round and round and round in circle games

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

June 3, afternoon
The Carnival

The trees're different and there didn't used to be so many houses comin' along the road into town. The river's still the same, and the spot where I liked to sit and draw, that's still there, but Excolo's all different.

'Cept the Tower's still there. The Tower's always still there.

Momma says maybe we've come back because there's so many new people here now, people who don't 'member us from last time, so's maybe we can get a good take.

I don't think so. I think if we're here it's only 'cause Management wants us to be here. Maybe Momma knows that and maybe she don't, but even if she does, she ain't never gonna do nothin' that Management don't want her to.

It's been real hard hidin' everythin' from her. It's gonna be harder now that we're back.

I hope I can get into town to see the twins, and Ri, and everyone. Not the Doc. I missed the Doc real bad after he died, and now that we're back in Excolo I'm missin' him all over again.

Tez already took off - he didn't say where he was goin', but he don't hardly ever say nothin' when he gets in one of his moods to go run off. Even though he gets his moods it's been good havin' him back. Ain't like it used to be, 'cause he ain't like he used to be. I guess he's got a right to his moods with everythin' he's gone through. But it's good. He likes my paintings and really talks about 'em like he's lookin' at 'em hard. It's good to have other people to talk about art with, but Zann's still the best for talkin' 'bout it.

I'm gonna go into town too, but I gotta finish these posters first. They're gonna hang up all over town, and I want 'em to have ferris wheels on 'em that turn. If we're back in Excolo, I want to show 'em what we got.

[Open to Ri, and to anyone who's around the Carnival or wants to be]

Comments

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

"Naw, it's okay. I was almost done anyhow. Nothin' left 'cept makin' 'em move. Gotta get them ferris wheels to turn," I explain with a grin. "Oh, heck, Ri, it's so good to see you!"

"The Carnival's been doin' good business. 'Specially this winter - we went pretty far south so we was goin' to places we'd never been before."

I think Management wanted to do somethin' else when we went south, 'cause why'd we go someplace new after all this time? But I don't know what. Just know that it made me worried, just like I got worried when I heard we was comin' back here after all this time.

"What's goin' on with Excolo? 'Sides what you've been writin' to me 'bout, I mean. Looks like it's got a whole lot bigger since we was here?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

Genny says she was almost done so it's not like I really interupptin' her. "Looks real good, Gen, even without them turnin'. An' i'm reall glad to see you too." And it does. Anyone else would have been finished. But I c'n understand why she wants to add her special touch. Because it's magic. The kind that makes you catch your breath and stare.

She tells me that they the did indeed go on tour, to places even farther south than Gibbtown. And for a moment I feel like I missed out on something. But only for a moment. Excolo is my home now. "Wow. How far south did you guys get? See any really cute girls?"

I laugh again when Genny says that Excolo looks bigger and asks me what;s been goin' on that i didn't put in my letters. "Yup, it is! Maybe next time you drop by it'll be a city." Maybe not but it is fun to pretend like maybe it could be. And that maybe the carnival will swing by every few years an 'I could show it off to her an' my family.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

"Looks real good, Gen, even without them turnin'. An' i'm reall glad to see you too."

"Thanks," I grin, and give her another hug, and then plunk down to sit on the grass so's we can talk.

"Wow. How far south did you guys get? See any really cute girls?"

"We went swimmin' last Christmas 'cause it was that hot - that's how far south we got!" I'm the one havin' adventures and Ri's the one who's stayin' home? How'd that happen? "And, yeah, there was some cute gals." I think I'm blushin'. 'Specially when I think 'bout that gal Sara… "Well, one. She was real cute. But by the time I got up the nerve to talk to her we was already headin' out."

"Yup, it is! Maybe next time you drop by it'll be a city."

She sounds proud of it, like she helped make it big. I guess she did, bein' one of the shop owners and givin' people jobs and stuff like that. Almost like we're grownups or somethin'.

I drop my voice down and look 'round 'fore I ask, "Has anythin'...weird happened? You know, like them bad dreams, or the snowstorm in summer?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

So hot they were swimming at Christmas. shake my head an grin back at her. "That's crazy! But kinda cool too. We had snow up to here-" I tell her raising my hand up to the top of my hip. "Long-time residents said it was the most snow they'd ever seen here." Plenty enough to make those snowmen.

My grin gets wider when Gen blushes and tells me that yeah there were cute girls and one that she liked even if it took her a bit too long to actually go talk to her. "That sucks. One of the bits I don't miss 'bout the travelin' lifestyle. Not enough time to get know the cute guys n' girls we meet."

Then she gets quiet, well quieter, for next question, Has anythin'...weird happened? You know, like them bad dreams, or the snowstorm in summer?

All a sudden I feel a bit nervous. This is Excolo where weird stuff keeps happenin. An' not the Carnival where things are a weird but it's kinda a stable sorta weirdness. Here weirdness is like the weather, every so often things get weirder for a bit and then it goes back to normal and then the next new weird thing happens.

But you only really understand that if you live here. Don;t know if Gen'll understand that given that the Carnival was only here for a year or so an' she didn't live town neither. So I just shrug and tell her. "Yeah. It's Excolo. 'Course weird things happened."

Run my hand through my hair an add, "Just last week we had not just one swarm a butterflies but three. An they was all different colours too."

There was also the couple a days that everyone was speakin' different languages, so that hardly anyone could understand each other. But I don't feel like mentionin' that.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

Ri grins, and I blush more, 'cause now I'm thinkin' 'bout Sara even more. "That sucks. One of the bits I don't miss 'bout the travelin' lifestyle. Not enough time to get know the cute guys n' girls we meet."

"Yeah," I sigh. "Ain't much time at all. So have you found a cute guy or gal here, now that you've stayed here for a couple years?"

"Yeah. It's Excolo. 'Course weird things happened." Run my hand through my hair an add, "Just last week we had not just one swarm a butterflies but three. An they was all different colours too."

"Aww, butterflies ain't too bad. That sounds kinda pretty." I can picture it in my head, with all the wings overlappin' and makin' patterns in the sky.

But Ri looks like she's thinkin' 'bout more'n butterflies. Her face's all tight and unhappy, and her eyes're lookin' all far away. "Um. Did somethin' bad happen?" I ask her, real quiet.

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

So have you found a cute guy or gal here, now that you've stayed here for a couple years? My turn to blush. "Sorta. For a little while I had one of each. At the same time even." Then my grin fades a bit, "Things didn't work out in the end, but at least the girl an I are still friends."

An I'm less mad 'bout Jarmyn runnin' off without so much as a good bye than I used ta be. He said it to Verdi, but not ta me.

I knew Genny'd like the butterflies. Much nicer than many things that've happened in Excolo. But of course she notices that I'm not thinkin' 'bout pretty butterflies. an' she asks, Um. Did somethin' bad happen?

Sit up a bit an pick a bit of fluff outta my hair. "Kinda. It was a kinda freaky that for a couple days no one could speak English. Anytime you tried to say somethin' it would come out in a another language. An everyone got a different one. The folks who already spoke other languages was real useful. They still got stuck with speakin' nothing but whichever random language happened to stick but at least they could help by bein' able to listen to the poor sap who got stuck with not bein' able to talk so's most other people could understand."

It was hell tryn' ta do business that first day when nobody knew what was goin' on.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

"Sorta. For a little while I had one of each. At the same time even." Then my grin fades a bit, "Things didn't work out in the end, but at least the girl an I are still friends."

"At the same time? Wow." I'm impressed, but it also seems kinda complicated, goin' 'round with more'n one person. "Glad you're friends, though."

It ain't easy to stay friends after breakin' up. Me'n Faith did it, but we wasn't together for much, and, well, she's Faith. And me'n Zann took months to get back to bein' friends like we was before. Glad we did, though. Bein' friends with Zann again's been one of the best things 'bout the last few years. Don't think I'd want to be somethin' more'n friends with her again, but I'm always happy that I did.

Then Ri explains how it wasn't always just pretty butterflies. Didn't think it would be.

"Kinda. It was a kinda freaky that for a couple days no one could speak English. Anytime you tried to say somethin' it would come out in a another language. An everyone got a different one. The folks who already spoke other languages was real useful. They still got stuck with speakin' nothing but whichever random language happened to stick but at least they could help by bein' able to listen to the poor sap who got stuck with not bein' able to talk so's most other people could understand."

Yeah, that sounds more like Excolo. I don't want to look at the Tower, but that just makes me more scared that I'm gonna look at it. "That ain't as much fun as butterflies. Did…someone do it on purpose, to mess folks up? Or was it by accident?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

Ain't quite sure why I don't mention Dorian to her. S'not cuz what Dorian an I have's too complicated to explain, cuz it ain't. S'just the opposite. Just pure fun with a hot guy. Who belongs to someone else but who doesn't seem to mind if he goes off an sleeps with other people. Prolly cuz she knows she's the only one he actually loves.

Smile when Gen says the butterflies sounded more like fun. They were. An the snowmen sorta were in that they didn't do nothin' bad to anyone...but when she asks if it was done on purpose or by accident all I c'n do is shrug. "Dunno. That's the thing with most a the really weird stuff. Things happen an' you never get to find out why."

S'a good thing though, that things always seem ta return to something that at least looks more normal after. An' people always come up with ideas to explain what they think happened an why, but I ain't never heard anything I trusted to be the real reason why somethin' happened.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

That's kinda what it's like bein' in the Carnival. We go places and don't ask why, and weird stuff happens and we don't ask why. I didn't mind till I started thinkin' 'bout it, and now I've started I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it, and can't stop mindin' it, neither. I'm tired of havin' stuff just happen.

"Ain't you never wondered where it come from? Or how to make it so only the good stuff'd happen and not the bad?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but I ain't one'a the people as have some special talent as might let me actually do somethin' bout any of it!"

Not like Genny has with her special paintin's with blood or tears. Not like some a the other folks here in Excolo. Sure, people talk bout what might be goin' on but none a us c'n stop those things comin'.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

Ri sounds kinda sharp, and I feel bad. Didn't mean to make her feel bad 'cause she can't paint like me or see stuff like the twins...

"I'm sorry," I mumble. "Didn't mean it like that. I know it's hard just…watchin' stuff and not knowin' what to do 'bout it." I try to think of somethin' else to say, real quick, so she won't be mad no more. "Um. You seen the twins? Are they okay?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

Know it's not Her fault, s'just the way things are. But I am glad when she changes the subject to ask me 'bout the twins.

"Yeah. They're doin' fine. Think by now that tea shoppe is more their's than Wanda's. Faith still lives with Hope n' Edmund, don't think she ever plans to move out." Probbly never was the plan in the first place. She an' Hope always did stick together even when all they wanted was a little space to have somethin' for themselves.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

Whew. Ri don't sound mad no more when she answers. I grin, too, when she tells me 'bout the twins.

"Yeah, I kinda didn't think she'd leave. The twins still can't live apart." Ain't most husbands'n wives'd have a sister livin' with 'em, but I can't imagine Faith'd ever live somewhere that Hope ain't. Or the other way 'round. And Edmund's so nice, he'd just let anythin' happen. Wonder if he's gotten Faith to get any softer, with all of his niceness? Kinda hope he ain't, 'cause then she wouldn't be Faith no more.

And look at all of us, bein' respectable folks with jobs and shops'n stuff. All of Syl's gals, growin' up.

Well, all of them, with shops. I'm still where I always been, but I hope I'm growin' up. Pretty sure I am, after all I been workin' on with Syl'n Zann...

"I'm gonna head into town later to see 'em later. They're still livin' in the same place, or should I go to the Dormouse?"

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

Grin at her, "Think so. The twins ever show you the house? MY first thought when I saw it was how big it was an' thus how much Edmund must love Hope." Laugh an' push my a few stray bits a hair.

I also used ta think my little apartment above the Salon was huge.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, I saw it 'fore we left. I thought the same thing! And how rich she was gonna be. Don't know what all they'd do with so much space, but I know the twins could find a way to make it real nice."

What would you do with a big house like that? It'd be nice to have a house with enough rooms to have windows on all the walls so's you could get the light at different times of days, I guess? But how'd you ever have enough stuff to fill it up?

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

We talk some more, mostly 'bout some a the other people we both know. And then I get a look at the sun an' realize I oughta be goin'n' sigh.

"Was real nice catchin' up with you, Gen, but I oughta let you finish your work 'fore the light goes. Say hi ta Syl 'n Zann for me?" Lean over an' give her a hug. "I'll be back for another visit next Sunday if you guys're still here."

I do hope they stick around for a few weeks.

[genny-duvall.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, we'll still be here. Usually stay at least a week or two long's the business is good." Hope we stay that long. It'll probably take at least that long for me'n Syl'n Zann to get all of our stuff done. We hoped we could do it while we was out on the road, but I think it might work better if we do it here.

Hope it don't hurt nobody.

"It was real good to see you, Ri. I missed you." I hug her tighter. Still can't hardly believe that I'm really here and huggin' her. "I'll stop by your shop when I'm in town."

[verite-belrose.livejournal.com]

"Missed to you too, Gen." M'glad when she says that we've probably got at least another week maybe a bit more. Part of me wants them to stay longer I 'member how bad it was when it looked like the Carnival was never gonna move again. N' I don't want that. I really don't. Not even for the chance to have my family back again.

Instead I smile one more time, n' squeeze Genny good before lettin' go. "'ll hold you to that. No matter what time you show up."

Turn an' take a few step then spin round for a wave, "See ya soon!"