When Mark arrived at the carnival, the stalls were already set. Colourful banners were up. Flags flew high. An array of succulent menus were on display. Mark’s family had hoped to find Mark’s older brother, Elijah, there. Sure enough, he had already arrived. He had already set up his stall and ready to give out his Jehova’s witness pamphlets, in his light-blue shirt, navy pants and a widened smile. Most people took those pamphlets without notice as they breezed past him. As so did Mark’s family, who waved and smiled amidst a crowd.

His father asked to go sample some of delectable dishes on display. His mouth watered at their sight. Though they did eat at home and his belly was about to burst, he reckoned, well there was some space left to fit in some of those scrumptious delights in there somewhere.

As they walked, Mark was staring at the spinning wheel when memories of the day before flooded his mind. He had asked his father for some coupons. As his father gave them to him, he asked his mother to accompany both him and Lindiwe, while he and Lindiwe’s father enjoyed the jazz special on stage.

The kids got to the ride and their mothers gave the operator their coupons. When their turn came, the operator pressed a few buttons and pushed the gear forward. The gate jammed. Lindiwe’s mother sneered, “What’s the matter?”

The operator kept quiet and quickly worked his fingers over the buttons and pushed the gear forward again. Initially, the parents had decided to wait on the ground, but Mark’s mother decided it would be better if they went on the ride with the kids. The gate squeaked open.

As they walked through the gates, Lindiwe’s mother said to the operator, “someone needs to put some oil on that.” As a teacher, she had acquired the skill of patience.

The giant metal wheel screeched as it began to spin. Lindiwe gripped Mark’s hand. A gentle breeze blew on their faces. At the top of the wheel, Mark could see the view of Sunrise Avenue. It was a beautiful marble bordering a kaleidoscope of houses and greenery. He could even see his home from that view. They were so high, that he stretched out his finger in the air and wisped it on a cloud.

Lindiwe gripped him even tighter. He felt the warmth and softness of her palms against his arm. He turned and looked at her, her skin was the colour of autumn leaves that were about to dive towards the ground. Mark brushed the hairs shading her face. Her lips curved beautifully, revealing her milk-white teeth. They screamed with excitement as the wheel spun and spun. Mark couldn’t think of something more painful than the end of that ride.

His father’s voice brought Mark back to reality, as he offered Mark a candy apple. His father had sweet rice and ice-cream for his mother. He heard his best friend Siphiwe’s voice calling out to him in the distance. He was with Brother Boswell’s daughter, Marie-Anne. They both ran towards Mark.

Siphiwe was sporting his usual yellow beanie, lime t-shirt and red skinny jeans. He noticed that she was still in her dungarees that she wore yesterday, but a different blue and white t-shirt. The colour of her dungarees reminded him of the clothes they wore to boot camp – a dark shade of brown.

They had played most of the games available at the carnival. It was Siphiwe who had introduced Mary-Anne to the other children. He had found her alone, huddled over her phone. And being the one to not let any girl pass by, pressed her for her number. Though she refused, he managed to convince her to join them on a day of fun and games. The children eventually struck up a good relationship the day before. On the final day, they felt like a tight-knit crew.

“Hey, you’re here already?” Mark asked. “Did you come alone?”

“Yeah, well, mom and dad had to go see some clients of theirs on the way here. Don’t know when they’ll be here or if they’ll be here. I couldn’t stick around for all of that, so I just decided to walk here by myself.”

“Awesome. And how are you doing, Mary-Anne?”

“I am –”

Siphiwe quickly remembered something and barged in, “Oh and Mark, on my way here, I saw our boot camp instructor, he had some good news, he found your boots. He told me that you left them behind one of the obstacles on the course. He said you can come by his office and fetch them.”

Then he grinned. Mark chuckled as Siphiwe slapped him on the shoulder. Mary-Anne smiled and rubbed Mark’s shoulder softly.

“Anyways, when is Lindiwe arriving?” Siphiwe asked quickly.

“It’s half past ten. She should have been here”, Mark replied after checking the time on his phone. “Maybe I should give her a call.”

“Hey guys, let’s go on the rollercoaster”, Marie-Anne suggested.

“Ya, let’s”, Siphiwe agreed.

Mark seemed reluctant, his focus fixed on his phone’s screen.

“What’s wrong?” Marie-Anne asked.

“You guys can go without me, I’ll keep an eye from down here.”

“Don’t worry. Look what I’ve got” Marie-Anne pulled out a stash of crumpled coupons from her pocket.

“We played that all day yesterday with –”

“With Lindiwe!” Mary-Anne butts in.

“That’s fine,”Siphiwe said. “You guys are wasting time. Let’s go before there is a long queue there. Hurry.”

He pulled both their wrists, but they didn’t budge.

“Mark’s right,” said Mary-Anne. “We did play that all day yesterday. I’m bored now.” Then she thought a bit.

“Hey, I have an idea, why don’t we go play with some props backstage, my father always keeps some spares.”

Siphiwe looked around, wondering, waiting for a sign, then shrugged. He thought about sharing one of his jokes. “Ok, guys, what do you call –“

“Lindiwe!”