AUTHOR POV:
At the centre of the Liberal City, the thrilling hub of Norlona, sat an enormous Arch radiating the early morning sunlight with its stunning architecture and design. The concrete blocks of the huge wall is moulded like they belong to some ancient time. The green vines suspended from the creepers are tangled with the concrete blocks making the entrance arch look more like fairytale arch.
People are dispersed in all directions. Children opened their mouths gasping , awestruck by the beauty of the entrance. Some are even wearing costumes to fit in the theme of the park. Some are dressed as the Marvel characters and some as Clowns. Few people even came in the horror costumes. Anyone can mistake the amusement park as the halloween party.
As it is weekend, the rush is more than that of the usual days. Most of the parents were appreciating the Liberal City government because of their management for the tourist spot. The park was opened in the early time of the day as the crowd will be huge. All the water rides are already filled with people. A large crowd of people, certainly most of them are adults, is gathered at some of the spine chilling rides like rollercoaster, bumper cars, Ferris wheel, pendulum, drop towers, free fall rides and many more.
Leo's blue eyes were shining like the pure water. Just like snowflakes drifting in the wind and millions of galaxies , with excitement as he looked up at the lavishly decorated entrance arch.
"Woaaaahhhhhh" He couldn't hold his excitement as he grinned showing his perfect teeth. "Vivi! Hurry up!! I want to go inside so bad!!! Come on!!!" He rushed his sister who is standing in the line for the entrance ticket.
"Bubs! I understand you can't control your happiness. But there are still twenty people before us to buy the ticket. Hold your horses young man!! " Lyra said with her hands on her hip. Leo looked at her in disappointment and started to click her pictures in his cellphone.
"By the way Vivi! You look so good in this dress. We should go out often. That way I can see you in these beautiful outfits instead of those leather jacket and pants. Looking like a badass"
"What! You don't like me looking like a badass?"
" Uhuh. That's not what I mean. I love my sister in any form. You look cool driving your bike in your rider outfit. You look extra good in these type of clothes"
" Well... you can blame my beauty!" Lyra flipped her dark wavy hair back with her hand making herself look sassy. Leo laughed at her silly gestures and continued clicking her pictures.
After what seemed like twenty minutes, it's finally their turn to buy the tickets. "Tickets for two please" And when the cashier printed them their tickets, Leo's face brightened like the sun shining upon them.
It is a perfect day for an amusement park trip. The sun is bright enough as a sunny day but the clouds are covering it like thick blanket of velvet dimming the sunlight a little bit. The weather seems perfect for an energetic and joyful day. The brother and sister duo got their tickets and started their adventure.
As soon as they entered the park, the whole moment felt like a magical emotional mix. The thrilling rides, funny water rides, the food and especially Ferris wheel that was built in a massive structure so that it outlooks the city.
Leo saw a photo booth at the beginning of the park. He dragged Lyra to take pictures of themselves. "vivi! Come let's take a picture! "
"Leo!! Why waste money on it when you can click some in your mobile?"
" Taking pictures in mobile and clicking them in a photo booth are completely different aspects Vivi! Now come on!!"
" Alright alright. But we have to get our wristbands"
" Whyyyy?" Leo whined as he couldn't wait anymore to start their adventure.
" What do you mean why? We have to pay for the food and some extra charges. Since we can't carry money and wallets all the time, we need to get our wristbands and recharge them". Lyra walked towards the main reception counter and filled in the details for the amount of money they want to recharge the paybands for. After getting two bands,one for her and one for Leo, she returned back to her brother.
Sliding the band on his left wrist, she took wore the other one and said "See....it also have the gps tracker. We can find each other if we ever get lost inside the park"
"Woaaahhhh....the technology is crazy. Okay now that we are done with the formalities let's go to the photo booth" Leo stated with his voice filled with desperation. Unable to control her admiration,Lyra pinched his cheeks and held his hand dragging him towards the booth.
The beautiful sister and handsome brother duo entered the booth's costume section and tried different items like hairbands, caps, face accessories and much more and settled with a bunny ears hairband on Leo's head and a dummy gun with cooling glasses in Lyra's hands.
Leo looked like a cute little rabbit who radiates love around him and Lyra looked like some serious gangster with her glasses and fake gun in her hand. They entered into the booth and took pictures in various poses.
They walked outside the booth after taking enough pictures with Leo jumping joyfully with the photo strip in his hand. Leo looked at his sister in the picture adoring her face when Lyra pulled him back to this world saying " I am here you stupid why are you staring at my picture?"
" Because you look beautiful beside me" leo answer her cheekily smiling like a fool.
"I look beautiful because I AM beautiful. You have no intervention in my looks. Mhpmmm" she flipped her hair as she told him playfully looking at him sassily. Leo chuckled, his eyes forming a crescent moon shape. " No. Really you look good in these pictures Vivi! I should take more pictures of you. Damn I didn't know that you are photogenic".
" I look like a blob in that photos. Look! I am looking like some stone. Not even smiling. So serious. "
"Who said you are a stone? I am going to finish them. How dare they degrade you? You are a rock"
And when Lyra gave him a look narrowing her eyes, he retorted giggling "yeah I'm sorry. You are not a rock. You're a mountain". His giggles getting stronger making her heart melt.
'This is the moment I surely realise he is going to heal me' Lyra thought as her lips tried to curve upwards. But as always, she couldn't. But one thing she is happy about, she is starting to get normal. Atleast she is trying.
They both started walking into the park holding each other's hands. Leo is looking around in astonishment as it is his second time going to an amusement park this big. He visited an amusement park once when he was still a child with his parents. Although he couldn't remember most of it, he is still vary of the events that took place the day he went to a different park during his childhood.
His eyes darted between all the rides, the food, games, and people walking around in costumes. He looked like a kid who is visiting the park for the first time. His eyes filled by a mix of emotions like curious, excited, attentive, satisfied and joyful. All the time, the smile never left his lips. As this is not enough, his eyes smiled too. The bright spark in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by Lyra.
'Like what you're looking at?"
" Like? Vivi I love it. I love this feeling. I love everything I see. At this point, I am afraid I can't experience all of these things today. What if we can't finish all the rides in one day? "
" Relax, bubs. You can finish all the rides today. If you can't, we can come again next time and finish the remaining"
" Naah I can't wait that long. Let's start the adventure right now"
" Oohhh... Someone's really excited today!"
" Excited? I am gonna die of happiness. I can't possibly control my happiness. Oh my god this so funnnn!!!" Leo shouted at the top of his lungs as he lost control. The scream is so loud that people around one kilometre radius can hear it. But no-one cared to respond as they can understand his feelings.
Leo ran towards the first arena which is a balloon and darts game. He turned back to make sure his sister is right behind him. Lyra walked slowly towards him with her bag suspended from her shoulder. Leo started to pay for the game and when the arena manager handed him some darts, his face got serious as he is in some shooting practice.
He focussed on the balloons closing his left eye. Raising the right hand which is holding a dart, he aimed for the pink balloon. As he throw the dart everyone around him held their breath in anticipation. All of them gasped in shock when he popped the balloon. He shooted the remaining four darts with perfect shots. All the people gasped again in utter shock as all the darts landed on random balloons popping them. Leo blushed when people around him cheered him with loud shouting and praises. All of them smiling like it's their victory.
But in the midst of the crowd, Lyra stood with an obvious proud look on her face. Leo is trained in some fighting skills and basic combat. He completed his training in efficient aiming a year back. He learnt how to aim at something in distance with any sharp objects. Lyra was the one who persuaded him into training. Her friend and co-worker Sabrina took extra care in training him. Leo used to hesitate in the beginning and he used to get anxious about the fighting situations. Gradually, he stepped on his fears and achieved the best results.
LYRA POV
My heart is exploding with pride. He just popped some balloons with the darts. Everyone thinks the same. But for me, all I can say is he succeeded in the training. The way he just burst those balloons so smoothly is the best way he can admit that all the lessons I made him undergo didn't go to waste.
I know he can do this. I believed him and I knew he won't let me go down. All this time after the training he didn't like to use his skills practically. He kept repeating one thing.
'Vivi! I am just taking these lessons only to make you believe I will save you no matter what. But I can't promise you I will use them in my life casually. I know why you're doing this. I don't like it'.
He accepted the training only to please me. He didn't want to do that in the first place. I wanted to make sure that he survives this harsh world in the future. Incase if I die of any reason, he should survive. I can't trust my life. It can end anytime. I don't know why but I feel like my time is getting shorter and shorter each day.
I look around myself. The people clapping their hands out of happiness. Some are cheering as if this world is not cruel to us. Some girls are admiring his beauty. My pride took a swift turn skyrocketing through the clouds. My eyes drifted from the people to the epitome of innocence infront of me. His eyes locked into mine. He is trying to read my face. My expression. I give him a small nod of approval and his lips broke into a smile as he ran towards me.
The pink rabbit ears hairband hanging from his head swinging with every step he took. He looked so cute and bubbly. His right hand held a huge dragon plushie that he won after popping five balloons in a row.
He reached me and extended the plushie to me and said "Vivi! I got this for you"
I looked at the pink colour plushie and frowned. "You like grey. But why did you get this colour? You sincerely hate pink right?"
" This is not pink. This is lavender colour. It reminded me of your fragrance. I got it for you. It doesn't matter if it's pink or something I hate. If it's for you, I would do it gladly. " He said with a blissful smile on his face with his cheeks flushed.
At this point, my heart is dancing. How can someone be so innocent and pure?...When the world has been so cruel on him, he didn't even know how to talk properly. But now that he is able to stand for himself, he is showering all the love in it.
I looked at the plushie dearly and took it from his hand. I don't like these kind of stuff. Soft and sweet. Maybe it's because I've never been so soft on someone except Leo. But since he used his skills which he never promised to use for his needs, I should take it. Atleast as praising gesture. He waited for me to take the toy from his hand in anticipation. And when I finally took it, he breathed a sigh of relief and said "I thought you won't take it. You don't like things like these. It's a relief"
"Ofcourse I would take it. My baby brother worked so hard for this. It would be so bad if I reject it. Since you said it reminds you of me, you can sleep next to it when I am not home"
" Yeah. I like that idea" he flashed a smile at me.
'Aawwwww'
'He is so adorable' The teenage girls around us whispered after hearing our conversation. Bub's cheeks started to get more red as he is embarassed. I quickly understood the situation and dragged him out of there before he turns red like a tomato.