The Carnival

So...yesterday. Yesterday, yesterday, yesterday.

Yesterday was...good, for the most part. Very enjoyable day.

But...well...I don't know...okay, let's just go from the beginning:

I went and picked up Lizzie at around 9:00, because I wanted to get an early start to the day. The plan was to get there early and stay there late, so that we were there for all the main aspects of the day. The carnival's got a lot going on, and I wanted to get to every moment of it.

I bought a little thing of flowers, because that's what my mother taught me to do. Tulips are her favorite, the only reason I know that is because she told me her mother always grew them and stuck them in a vase for her when she was a child. She wouldn't be able to resist it.

I knock on the door and she opened it about ten minutes later. I guess she saw me out the window and decided to make me wait a while. Not that I blame her. But she did eventually open, so she wasn't planning on giving me the cold shoulder forever.

I offered the flowers and she just took them without saying a word to put them in a vase. I don't really get to go into her house, she hates it when people see it. I'm assuming because she brings her work home with her and she covers the place with it. Give it another five minutes and then we're out the door and on our way.

The carnival takes up an entire field, and as we got closer we could see the giant Ferris wheel looming over the hills like the symbolic beacon that it was. I looked over at Lizzie and she was giving me this evil little look, and I knew what she was thinking. Not if I had anything to say about it. I would do the roller coasters and the haunted house, but I was NOT sitting on that Ferris wheel.

At 11:45 we had done the House of Mirrors (I bumped into those fucking walls about seven times...I still have a bit of a headache) and a couple of the smaller roller coasters (a couple of which I had to coax her to get on; she can be a bit of a baby about some rides) and then we were getting some food. I had a good ole' American hotdog with ketchup, and she had some fish n' chips. Her face was starting to light up, and I could tell she was having a good time...even if she was kind of mad at me still.

We walked around for a couple of hours, while she pet all the farm animals that they drag around with them for the little kids. I laughed as she fed the goats and one of the chicken's nipped at her pant leg. Then we got to the part I had been waiting for; the shooting galleries. I walked up and looked up on the wall at the big stuffed lion that was just waiting for someone to claim himself worthy to bring him down.

Well, the new challenger was police-certified with a handgun AND a rifle, so he was about to meet his match. I picked up the rifle, gave Lizzie a wink, and brought the stock to my shoulder.

Five minutes later, we were walking away, me looking quite pompous and Lizzie looking very happy with her lion. I swear to God, we're like a couple of kids.

The rest of the day goes by with us just going on a few more rides, and then before either of us know it, it's dark out and we're looking up at the giant Ferris wheel. She's looking at me with a pleading look, her lion looking at me so that it looked like I was getting a fucking audience. I shake my head. And she pulls the Lizzie face; her lip pouts and quivers, and her eyes just look like Bambi's. She only pulls that face out as a measure of last resort. And God, do I hate it when she does.

Now, I'm not afraid of heights. I can ride the world's tallest roller coaster without a care in the world. It's the speed of the thing that I have a problem with; it just goes so God damn slow. And then it just fucking STOPS, right at the top, for a good five minutes. I mean, seriously? Why would you do that to a person?

But in the end, I have no choice. This was Lizzie's day, and I wasn't about to ruin it.

But I'll tell ya, it was hell. Sitting in that fucking thing, watching as we just spun slowly around and got higher off the ground. Every single time we rose I would squeeze my eyes shut, and then every time we would descend I would gradually open them again. I think Lizzie was enjoying this more, because she just looked out with an awestruck look at our surroundings. I guess this must be what flying was like. Remind me to never travel on a plane.

And then, of course, we stop. Right at the top of the fucking world. My eyes are shut and I refuse to open them, but then I feel something warm and soft wrap its way around my hand. I take a peak and I see Lizzie's hand holding mine. She's not looking at me, but I can tell she's smiling, and despite the situation I felt a smirk come to my face as well.

Thankfully, the nightmare ends. By now the carnival is starting to wrap itself up, but we're not quite ready to go, so we just walk around for a little while, eating cotton candy, until the fireworks go off. The fireworks, honestly, are the best part. It's no Fourth of July, but God damn, is it satisfying.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all of it. Because that was when the night kind of...I don't know, just ended, I guess.

I tear my eyes away from the fireworks to look at Lizzie for a moment, but she's not even paying attention to the display. Her eyes are looking past me, off to our right, and she looked...scared. And I've never really seen her scared before. She doesn't GET scared; and why should she, I'm her partner, I've got her back. But right then, she looked absolutely terrified.

“What? What is it?”

“Can we go now?” Her voice sounded shaky, as if she was about to have a panic attack or something.

“Lizzie, what-?”

“Please? Can we just go home now?”

I look over to where she was looking, thinking maybe her dad was there, or someone she knew from a past case or an ex-boyfriend that was just staring at her...and if it was either of the three, they had picked the wrong woman to mess with.

But...there wasn't anything. No one looking our way, at least.

“Lizzie, what the hell's wrong?” I ask, looking back at her.

She just looks at me for a second, now disbelievingly, as if...I don't know what. I look back to see if there was something I missed, but I scanned every face in the crowd and for the life of me I still couldn't see anything wrong. I turn back again and she looks a little more composed, but still looking shaken.

“I'm just...tired. Let's go back to your place.”

The ride home was just awkward. I tried to coax some answers out of her, but she just stared ahead of her and clutched that big lion like it was some safety net or something. When we got in the house, she just went upstairs and went straight to bed, no talk, no nothing, just got comfortable and went to bed. So I sighed and just lay next to her, thinking she just had a little panic moment, when I felt her arm creep around my chest and her body pull herself closer, her face burying itself in my chest.

I've never seen her this freaked before. I have absolutely no idea what caused it.

On the plus side, at least she's not pissed at me anymore.