A day at the traveling carnival

Johanna smiled because she saw her favorite face again. "Hey, so glad you're here!" she said and let herself soak in Josh's strong arms, while he tightly hugged her. "I am glad to be here too," he replied. The place was crowded: old people, young people, happy or unhappy, rich or rather poor, but everyone looking for fun came here as the carnival was very famous for its attractions.

A carousel with pink, blue, and golden horses and lots of lights caught Johanna's attention. "How about we go on that ride? Seems fun" "Hm, not sure about that. It seems like an attraction for kids." "Look closer! Does that speed signal to you that this might be an attraction for kids?" He looked at it and replied: "Yeah, it's a little bit faster than I thought! Let's try it!"

Johanna took a seat on a pink horse and Josh sat on a blue one. "Attention: hold tight! This isn't no ordinary carousel!" the owner, a mysterious man with a mustache and a top hat said. Seconds later the carousel started rotating. At first, it was slow and Josh remarked: "This is kid's carousel! Nothing special for adults!" His laughing disappeared as it suddenly increased its speed and they were rotating faster than they were anticipating. Johanna looked around: the kids, the big Wheel, people walking by were visible for a few seconds, but the surroundings changed quicker than they could observe or anticipate. "I-I- I did not expect that!" "Hold my hand!" Johanna shouted laughing and smiled the brightest smile she was capable of reaching her hand in Josh's direction. He was right beside her on the blue horse and the distance was short. "O-Ok!" he agreed and held her hand and stared at her, as he forgot for a short while of his surroundings or the carousel's speed. "You're so beautiful!' he remarked and she replied: "Thanks!" Their eyes were locked and for a short while, the rest of the world disappeared leaving them in their happy bubble filled with laughter and smiles. Sometimes the happiest moments are the ones we do not grasp how happy we are in that moment. And other times, we just sit at the desk doing something we don't want to and suddenly we are back to that memory, which brings us a smile and we keep chasing that feeling, but remember we are bound by time and realize life is just a fleeting moment bound to pass. Because in the end if we think about happiness we think about moments, memories, and people, rarely about material possessions.

"That was fun!" Josh exclaimed when the ride was over and after grinning for a moment, he vomited next to a garbage can. "Oh, I am so sorry that you feel sick. Now I feel bad that I came with this idea in the first place," Johanna hugged and comforted him. "It's ok, you couldn't have known! I feel ok now. How do you feel about the Big Wheel?' "Sure, why not!" Johanna shrugged her shoulders.

Like its name suggested the Big Wheel was pretty tall. The biggest reason people would want to hop on it was the beautiful landscape that could be seen from the top. "Wow, the view here is breathtaking! Stunning!" Johanna remarked as they glanced at the city from above. : Indeed it is! But it also is because of the person sitting next to me!" he softly said and gently grabbed her face and kissed her as he moved a hair tuft behind her left ear. The buildings, city lights, the moon, and the moving cars seen from above had a special, unexplainable glow to them. A night butterfly sat on Johanna's head. "What's wrong? Why do you keep staring at me? I know you told me I'm beautiful like hundreds of times before, but this can't be it now!" she laughingly asked. "Don't move!" he said and quickly and silently took a photo of her. He slowly then reached his arm in its direction, but sadly it flew away.

"Aww, it's gone now!" he observed. "What are you talking about?" Johanna inquisitively asked. "Look!" he showed her the photo of the butterfly sitting on her head. "Wow, all this time I was sitting here having no idea a butterfly was resting on my head!" "Indeed, it has some beautiful colors too!"

"How about we try some cotton candy? I've never eaten cotton candy!" Johanna told Josh, while they were walking through the traveling carnival hand in hand giggling. "Shut up! You've never tried it?! That's a shame! You absolutely should!" he replied, took out his wallet, and bought some cotton candy on sticks for him and her. They sat down on a bank and devoured it. "How do you like it?' "It's good! It is sweet and dissolves in your mouth! It's a pity I haven't tried it til now!" Johanna observed while munching on it.

"It's nice here doing chill stuff and treating life as a holiday! I don't want to return to our ordinary life!" Johanna mumbled sad, as she looked at the ever-changing scenery around her and a painful lump appeared in her throat. "I'm afraid if our lives were constantly chill and we were doing all the time what we wanted, the beautiful moments would lose their meaning because they were constant in our lives, and we would get bored and take them for granted." She put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "You're probably right!"

"See that tent over there? The woman in there is supposed t be the best fortune teller in the whole town!" he pointed toward a big, blue-yellowish tent. "Cool, we should go there!" Johanna enthusiastically clapped her hands and grabbed him generically by his arm. "Nah! I don't believe in crazy hocus-pocus! There's only science! No ghosts, no fortune-tellers, and nothing outside the realm of logic!" "Pretty please!" she made a puppy face. "Okay, we'll go! But only to see what nonsense she comes up with!" Josh gave in.

"Yay," she hugged him happily. "This is going to be epic!" They entered the tent holding hands. Inside. A small woman wearing a purple dress and many different colored rings with various diamonds and stones scanned them with her eyes and presented herself: "I am the Great Giselle, who can see in the future! Open up your third eye and expand your mind because I will clear out the path for you!" "How much is a reading?' Josh asked skeptically, preparing himself to be let down. "Thirty dollars! Trust me, that's very cheap considering my psychic capacities!"

"Ok, here's the money!" he put the money on her reading table and mumbling angrily toward Johanna: "Can't believe you're making me go to a fortune-teller! Everybody knows it's just mumbo jumbo and a scam!" "Relax a bit! It's just for fun!" Johanna replied laughing. "I can hear you both," she replied smiling.

She took out of a drawer behind her some reading cards and mixed them vigorously. Then she extracted five cards and observed them for two minutes. "I see two lovers separated by an ocean. A big storm is coming and a plot twist will change everything. I see a betrayal and a misunderstanding that sets the two lovers apart. Only honesty, communication, compromise on both sides, and forgiveness can save a bond that exists several lives ago. The storm will be hard and there will be moments when feelings of coldness, loneliness, and resentments will arise, but when it will be over none of the lovers will be the same. A transformation is about to happen and both will find their true selves. It is in the middle of the dark times that we have to dig deep inside and light arises at the surface turning us into our greatest selves, we are supposed to become."

Josh stared silently at that woman as if she lost her marbles, then at Johanna and eventually they left the tent. Outside they burst into laughter. "Can you believe the amount of stupid stuff she said?' "Yeah, like we could ever have a fight and not speak to each other again…" Johanna laughed. "Friends and lovers for life?" she reached her palm in his direction. "Friends and lovers for life." he agreed, hugged her, and sat down next to each other on a bench looking at the moon. Cuddling with the person you love can sometimes be the best medicine.