Seven Stories

Chapter 11: War and Healing

"Eriiiic...We are not here for fun..."

"Even you won't keep me from making the most of the one good thing at fairs. Here."

He handed up the red and white cup and shook its content in front of her nose when she only glared at it. Finally, she took a handful of corn and went on. There were signs for every sort of attraction in the book, and as they walked past the merry-go-round that had been making so much music, she gulped down all of her popcorn and tried putting her hands over her ears, making Eric choke on his with laughter.

"I have no right to try and win a plushie either, do I?"

"For someone who doesn't like those," Larmilai replied without looking at him, for she was balancing on the tip of her toes, trying to see the sign she was looking for above everybody else's head, "you sure as hell show a lot of enthusiasm."

"Nah, actually I just wanted to win you the wolf," he said, pointing at said toy, a black wooly wolf the size of Larmilai's leg, hanging among rabbits and Mickey Mouses. A part of her wanted to rush and hug the fluffy looking thing, but as she looked at the toy, she was reminded of an all to real muzzle, and she imagined the black fur touched with golden ribbons. She winced and looked away.

Then she saw it, in-between to stands, a small purple tent with an old sign with barely visible letters. There was no queue in front of its entrance, and seeing as the inside of the drapes seemed to swallow the outside light, she could not blame the passerby.

"Eric," she whispered, grabbing her friend's arm again. She jerked hard enough for him to drop half of his popcorn. She heard him say a word his snobbish mother would have strongly disapproved but she paid it no mind.

"Come on, Eric, it's there! Right there!"

"That purple tent?"

"Yes, that's what the sign says!"

"Am I useful yet?"

Larmilai did not answer, but walked to the tent with a determined step. She ducked under the drapes and Eric followed silently. It was not as dark in there as she had expected. White light came from luminous circles on the ground, powered with plain electricity. Larmilai guessed she would have expected candles — which would have been stupid in a tent, she recognized — or at the very least tinted lights.

She pushed past another set of drapes and Eric and her ended up in a bigger room. It was not heavily furnished, at least not as far as she could see. Pale voiles hung from the ceiling at every angle and direction, like a semi-transparent maze. Larmilai felt she had stepped into a three-dimensional spiderweb, the white lights giving a ghostly look to the drapes.

"Welcome." A deep voice came out of the shadows. Larmilai squinted. From behind a blue veil, she saw a hand appear, then the full silhouette of a woman, about Larmilai's height, wearing an incongruous purple gown embroidered with white beads. Her hair was put up in a complex bun, her eyes heavily shaded in blue. The rest of her face was sporting just as much make-up, making it impossible for the kids to assess her age.

"Here for your future, children?"

Eric leaned in to whisper into Larmy's ear. "I feel like she should know that. Shouldn't she know that?"

"Shut up, Eric," she whispered back. Then, louder, she added "Hi! We... We have questions to as you."

"Everybody who comes here does", the woman replied. She waved her hand around and bright yellow lights fired up under a round table and two chairs. She gestured for Larmilai to follow her and sat down. Larmilai and Eric looked at each other, then he shrugged. Larmilai understood it as an invitation, and imitated the woman, leaving Eric to stand.