hand to Carter's jaw then triumphantly said, "It seems that I can throw a dart, now maybe little seven year old Jasmine could too, maybe she couldn't. You'll never know." Then she flicked her fingers up and closed Carter's gaping mouth, tossed her hair sassily over her shoulder and threw another dart that hit another balloon directly in the middle. It popped loudly, glitter spewing out of it and revealing a tiny blue circle. The carnie that was working at the booth was now in full-fledged laughter, almost falling over and out of the booth all together at the sight of Jasmine and Carter. Carter then picked up his three darts, threw one and hit a balloon. Barely. Missed a balloon with the next dart he threw and bulls eyed the last.