Klev and Vora’s ninety-minute drive bounced from interesting chatter to landscape-enjoying silence to daydreaming accompanied by radio music.

“I like your dress,” Klev said after some reluctance. He stumbled for a further compliment and came to, “It’s a nice purple.”

Vora always wore purple, but she just said, “Thank you, Klev Bekkan. I’m trying a new color. I think your hat is dashing.”

Klev always wore that hat but replied stupidly, “Yeah. It’s a new style….”

The two exchanged a laugh as a deer up ahead bounced across the long cobblestone road.

“It doesn’t feel all that different, does it?” Vora hummed.

“Not really. I’ve always wondered, why do you call me by my full name all the time?”

“You have a fun name to say. Is there something you’d rather me call you? Like honey or darling?” Vora smirked and looked at her boyfriend expectantly. “It would fit better, wouldn’t it, darling?” She laughed when Klev nodded uncomfortably.

“It’s your choice,” he chuckled uncomfortably. “I never predicted I’d be in this situation. Why did you like me anyway? I wasn’t very interesting, nor fun to look at. Was it because of that one day?”

“Never sell yourself short, darling. I liked you looong before that day. And does a girl have to have a reason?”

“No. I guess not.”

“If you want a truthful, satisfying answer, it’s because you’re funny.” Vora curled her hair with her finger, then let it twirly loosely.

“I haven’t told a joke in my life.”

“You’re unintentionally funny, in the best of ways, I assure you. Now, why did you like me?”

“You’re, uh, pretty and smart,” Klev lied.

Vora didn’t believe him but went along. “Naturally.”

The two pulled up to the carnival near a pier by a lake. The sound of a roller coaster with screams attached pierced their ears. The smell of the coma-inducing feast wafted like a lure to the carnival.

“Maybe you should leave your purse in the HC. I worry you’ll lose it.” Vora agreed. Klev squinted and saw familiar faces on the other side of the parking lot. “I think I see Maive over there.”

Vora confirmed the blue-eyed man's claim. Maive had grown taller but still stick-like and flat. Her voice sounded knowledgeable and calming, like everything would be alright. Her blue hair was in a ponytail and twirled like a spiraling waterfall between her shoulder blades. She noticed the couple and waved daintily.

“Should we join her?”

Darcie came out of a bathroom near Maive. She waved, too, when Maive pointed Klev and Vora out. Then, they held hands and chatted into the carnival.

“Absolutely not,” Vora answered clearly. “It’s only you and I today.” She grabbed his arm, and her pink lips curled up.

“S-Sure,” he agreed with a scratch of his neck’s back.

After loading up on tickets, the two started with a test of strength at the entrance. With all her might, Vora had to hit a metal panel with a hammer. A cylinder would be launched upward on a track, and your strength was determined by the ascending numbers written on the side of the tall contraption. Hitting the bell at the top was the best one could do.

“You’d better impress me after this,” Vora teased. Vora swung, the cylinder shot up like a bullet, and the bell exploded into brass pieces. Before the surrounding people turned to witness the aftermath, Vora forced the hammer onto Klev. “Amazing, darling! You’re so muscular and handsome. And tall, too,” Vora added quickly.

After Klev frantically apologized to the staff, he rejoined Vora offside in the shade.

“Please don’t hate me. I forget about my strength. I’ll make it up to you,” Vora panicked.

“You’re fine. I got many impressed looks. That was nice.”

“Let’s go to the mirror maze!” On a standing carnival map, Vora pointed to an attraction furthest from their location.

When they entered the maze, Vora despised her past self for the idea. She repeatedly smooshed her nose against mirrors while Klev breezed through the labyrinth.

While suppressing his chuckle, the blonde man called, “Come this way. To the left. No, wait.” He heard the dull thud. “Sorry. Your left. That’s it.” After a few more thuds and bumps, Vora reached him, tears in her eyes. “Did you have fun?”

“An absorbent amount,” Vora answered with a frumpy face.

The couple spent a few more of their tickets attempting to win a prize by popping balloons. Five balloons needed to be popped, but after bashing her face a few too many times, Vora’s aim failed her. She only popped one balloon out of the five darts she threw.

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“What a waste. Onto the next location, then,” Vora stated.

Klev held out a palm. “Hold on. I think—I want to give it a try.”

After more tickets were spent, Klev breathed deep, then tossed the darts like lightning bolts. He used his athletic skill to give the darts a precise curve. With only two darts, he’d popped seven balloons. Vora clapped swiftly with high approval.

“Do I get tickets back if I have darts left over?” Klev asked.

The gruff carnie tapped on a sign that said, “No Refunds.” He studied Vora from head to toe and gave her a creepy grin. “I can make an exception to the rule if you do something for me, little lady.” His grin crashed to a frown when three sharp darts jabbed the back of his rested hand. “You prick,” he growled while waving his hand.

“Damn, I missed. I had to use them up if there were no refunds. Sorry about your hand,” Klev said with an innocent smile. “She’ll take the pink elephant.”

“Purple bear,” Vora corrected. She crossed her arms and scowled.

“Purple bear, then. Unless that’s a problem,” Klev threatened with false friendliness.

“One purple bear then,” the man grumbled reluctantly. “Bell bless you.”

Vora felt a bit silly carrying a giant purple bear around from game to game. Klev pointed out a crying little girl with her father, and Vora dumped her burden onto the child. The girl brightened, despite falling on her butt from holding the chunky bear. The father was very grateful and gave them some tickets.

“Want to see some talented oinkers?” Klev asked after they found themselves near the large red and white tent. “I bet they can do some cool tricks. I haven’t been to a swine circus since I was single digits. My mom never cared for them, but my dad loved them.”

“That sounds lovely, yes.” Vora felt Eoa emanating from inside the building of cloth. She didn’t want to go in, but Klev was amped up for it.

Klev pointed out a higher spot on the bleachers, and they sat next to an elderly woman and a Chime. The ringmaster was commentating on the tricks and announcing the next ones. A pig unwantedly balanced on a large blue ball. Other pigs were running around dressed in women’s clothing and makeup, looking for treats from the spectators. A swine tamer whipped at a boar, making it pull tricks. Piglets were in a petting area for children.

Vora could feel their Eoa, and her body became hot and prickly. While everyone else was laughing and jolly, Vora absorbed the animals' sorrow: abuse, fear, sadness, and agony. Only she alone understood these creatures’ lives. That was her gift and curse. She could wholly steal their pain. But unlike copying and sharing pain, stealing it was visible to others.

Klev looked over at his purple muse. “Vora?” he said softly. He sharply figured out what was happening. “Let’s get out of here. I forgot how bad circuses smelled.”

“Naturally.”

While the two left, Klev glared over his shoulder.

***

Vora sat on a bench overlooking the lake, watching families swim in it and couples driving swan boats. He’d taken a long time, but Klev returned to Vora with ice creams in hand. The Blonde man held out the strawberry cone, and Vora took it unapologetically and shoved half of it in her gullet.

Klev sat beside her and stared down at his cone for a bit. Then, with determination, he turned to Vora, grabbed her face, and roughly pressed his lips against hers. After an awkward eternity, he pulled away from the woman whose chocolate-brown eyes were wide enough to pull in the sky.

Klev was shaking, and his face was fire-red. He wiped away Vora’s ice cream he inadvertently stole off her lips. “That was awful timing for a first kiss, I know. But it just seemed right.”

Vora cleaned her lips with a napkin. The color of her cheeks matched the ice cream. She replied, “It was horrible timing. But I would be disappointed by anything else,” she explosively laughed.

There was an uproar that popped up behind them. Show pigs from the circus ran out of the carnival and into the woods and lake. They were knocking over all sorts of carts and running past people. After a few minutes, the chaos stopped, leaving behind panting carnies swearing around.

“What happened with all the pigs?” Vora asked, flabbergasted.

“Geee, yeah. I wonder. Well, I wouldn’t worry about it, though,” Klev replied casually. “Look at the fish jumping,” he pointed.

“They’re rainbow koi. How pretty,” Vora gushed.

Klev chuckled. “We were on a bench like this when we first met. My mother had just died, and you shoved a muffin in my mouth. I can still taste it sometimes when I wake up.”

“I did that? That doesn’t sound like me.” Vora squinted and scanned her memories. “I don’t remember that at all.”

“I remember it nearly every day. You said something similar to what my mother used to say to me. ‘If you’re in pain, just smile and it will go away.’”

“Seems that phrase likes to bounce around between us.”

Klev reached, paused, then put his arm around Vora and pulled her in. “I love you, Vora Snihde.”

Vora’s patented response, “naturally,” halted at her throat, and instead, she exchanged it with, “I love you too, Klev Bekkan.”

***

The sun was setting, and Vora and Klev ran out of tickets.

“Just two,” Klev said. He held the tickets and looked at them like an injured baby bird. “You can’t do anything with two.”

“We burned through them quickly. Right as the sun is setting, too. Boo.” Vora reached for her hip and instantly felt stupid. “We could get more, but I forgot I put my purse in the horseless carriage.”

“One ticket per person on the Ferris wheel. That sounds like a good way to end the date. Ferris wheel at sunset?”

“How romantic, Kle—Darling.”

The two entered the car and rose slowly. The sun burned its last moments on the lake, and the moon was just behind it like a creeper. Vora crushed her brows, opened the window, and leaned out. Before she fell out to the stone below, Klev grabbed her by the waist.

“What are you doing?” he said, concerned. “Your clumsy butt is going to kill yourself.”

“I knew you had me. Observe. It may be the last time you see them.”

Vora clasped her hands together and then cracked them open, blasting out thousands of glinting crystal butterflies. Blues and reds. Yellows and oranges. Purples and greens. Agony taken from others and made into something beautiful. Vora pulled back in and closed the window.

“I forget how pretty they are.”

“I have to show you something.” Vora lifted her skirt to reveal her thigh. When Klev appeared hot and bothered, the explained, “Calm down, darling. We won’t be doing that tonight. Unless you want to.” She laughed at his dazed reaction. “Look. Remember when I stabbed myself in the leg when we were kids? This is the scar. And after all the beatings I’ve taken through the years, this remains the only one.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Vora answered whimsically. “Just a neat thing. Anyway, the answer is yes. I’ll come with you to White Hill.”

Klev beamed. “That’s great. I’ll make sure you won’t regret it.”

“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be a movie star or model or a scientist. Something easy.”

“Uh huh….”

“Time to get out, kids.” Said the carnie when the two reached ground level once again.

The two drove away from the carnival, with frogs croaking loudly in the dark. The pieces were coming together as Vora had planned since youth. Her lids fell heavy, and she rested her head on Klev’s lap until she left reality.