Control Freak ✔️

11 an eternal summer

The sun was going down. The lights from the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round lit up the horizon in a permanent orange. Caleb found himself standing at the gate of the festival, drifting like a ghost among the living. He had spent the afternoon contemplating the things Ivy had said earlier. He had first dismissed such an imaginative viewpoint, with his own view of the harsh and heavy reality that tethered him to this cold, unimaginitive world. He had watched his life from a distance, but only because he had often entertained thoughts of being anywhere but inside of himself. But from Ivy's eyes there emanated a conviction that drove him to persistently wonder. Her voice floated through his mind in such a way that it ascended above his dreary cloud of expectations. It oscillated within his brain, and it carried weight, like an actual thing. It was an implausible thought, and yet he nurtured it like a seedling and let it take root, giving it shelter and warmth and letting it grow until it took up space within his body. He could feel it pressing against him, as delicately, yet as urgently as the way she tugged at his curls, beckoning him inside the wild green world within her eyes.

Standing before him was a girl, smiling at him as she offered her hand. He took her hand in his, savoring the touch.

The sky, by then, had gone from a vibrant nectarine to a somber orchid, and they enjoyed watching it as they walked together.

Something drew his attention away from Ivy. A family he saw: a smiling young boy, his mother and father holding each of his hands as they strolled along.

"Thinking about the future?" Her voice was playful, but gentle. She wrapped her arms around his stomach as she buried her face between his shoulder blades.

"The past," he lamented quietly.

After a few more games, Ivy stretched her arms above her head and let out an exaggerated yawn.

"I'm tired of carnival games," she pouted.

"What do you wanna do?"

"Something fun."

"Like?"

"Hey, do you remember the 'shadow game' we used to play as little kids?" Ivy had a youthful gleam in her eyes.

"'Shadow game?'"

"Come on you remember don't you? Or were you one of those sheltered kids?"

"Well we met each other online, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah, that's right."

She slid her hand out from his grip and held it out in front of her. With her fingers outstretched, she vigorously wiggled them like she was tickling the air. She looked at Caleb impatiently. "C'mon, 'shadow,' you're not doing what I'm doing."

"Oh!" Caleb stuck his arm out and wiggled his fingers, too.

"That's better," Ivy cooed. In a very cartoonish way, she brought her hand to her face and started waving it up and down. Caleb did the same as they walked. She took her index finger and stuck it high, twisting it by her nostril like she was picking a booger. Caleb did the same. Ivy stopped walking, so Caleb stopped. Ivy stuck her finger in her mouth, reached over and popped it in Caleb's ear; he shuddered at the sensation of her slimy digit jammed inside of there. He searched Ivy's expression for why she did it. She looked back at him with high, demanding eyebrows and lips mouthing "shadow," and he got the point and sucked his own finger, pointed it to his right, and plop!

"Hey! What gives!" he heard a man roar. He hadn't even noticed there was someone standing there.

Ivy took off running, belting out an impish laugh as Caleb chased after her. "Sorry, sir!" he called back to the angry man. "But it wasn't my fault! I was playing 'Shadow!' You're gonna pay for that when I get my hands on you, Ivy!"