Shades of Tea

Qianliang

"Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun." - Randy Pausch

My eyes widened with wonder as the bright lights lit up the darkening skies. The sweet smells of warm cinnamon churros and donuts filled the air, while the sounds of cute giggling children surrounded us.

This carnival was more than I could ever have imagined. Each ride was brightly coloured, shining proudly amongst many others as the music blared from speakers everywhere. Young children with their families ran between us, eager to try the next ride. Soft toys hung from the roofs of the stalls, just dangling there waiting for a new home.

"I want the big fluffy bear!" A young woman pointed to a large brown teddy bear whose eyes were just begging someone to pick him. She grinned, kissing her companion on the lips as he won her the prize.

Why are we here? I asked Dylan.

"To have fun of course. It's important in life to be able to let loose once in a while. That's the amazing thing about carnivals. You have all types of people, young or old and they all have smiles on their faces. It's just a wonderful event to bring people together." He grinned. "Come on let's plays some games."

He dragged me to a stall that seemed popular among young adults. The aim of the game was to knock a pyramid of tin cans down to win a prize. "How many throw do you want?" The man asked.

"We have three each." Dylan smiled as he handed him the change in return for the bean pouches.

I took my aim and threw it at the target, knocking four cans down. However, disappointed I walked away having one can still standing and no throws available. "Hey chin up. We have a whole carnival to play!" He grinned at me before dragging me to another game.

After many more attempts I still hadn't won a prize and I was starting to get frustrated. "Why don't we talk a break? Let's get some churros or something." I agreed, hoping the smell of the wonderful food would distract me from my loses. Inhaling the mouth-watering smell of hot cinnamon sugar had my stomach craving the sweet snack.

I walked away from the food cart, churros in one hand and paper cup filled with the richest hot chocolate I had ever seen in the other. We enjoyed the snacks under the stars and the string lights decorating the space above us. The atmosphere was heart-warming and welcoming. It made me feel wanted and loved as the beautiful scenes hugged me. The cold wind did nothing to dampen my light mood, as Dylan and I moved from game to game, ride to ride fulfilling the dreams of the children within us.

My soul felt lighter, more innocent and childlike. I enjoyed playing, even if I lost, and I enjoyed being free again. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago where I could be this free from inhibition and despair. To many a trip like this may have seemed silly, or senseless but to me the ability to let myself go seemed to have been lost through the layers of time.

I was having fun, and for once I didn't feel so broken. Kintsugi is an old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. The end product was more beautiful than the original bowl and each day I experienced with Dylan was another swipe of the lacquer mending my broken self.

He was the artist, and I was the bowl, filling the fractured pieces with gold to outshine any other bowl. I was beginning to feel myself again, instead of the numbness I was used to.

"Which soft toy do you want?" Dylan asked as we lost her another game. Looking around my eye caught the most adorable fluffy dog whose eyes looked almost real as he stared at me. I pointed to the brown and white puppy with long, luscious, synthetic fur.

What are you doing? I typed.

"I'm going to win it for you." He winked, heading over to the shooting game. After paying the stall owner he picked up the plastic gun, body positioned ready to fire. In ten quick seconds he had shot down all the metal targets without batting an eye. My eyebrows shot up, as I looked closer to his extremely accurately shot targets. Even the owner was impressed as he handed over my soft toy to Dylan.

"Here." He smiled, handing me the prize. I looked at him, eyes tearing up with gratitude. I hugged him, the toy squashed between us. "Come let's go on the Ferris wheel." He urged, taking my hand.

Weaving through the masses of hyperactive children, high from sugar rushes, we made our way to the bright lit wheel that stood loud and proud on the outskirts of the carnival. We had a wait for a free carriage but soon enough we climbing in the cage and slowly making our up to the top. The view was quite truly breath taking as our view stretched for miles above the cute town we were currently residing in. The crispy air whipped around our, the higher we moved. Pulling my scarf around my face, and shuffling closer to Dylan whose arm was curled around my waist. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we admired the colourful, joyful scenery.

I stretched my neck back to kiss the exposed skin just under his chin. He turned his head to look at me, his eyes filled with an emotion I hadn't seen in a long time, love. He placed a warm kiss on my head. "It's been a while since I've been on a Ferris wheel, but it's just as wonderful as I imagined it to be. It's even better than last time because you're sitting next to me." He smiled.

The air was thick with love and romance as we stared into each other's eyes, the rest of the world dissolving around us. My breath quickened as he leaned closer to me, our lips nearly touching. "You're so beautiful." He murmured, his hot breath tickling my cold skin. He closed his eyes for a second, but he looked conflicted.

Without warning he crushed his lips to mine, his cold hands tangling into my hair as he took my breath away once again.

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Okay so it's been a while since I've posted a chapter, but I finally got round to updating. I'm sorry it has taken me this long to update. I know my usual excuse is to say that Med school has kept me busy, but honestly I feel like that shouldn't be an excuse. In all honesty, it's been hard to find the motivation to write this. I still love this book but sometimes I find it hard to find the inspiration to continue.

I will finish this though, still a few more chapters left and I'm looking forward to writing them

Neha

xx