Twenty minutes later, Luka and Eve found themselves at one of the merch booths.

“Are these them?” he asked the villager currently stationed within. Luka placed his hands on either side of a wooden box, his fingers tapping along the edges as a smile crossed his face.

He paused and thought, Eve said I need to work on my smile. He flared his lips, showing teeth.

“Did you get punched in the mouth?” asked the villager.

Luka’s smile disappeared. “No. Is this the box?”

“It is.”

“Great. How are sales?”

“Surprisingly good. I think I’m going to win the bet.”

Eve chuckled. “I dunno, Momma Nan’s smoked meats is drawing a crowd now.”

The villager muttered something inaudible before calling to passing guests, offering deals on all the merch.

Luka and Eve walked off toward the WHEEL. Mayor Tram had come up with the idea of free shirts for those who braved the Ferris wheel. Since the manufacturing of all merch was in-house, the cost was practically non-existent. Giving away a few free ones was well within profit margins. And besides, was there anything better than free advertising? Someone walking around Sneerhome wearing a World Walker Park shirt would surely draw eyes.

For the next thirty minutes, Luka and Eve passed out shirts and chatted with guests until they were all out. Then they rounded the park, checking on villagers and making sure everything was in order.

At the far end of the park, past the stalls, a range of various Earth games sat. They were cheap and easy yard games, the type people played at parties while drinking—and as luck would have it, the closest drink stall was a beer hut! Guests stood around short, angled sections of wood with a hole cut out in the center. They tossed small bags of sand into the opposing player’s section of wood, receiving points if they made the shot.

Families sat around drinking and snacking, soaking in the nice atmosphere and beautiful landscape. A few had small children, but most were teenagers and their parents. A few couples walked around arm in arm, cuddling into each other’s shoulders as they ventured about.

Jungle gyms, Luka told himself, adding it to the list of stuff to create.

The sun eventually started to set, and the guests slowly started to dwindle. World Walker Park had no hours of operation, but Mayor Tram estimated most would leave by dark. Apparently, that was usual in this world—especially for the laborers and day workers. A night sleep and an early morning were commonplace.

Luka and Eve took a spin through the teacups ride, both looking for issues with the attraction itself. The hunk of metal and wood was lame if Luka was being honest. After imagining what the park could be, flashing carnival lights and woodgrain just wouldn’t cut it. It was too cheap and horribly tacky.

Reminds me of those traveling fairs in Germany, Luka thought. The Germans really did like their carnivals for some reason. Is it Oktoberfest I’m thinking of? Or was that just the beer festival?

Either way, the teacups were lame and needed a facelift as soon as possible—as well as the swing ride.

“You’re doing it again,” Eve said, yanking on the central spinning disk of the teacup. The ride vehicle spun them quite fast, even though Luka refused to help, claiming his stomach couldn’t take going much faster.

“Doing what?” he asked.

“Spacing out like we talked about earlier.”

Having a memory flashback, Luka translated to himself. Slowly, he shook his head. “Not this time. I was just thinking about the park.”

“I’d call today a success.”

“As would I… I just know it can be more.”

Eve nodded thoughtfully, easing off the spin wheel and allowing the ride’s momentum to die. “I can and will. Just give it some time.”

The ride cycle ended, and the two parted beside a dozen and a half dizzy guests. The exit queue led directly onto the main drag of rides. Nearby, along the edges, a few piles of sick matted the grass.

“We need a janitor.”

“A magical janitor.” Eve made a disgusted face. “I’ll ask my aunt to make another magical stick that zaps puke away.”

“Where is Sol, anyways?” Luka asked. “I wanted to talk to her about a large-scale microphone stick so we can have some music playing around the park.”

“She’s still working on that project for the mayor. Apparently, she’s in Sneerhome right now protesting the Guilds.”

“For what?”

“Something for you, I suppose. Rare glyphs—”

Eve cut herself off as a scream echoed across the park. All heads turned, finding a gnomish woman floating mid-air near the spinning swings. The ride was spinning, and guests aboard were terrified, watching the show in horror as they continuously rounded.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Luka spotted a single empty chair in the otherwise at-capacity ride—in other words, the gnomish lady floating in the air had fallen out of her seat.

A gently blissful golden glow radiated from the woman’s skin, highlighting her silhouette against the twilight air. She drifted like a leaf in the breeze, her screams petering out as she realized she wasn’t about to die. Then, summoned from cracks in reality, a horde of hundreds of divine butterflies took to the sky, circling around the woman.

They swam through the air like a school of fish surrounding a bait-ball. But instead of nipping at the woman, they produced a faint, but reflective, golden dust. Soon the whole area was consumed, divine essence front and center—Goddess Tippy’s protective blessing.

There were few who understood what was happening. Luka was one, and the gnomish woman was the other. Everyone else—everyone else in the park—simply enjoyed the light show, yet knew something strange was afoot.

Luka practically sprinted to the woman’s side as she gently landed in the grass. As the swings came to a stop, the riders were hesitant to depart while new riders hesitated to enter.

“I fell out,” the woman muttered. “A-and…”

“Hi,” Luka said, trying to sound as casual as possible, “my name’s Luka, the World Walker who built this place. Mind telling me what happened?” Above, the dancing butterflies continued to swim higher into the air, their dust befalling the whole of the park.

“I slipped out… the chair’s leg gaps were too big…” Shock and concern crumpled the woman’s face until tears threatened to leak out. “How am I…”

Luka cleared his throat and produced the magical microphone stick from his pocket. When he spoke, the grass amplified his words, “Ladies and gentlemen, mystics and mages, adventurers and explorers, for those of you who were not here this morning, I welcome you. I also would like to recount the events that led to the park’s opening.”

Luka spoke about Goddess Tippy showing up and blessing the park. Few guests had been around for the opening, so a recounting was needed in his eyes.

“In essence,” he continued, speaking into the mic, “an accident just happened, and Goddess Tippy intervened. And for that, I am sorry.”

The crowd grew in a matter of seconds. They stared at him with confusion.

“I am sorry for failing to safely design my attractions.” He turned to the gnomish woman. “I’m sorry you almost got hurt.”

“It’s okay…” she quickly stammered out. “The Goddess, praise her, saved me.”

“That she did. But allow me to be the first to say that we here at World Walker Park do not want the Goddess to have to save anyone. The ride should be safe regardless of divine intervention.”

He held the mic away from his face and said to the woman, “I promise you; I will make sure to design all future rides so that gnomes are safe. I… just didn’t think about your safety, and that’s on me.”

She just stared. Luka continued, “For that, I’d like to offer you some compensation. A lifetime of free ride passes as well as a couple of free shirts. Sound reasonable?”

The surprise of the evening rekindled for the woman in that moment. A goddess directly intervening in her life? Wow! What an amazing event! A World Walker offering his apologies and giving away free stuff? Now that was cause for celebration!

“Two passes—” she eked out. “For me and my wife.”

Luka’s eyes followed hers, finding another gnomish woman watching the scene play out with wide, tear-ridden, fearful eyes.

“Of course,” he said.

Just then, Eve leaned into his ear and whispered something. He echoed her words into the microphone stick.

“Drinks are half off until closing!”

***

Night fell, along with the dark, starry sky. Mayor Tram was wrong: the park rekindled with guests instead of draining away. Most were in line for the WHEEL, the ride offering the best night-time views of the forest and beautiful sky.

Luka sat on a bench alone, his arms strung across the backrest, and his head flopped back. He stared at the twinkling light show; Goddess Tippy’s golden light show long gone.

Here, in this world, light pollution wasn’t really a thing—compared to Earth, that was. He remembered heading into the mountains to visit an astrologer friend at an observatory once. The night sky without a modern city’s lights was something akin to perfection.

The stars here were big, bright, and slowly pulsed like a gentle heartbeat. Nebulous gasses, greens, purples, and indigo spiraled across the darkness, lit up by the very galaxies that inhabited them. The dark of space seemed deeper as well, like it truly was a void up there, and the colors and lights were speckles on a great big canvas.

“Like the stars?” a voice asked.

Luka startled, snapping his head to the left and finding an old wrinkled man.

Plenty of people had made the journey from Sneerhome to the park or ventured in from a long day’s travel across the highway. Some were adults and children, others teenagers or elders. And yet, none seemed quite as old as this man sitting beside Luka. People at the park were also hardened or magical. Day laborers looking for a fun evening or mages trying to find some non-magical fun.

But again, this old man was neither. He simply was just an old, old man.

“I do,” Luka said.

“They say God Neb created the stars. Or, at least, brought them closer to this world so the residents could gaze upon something truly breathtaking.” The man chuckled softly. “I like to imagine God Neb did it so the people could have something to inspire them during the blackness of the night.”

“They sure do,” Luka quietly said, speaking from his own experience if he was being honest.

The man nodded softly, turning gently toward the World Walker. “The gnomish woman who fell out of the swing—she wasn’t properly riding. She was attempting to understand and steal the mechanism behind the ride. And in doing so, slipped from the seat’s restraints.”

Luka made a face. “How do you know that?”

The old man stood, craning his back and creating a tidal wave of cracks through his spine. “When you’re as old as me, you tend to watch events rather than experience them. Age gives an objective eye.”

With that, he walked away, disappearing into the park. Luka sat for a while longer, his eyes magically finding the stars again. Did he act on the old man’s information? Did he revoke the woman’s free pass?

No, even if she was trying to steal, she found a fatal flaw that needs to be fixed. She can keep the pass… unless I catch her trying to steal in the future.

Luka loudly sighed. So much had happened today, and he spent the next fifteen minutes absorbing it all. At least, until another voice called to him.

Eve shouted and waved him over, “We’re closing soon! Mayor Tram wants you to walk everyone out!”

He looked at the slowly exiting mass of people. There were more people here now than in the morning at opening. Obviously, word had spread about Goddess Tippy’s blessing, which pulled more and more people in.

Luka took one more glance at where the old man had disappeared among the crowd before standing and walking over.

It was time to count today’s profits and plan the next steps.