It wasn’t “beautiful” by any means, but the air smelled fresh and the colors were bright.
The lapping of waves nearby, though just out of sight, was drowned by the simple, intoxicating jingles of the booths and attractions. Sounds clashed and bounced off of each other and the crowd, though the population wasn’t overwhelming in the least.
Here and there were rides, scattered nicely throughout. A dingy, though genuine-looking, sign over a tunnel read “love” in faded letters. The swans of the ride were sturdy, but had seen better days, better coats of paint. Other birds bobbed beside the typical pair, some owls, hawks, ducks, chickens… This festival was all that was expected, but everywhere, there was a feeling that something was odd about it.
The goldfish catching booth, with stacks and rows of bags and little paper nets strewn across the surface of the table by the shallow tank, contained fish that were certainly not the cheap goldfish that would normally exist there. Eels and small sharks swam near the flowery fish, scaring them all to one side of the water.
Normally rigged, and that held true here, were the standard fare of bottles for rings, plates for shooting, blocks for knocking over with a ball… They were all heavily weighted or else biased not to be winnable. Prizes hung from pegs above the stalls, cheap but impressive, some larger than most women.
A dominating arc was easily seen from every point in the area, rotating quietly about its brightly lit axis. If anything, this was the most obviously new piece. It didn’t really match anything, the little compartments still well-coated with their colorful paints and designs, the insides still comfortable and nice, windows clear and well-kept. There was room for about two people in each car, but a third could fit if necessary…
Smaller and meeker and certainly older was a roller-coaster. It dipped dangerously close to the ground, and most of the seatbelts were uselessly thin. The peak of it wasn’t even halfway up the shiny Ferris wheel, though, so it wasn’t so intimidating. Still, the sounds it made as the cars flew across the wooden track weren’t nice on the ears or the imagination.
A little higher than the coaster, though impossibly ricketier, was an overlarge slide that sloped downward into a pile of pillows. They were approximately one step above the kind that belongs on a bed, coated with a thicker, somewhat-leathery cover. The surface of the slide was coated with something probably illegal, shining and a little too slick. The edges of it were just raised enough to keep the occupant inside, were they to deviate too far from the center.
Salty and sweet smells emanated from the single food-stall in the area, popcorn and churros and cotton candy and hot dogs and roasted corn and sodas were listed on the board at outrageous but expectable prices. The food itself wasn’t amazing, but certainly better than more amusement park fare.
The lapping of waves nearby, though just out of sight, was drowned by the simple, intoxicating jingles of the booths and attractions. Sounds clashed and bounced off of each other and the crowd, though the population wasn’t overwhelming in the least.
Here and there were rides, scattered nicely throughout. A dingy, though genuine-looking, sign over a tunnel read “love” in faded letters. The swans of the ride were sturdy, but had seen better days, better coats of paint. Other birds bobbed beside the typical pair, some owls, hawks, ducks, chickens… This festival was all that was expected, but everywhere, there was a feeling that something was odd about it.
The goldfish catching booth, with stacks and rows of bags and little paper nets strewn across the surface of the table by the shallow tank, contained fish that were certainly not the cheap goldfish that would normally exist there. Eels and small sharks swam near the flowery fish, scaring them all to one side of the water.
Normally rigged, and that held true here, were the standard fare of bottles for rings, plates for shooting, blocks for knocking over with a ball… They were all heavily weighted or else biased not to be winnable. Prizes hung from pegs above the stalls, cheap but impressive, some larger than most women.
A dominating arc was easily seen from every point in the area, rotating quietly about its brightly lit axis. If anything, this was the most obviously new piece. It didn’t really match anything, the little compartments still well-coated with their colorful paints and designs, the insides still comfortable and nice, windows clear and well-kept. There was room for about two people in each car, but a third could fit if necessary…
Smaller and meeker and certainly older was a roller-coaster. It dipped dangerously close to the ground, and most of the seatbelts were uselessly thin. The peak of it wasn’t even halfway up the shiny Ferris wheel, though, so it wasn’t so intimidating. Still, the sounds it made as the cars flew across the wooden track weren’t nice on the ears or the imagination.
A little higher than the coaster, though impossibly ricketier, was an overlarge slide that sloped downward into a pile of pillows. They were approximately one step above the kind that belongs on a bed, coated with a thicker, somewhat-leathery cover. The surface of the slide was coated with something probably illegal, shining and a little too slick. The edges of it were just raised enough to keep the occupant inside, were they to deviate too far from the center.
Salty and sweet smells emanated from the single food-stall in the area, popcorn and churros and cotton candy and hot dogs and roasted corn and sodas were listed on the board at outrageous but expectable prices. The food itself wasn’t amazing, but certainly better than more amusement park fare.
