The Festival Part 3

Rowan and Bella noticed I was dragging behind. "Nils", Bella said, "Are you okay?" She looked me up and down. And that's when she noticed my hands. "What's that?" She grabbed at my fingers.

I pulled my arm back in annoyance. "Those are my fingers"

She screamed without thought, and all of a sudden there were eyes upon us. I tried to hide my hands, but it was too late. They saw. I was not sure they knew what they were looking at. But they were definitely fascinated. They kept staring when I moved around her and hid myself in between her and Rowan.

"Nils, what happened to you?"

I shrugged. "It is part of the curse. Not sure what it is. It is just present. That is all I have to say about that."

"Oh." Her head moved around and now she noted the attention we were getting. It was much more blatant now. The villagers were not even trying to hide their staring, much less try to avoid us staring at them. This was not good. It was one thing when my family knew, but now the whole village would desire to know all about why my hair was white and my eyes purple.

"I'm sorry," Bella whispered.

"It's okay," I whispered back. The crowd whispered among themselves.

My movements were just adding to their intrigue. Slowly, they started to spot little things, like my snow-white hair peeking out from underneath my hat. And the more they stared, the more they saw that the color of my eyes was abnormal.

I heard them ask among themselves. "Did you see his eyes?" "What color are his eyes?"

"I think it's purple."

"Cannot be!"

"Oh no!"

"Purple eyes and white hair. It must be a bad omen."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you're right, his hair is white."

"Wait, were those his hands?"

"He's so young."

I wanted to run, but there was no chance of that happening. I had never felt so naked and exposed in my life. Still, they were just talking.

Funny, they never noticed me before. Maybe they thought this was some costume or paint of some kind. Well, they looked long enough and say the complete opposite. I guessed having fun distracts you from the perils and burdens of this world.

Rowan came in front of me and made a mean face at the villagers. I would have laughed, but said nothing since the situation was still dire.

"Ignore them, Nils," Rowan said. That was easy to say, but when my eyes wavered and took in, their wide eyes rife with fear. I was sure. That was not an option anymore.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry Nils, I didn't mean…" Bella added.

"It's okay. Let's just enjoy the festival," I said.

Rowan and Bella walked on either side of me, trying to shield me with their bodies. "Where do you want to go first?" Rowan asked.

I couldn't think of anywhere. My mind was chained down by the unnerving suspicions of the villagers. I knew that the news would spread quickly and soon the whole village would know I had a curse.

What's worse is that it would have been hard to join in any game activity without drawing attention to myself, so I thought, maybe face painting?

That might not be so great now that I thought of it. Horseback riding was even worse.

I sighed. "I just wanna go home."

Bella hugged me. "No Nils, I'm so sorry. If you really want to go we can, but please don't go, you were so excited to come."

Even if she said that, it felt too late now. "But no one's going to want to come near me now."

"If they're too scared to come near you, forget them." Rowan said. "Don't let them ruin your day. Let them talk. We're your besties, we're here with you and we won't leave your side."

Rowan joined in on the hug. "Okay, best friend, if you really want to go home, we can go home. But if you want to stay, don't let them drive you out. What do you want to do?"

We stood there huddled in the heat for a while and, although burning up in the cuddle; I felt covered and safe, like no one could see me.

That gave me a boost of confidence and I decided to stay at the fair. Our first stop was to get some water to drink, because, It was hot!

That quenching feeling really hit the spot, and I felt way more refreshed.

Then our next stop was at the cakes, puddings and sweets. Rowan ate his pudding with avid joy.

Bella and I laughed at how the crumbs left on his face. Joel and Rowan were similar in that they had no grace when it came to eating.

We headed over to face painting to face the judgement that had come upon us.

Yes, some people backed away from me as I joined the line to get my face painted. I didn't really notice though, because Rowan and Bella were being goofed, cracking me up.

By the time it was my turn to get my face painted, I saw different face painters hesitate and whisper amongst themselves. One brave face painter emerged from their stand. She sat before me and said, "Okay little man, what do you want to be painted upon your face?"

Oh, right, I never thought up anything until now. My stomach squeezed inward while her eyes peered into mine. "Um, I don't know," I said.

"Let's paint a strong lion on your face, because you're as strong as a lion, brave and courageous."

I smiled as she painted on my face and Bella and Rowan waited, snickering at the compliment I received.

My face was done being painted, so I thanked the lady. She left to attend to another person.

Rowan roared loudly and beat his chest. I waved dismissing at Rowan.

Bella giggled. "Come on, little lion man." We headed over to our next stop. Horse riding, it was. Hopefully, the horses do not think I was an actual lion.