Frozen in time.

"Very well! Then this Forcas shall show you his favorite spot. Follow me, Jack." He then turned and began walking. He must be very excited for him to walk as though he had some springs under his soles. Not wanting to be left behind, I jogged my way to follow him.

He resumed humming an upbeat tune while I immersed myself in the surrounding. That was when I noticed that the sweet smell earlier is becoming stronger by the second. The nostalgic feeling is getting stronger as well and I started seeing the silhouette of my father half-running together with me. For a split second, there was a pang somewhere in my chest.

"Oh no! Jack, are you crying perhaps?" asked Mister Forcas which knocked me out from my reverie. That was also when I noticed the streak of tears on my left cheek. I immediately wiped it off with my sleeve.

"No, something just went inside my eyes. Please, don't mind me, Mister Forcas." I told him. And I couldn't be any more grateful that he brought my lame excuse. Raising a fuss is the last thing that I wanted. With that, we continued going to where our destination may be. But I can't help myself from getting suspicious of this smell so I transformed my handkerchief into a mask. Mister Forcas didn't seem to mind.

"Ready yourself, Jack. For we are almost there," he said. And moments later, a place that looked like a fusion of a marketplace and a circus came into view.

The whole place was huge. I can almost imagine it filled with bustling people. Filled with children's laughter and jolly music. This is odd because what I'm seeing right now is the complete opposite of that. There was literally no one here beside me and Mister Forcas. The place was also eerily quiet.

"Jack, you see that? That's the ticket booth. You can only enjoy the things in the festival once you bought a ticket. But of course, you can still come if you don't have one. Just don't expect you can experience all the fun stuff," he said. "But sadly, we only have the festival once a year. I'm sure you'll love it if only you didn't come at the wrong timing."

"When's the festival then?" I asked him.

"At the very last day of the year. We celebrate from daybreak to daybreak as a way to welcome the new year. And you see this whole place? This will be filled with people!"

"People, as in real people come here too?" I'm surprised, to be honest. Were they normal people? Or were they peculiars?

"Of course! But they only come here once every year. Kind of sad if truth be told. I wish it's festival all year long."

"It's very seldom for some people like you to visit this place. And they never come in pairs. They're always alone. Just like you," he continued.

I'm guessing that those people are just like me who are wishing to become a peculiar.

He continued showing me the place as he excitedly tells me what usually happens there. There was a theater, a food court, a mini stage dedicated only for a marionette performer, and many more. It did sounded like a lot of fun if only my head wasn't buzzing like crazy.

It didn't really help at all that Mister Forcas who was twice my height was so excited that he started walking faster that I had to run to catch up to him.

Afraid that I might offend him if I told him to slow down a bit, I sucked it all up. But not until awave nausea assaulted me and everything went black.

"--- think he's fine?"

"Definitely. I mean, can't you see that he's breathing? It means he's not dead."

"I know that but he's been out for over an hour already. Is that even normal?"

"Just relax, will you? It's not that he's dead," said the voice I don't recognize. But I'm sure it belonged to a boy. I'm feeling a lot better now.

But wait! Where am I? Slowly, I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a stack of straws.

"Look! He's awake!" exclaimed the boy. He was seated on a log of wood with a small basket by his feet.

"Goodness, Jack. You're finally awake." It was Mister Forcas. He was slightly crouching because the ceiling was too low for him.

"Oh! Uhm… Do you mind telling me what happened?"

"You suddenly passed out so I brought you here." Mister Forcas answered.

"Really? I… Thank you."

"Don't mind it. Can you walk? Would you like to stay here or…"

"No, let's continue to where we left at." I cut him off. And I'm honestly surprised at myself for doing that. Where the heck did I pulled the guts when I'm actually doing my best watching my mouth?

"As you wish. Then, since we're already here, why don't I show you around?"

"That's a good idea!"

"Hey! Hey! Can I tag along?" the boy asked.

"Sure. I don't mind at all. You can tag along if you want." And that's when I realized I messed up for the second time. I should've asked Mister Forcas first! I hastily gave him a look. And probably getting what's on my mind, he shook his head and told me he didn't mind at all.

Having met an agreement, we got out of the shed we were at and what greeted us were rows of stone houses. And just like the place Mister Forcas showed me earlier, there seem to be no one else here beside us. It's as though the whole place was frozen in time.