They were both very happy, Cassie, age 5, and Billie, age 2. Up to this point, they had eaten their favorite pancakes, blueberry banana, at Aurora’s Diner. At Etherton’s Orchard, Cassie and Billie played tag amongst the rows of apple trees filled with giant red apples and the grabbing bendy sticks of red, blobby raspberries. All the while, the adults collected early apples for some early baking. Afterward the cousins found themselves thrust into their families’ fine heaps of conveyance, then lashed into seats that sat upon seats. Cassie and Billie tried to launch a proper protest, but before that could happen the cars were already swooping down the river bluff road back into town. The two cousins imagined themselves as big birds with bouncing arms as giant wings. They tried so hard to fill them with the air rushing past the open windows, but could not reach those poor wings out the windows of the car.
It was the twin brothers, both father and uncle, that would bring the family together. It was almost every weekend. Cassie and Billie enjoyed these gatherings. They were never certain what adventures would be inspired, but there would always be one. In this case, however, the cousins were very certain that going to Mildred’s Cafe in downtown River Town was totally Mother and Auntie inspired. The cousins did not care, though. They could watch the parade of townsfolk flow by the giant picture window in the front of the little cafe. The parade of humanity flowed like a slow moving river down the sidewalk.
It seem that everyone in the village was out on that sidewalk. They were all enjoying the last of the summer’s humidity and warmth made comfortable by the very first touch of cool fall breeze. Everyone wore short sleeve shirts and shorts and pushed baby strollers while pulling dragging pets. Cassie and Billie made a game out of pointing out and laughing at everyone’s summer footwear. Once lunch was done and the family meandered down the sidewalk. The cousins started to notice the clouds as they paraded along the early fall sky like giant puffy sculptures. They started a game that would happily pronounce which animal genus each cloud would belong. Cassie, seeing a large family of bunnies in the clouds, somehow convinced everyone in the family, including moms and aunts, uncles and dads, that they should hop down the sidewalk like bunnies. Billie was disappointed. He wanted baby monsters, drooling, snarling, toothy monsters. But when one of the twins screamed that they saw a wolf in the clouds, the entire family went screaming down the sidewalk to avoid the clawed and toothed thing. The townsfolk on the sidewalk promptly grabbed their own children close and scowled as the screaming cluster ran by. With a brief chuckle at the crowd reaction, the game came to a halt as the family went back to walk at a leisurely pace. Even though the game had ended, the cousins would keep an eye on those sculptures parading across the sky throughout the entire day, watching them change to a violet shade of purple later in the day.
As the family turned the corner off Main Street onto Third Street, they headed down the small hill toward the park on the river’s edge. Cassie and Billie noticed a small town of canvas and metal had popped up on the grass. The tents must have been goats as there was no green to be seen at all. On the river, you could see an abnormally large number of boats taking their final seasonal cruises for the year. This made Cassie and Billie feel that they were about to enter a Medieval seaport. In fact, if you examined the layout of all those white canvas houses and shops, you could make out streets. Of course, the streets were filled to the curbs with townsfolk pushing baby carriages and dragging various sizes of dog, but with the addition of balloons, plastic bags and parcels, and...food. You could also see alleyways, as well, but they were filled with the remnants of great commerce: the carcasses of cardboard traveling crates and other items to be hidden.
The canvas buildings were filled with color, wood, and clay. Some tents had wax wonders, while others held wondrous, transparent animals and goblets. Some had little shiny trinkets of metal, some wood. Others contained a bevy of metal creatures the size of small children, while some creatures stood guard at tent entrances. At the edge of this magical village, right at the “harbor,” there was one concrete structure which resembled a cave or some great stone beast. Perhaps, it was the place for a throne where the king and queen would sit to watch their armada. Currently, the throne stand was filled with traveling minstrels and performers. Both Cassie and Billie felt as if the performers were dancing inside the mouth of some great beast, dancing upon a slimy tongue and dodging every solid and heavy tooth that lined the edge. The gigantic creature seemed pleased as it let the minstrels give music and laughter to the surrounding crowds who would listen. Cassie and Billie watched and danced their way to the entrance of the seaport as the notes of music danced by them, floating in the air as dandelion seeds rushing uphill to the streets of River Town’s downtown.
Once Cassie and Billie’s family gained entrance to the bustling canvas village, a crowd had formed outside one of the canvas shops and the twins stopped to join a clump of the traffic already gathered. The rest of the family halted and then back tracked to meet up with the twins. There, just on the fringe of the crowd but just on the outside of the canvas shop, a man stood holding over his head an orange cat with a funny gray arm or tail. The orange cat was very unhappy as it buzzed and roared high in the air over the man’s head. Perhaps the shop owner pulled on the creature’s tail. Mean man.
Cassie and Billie were not happy with the sudden stop, and began to pull on pant legs. They received pats on heads and back of hands. The guy who held everyone entranced by holding a strange orange cat into the air. Maybe he was about to perform some magic, but neither Cassie nor Billie could hear the words of the man. They tried to get their family moving. They wanted to explore, so the cousins tried another tug on pant legs. They received another pat on the head. The mumbling of the man with the orange cat kept on going. With the heavy exhale, both Cassie and Billie pulled hard on pant legs. This time, they both received, without a look, a firm holding hand. Billie did not like his hand to be trapped in such a way, so he tried to pull away from the holding hand. This only made the holding hand squeeze even tighter.
Finally, something was happening. Cassie and Billie, trying to free themselves, only noticed when the crowd leaned in. Cassie and Billie felt immediately and prominently removed. They were both annoyed by the crowd, and their parents. Finally, in an effort to free themselves, Cassie wobbled side to side and Billie bounced up and down, hoping in freedom to also magically remove their obstacles. The crowd only oohed and aahed, which made the two cousins more frantic to see through the blocking crowd. Billie could handle it no more. He reached out to lashed at the person in front of him. Instead, Billie was instantly grabbed by two strong hands and lifted onto two solid shoulders. It was his father. Billie was grateful for the rescue, even if he needed to inflict harm. Just like everyone else, Billie leaned into the scene of murderous, sawdust-inducing rage. He grinned at the sight of the carnage that the orange, boxy cat was causing. He only looked away from the scene to check on his cousin, Cassie. Sure enough, she had been rescued on top of her father’s shoulders. She sat mesmerized by the sight of sawdust flying everywhere. The longer she gazed at the scene, the wider her grin. Finally, her smile stretched from ear to ear which gave her a homicidal look. Forgetting his own disturbing delight, Billie felt a bit concerned for his older cousin...well, more for the folks surrounding his cousin.
After a very short moment, the orange rage cat had stopped roaring, stop ripping and tearing the tree chunk. The sawdust quit flying, and all was silent, even the babies in the crowd. The noises which would normally have been heard from the small downtown of River Town were silent. Cassie and Billie were convinced that a witch had descended upon the scene and cast a spell, for everything seemed frozen, suspended. Snow could have fallen in that moment, and no one would have noticed. It was not clear to Billie, or even Cassie, if anyone noticed the bear which sat in place of the chunk of wood. It was in that moment that the two cousins heard someone call their names. They looked around, but found no one who wasn’t frozen in time. They looked at each other, and realized that they were the only ones not affected by the spell. Cassie shrugged her shoulders, which somehow broke the spell as the shop keep moved to place the orange cat down. Everyone began to move again. Cassie and Billie very quickly forgot the moment, as they became distracted by the lifting of a hand-held propane torch over the head of the tent owner. If there was something that the two cousins enjoyed more than some carnage, it would have to be a good fire. Both applauded, kicked, squealed with delight, which brought restraining arms across their kicking legs.
It only took a couple of swipes for the man to turn the light brown bear into a black bear. There was no visible flame, no dancing warm, no total consumption. It was so incredibly quick and anticlimactic that both Cassie and Billie abruptly stopped applauding and started to frown, even pout. However, when the owner of the orange, boxy cat stopped waving his small torch, the assembled crowd applauded and cheered none-the-less. Cassie and Billie abruptly wanted down. They wanted to explore.
“Enough with the distractions, already!” Billie’s inside voice exploded. He needed to touch, and there was so much to touch.
“Let’s get this adventure going!” Cassie head screamed. She needed to wonder to every corner and nook of this cloth town. There had to be other hidden wonders to discover in the assembled canvas town. So, once they were released, their feet firmly on the ground, they took off to the chorus of “stay close, you two!” But they did not hear. Their escorts tried their very best to keep them contained and close by, but Cassie and Billie opened up their arms and wove they way through the crowd like two airplanes in a dogfight. Their laughter giggled behind them as they ran down the open streets, weaving around pictures, sculptures and spectators alike.
Cassie and Billie did not make it very far at all, when they were stopped by something smooth and glossy. Their fingers slid across the object like water across a rock in the stream. Both Cassie and Billie smiled as they enjoyed the sensation. But it was only a fleeting moment of glee, as a restraining hand finally grabbed hold. If they just made it to the next tent, they could have touched some soft, furry creations, but that would have to wait. The woman sitting at a table under the white canvas, only smiled at the two children. No harm done. However, the restraining hand kept them close, just to make certain. Soon, the restraining hand became a pair, and Cassie, age 5, and Billie, age 2, were stuck to travel at the pace of the winding, family caravan.
Smack in the middle of that canvas city, the family passed from tent to white plastic canvas while the cousins kept touching colors and creatures, feeling textures and pain.
“Don’t touch,” said the twin uncle and dad.
“You will get the art all greasy,” insisted the auntie and mom.
Still, the cousins kept touching, feeling the colors in their fingertips and music in their chest. They kept listening to demonstrations of greatness, while watching the created stalwart creatures rolling their eyes at the noise. It wasn’t until they got to the middle of that canvas city, that Medieval maze when the cousins noticed the smell of grass and mini-donuts. They were uncertain why they smelled the earth when they smelled the donuts, but also did not care.
“Hungry!” called the cousins.
“We could use a bite,” responded the twins.
And so, to the food trucks and carts, they all went.
There was a box of various, food carts and trucks. The family all waved at the “All Things Maple” truck; they recognized Mr. and Mrs. Cattleman in the window. Mr. and Mrs. Cattleman waved back. In the center of the cart and truck box was a series of tables that were laid out under a green awning. As they sat and waited for a nibble or two, the cousins look around them. It was dizzying just how busy it all was on the outside of the green tent. Cassie remembered the visit her family made to an orchard. In that orchard, they had a beehive which was kept in a glass box. She would have stayed there forever, watching the bees as they worked their honeycomb and planted their eggs. That was this Medieval seaport, all work, all bustle; it was a beehive.
Cassie, who had escaped to the orchard with the beehive, absently grabbed for a bag or a bin of some “evil and greasy mess,” but she found nothing at hand. She shook herself back to the table. She was definitely sitting next to her dad, but he had released her, no more restraining hand. Yet somehow, she felt trapped in place like she herself was in honey, and it had hardened. She smelled the aroma of grass and moist dirt. The only thing she could do was to move her head, and so she did. She noticed that the food carts and trucks had been placed next to the cement beast where she saw minstrels and performers at play. But something else was on stage. It stayed in the shadows, so Cassie could not see any color or shape. She only could see the movement. It moved side to side, as she did at the orange cat owner’s tent. It also bobbed up and down, just as Billie had done.
“Cassie,” it whispered.
It didn’t seem menacing, she did not fear. She simply locked on to the movement in the shadows in the corner behind the band.
“You can follow if you want,” whispered Cassie to the thing. “Come, we’ll play. We’re just stopping for a bite.”
When she did not receive an answer, she figured the thing was too shy. So, instead, Cassie tried to find Billie, and realized she could not. She tried to move her head, but found that it was stuck. She could no longer see her dad who sat right next to her. She began to nervous and trapped. She closed her eyes and held her breath. And then she counted to three.
When Cassie opened her eyes, all was back to normal. She moved freely. She saw her family members were sitting around the table with her. Then, she noticed her cousin Billie. He had picked up a red plastic flag with a white plastic stick. As he twirled the flag in a big circle in front of him, Billie danced a stomping dance to the music being played. Cassie got up and joined him. They danced for a couple of minutes, only to be interrupted by the snacks.
After snacks, it was decided that the family troupe would divide and conquer. First, the women would shop, and then, the men. Those not shopping would watch the kids at the playground nearby. And so they divided, two were shopping, while two brought our restless explorers to a wondrous and magically place with a colorful castle. As all castles “had to have a dragon,” Billie and Cassie went about to find the beast, perhaps learn its name.
The rest of the afternoon was filled with great adventures. Cassie and Billie chased each other around trees who spoke to them of great sugary treasurers that could be found at some witch’s camp. They found a great chorus of birds who sang a great rehearsal concert to them, because they stopped to listen. And then, because a great magician had warned them, the two cousins found themselves throwing a great feast of bread crumbs, carried from home, for some mighty sea beasts with long necks and honking, biting beaks. They did this to keep from being eaten by the black and brown beasts. While they played in and around the colorful castle, they watched the clouds and again called out animal families. After a time, they began to notice a growing number of fellow travelers to the colorful castle. Fearing the nearby canvas seaport’s annex of the magical place where they were, two cousins tried even harder to discover the name of the dragon. Without this knowledge, they might not be able control the beast and defend the castle from the seaport invaders. They had to protect the princess of the castle, after all.
However, in the middle of the quest for a good dragon’s name, a flock of pelicans descended upon the river near the castle. Billie stopped what he was doing to watch the might, white birds wobble their way in for a landing on the river.
“Look, white dinosaurs are coming! They are going to take over!” Billie said in a panic. “We must protect the castle! Dragon, where are you?!”
And without so much as a warning, Billie grabbed a plastic, bendy stick with a red plastic flag off the ground near the castle where he had dropped it. He once again twirled the plastic flag in front of him and danced his stomping dance designed to scare mortal beasts to running away.
“Look, there are coming in to the dock!” Billie cried as he saw them paddle toward the floating platform.
Cassie was not as impressed, but decided that Billie was correct in trying to protect the Princess. She too joined in the dance. Somehow, in spite of the dragon’s absence, the “white dinosaurs” did not come any closer to the castle. The princess was saved...until Cassie and Billie smelled grass and mini-donuts once again. And everything around them frozen in place, even the cool breeze had stopped. Cassie could swear her parents had place a DVD on pause, except it was the play area and not the family’s television. Besides, both Billie and Cassie were still dancing. Cassie was the first to stop dancing. She tapped on Billie’s shoulder. They both look around. The sun was so warm.
“What now?” asked Cassie.
Without thinking, Billie held both of his arms straight out from his shoulders and directly into the air. Then, he closed their eyes and stuck out his tongue as if he was trying to catch a snowflake. Then, he faced the sun. Cassie did not know what to do, so she followed Billie’s brave example. And there they both stood in the middle of the colorful castle. Finally, the cool breeze began to gently their burning arms. And then, they heard their names. It was as if they were being called by the wind. Both Cassie and Billie abruptly opened their eyes. They frantically looked around in all directions, but saw nothing.
“Was it the dragon?” Billie asked.
“I don’t know,” responded Cassie.
Billie smashed his eyelids closed, and Cassie did the same. They stood there until their arms burned from muscle fatigue. When they dared open their eyes, it was notably later in the day. The sun, still warm, had moved across the sky and positioned itself directly above the river bluffs on the opposite side of the river. When the clouds covered the sun, the wind no longer balanced the heat, but slightly chilled the skin. Most of the boats had disappeared from the waves, most of the pelicans as well. The shadows of trees, even the two cousins, appeared stretched out like rubber bands on the ground. They were also a deep purple. There was a noticeable crowd of geese and ducks, slowly paddling toward sleeping places. As the cousins looked upon the Medieval seaport, they noticed a large line of cars and trucks. And then they noticed the bench near the colorful castle, all adults were present and accounted for.
Burdened by bags of treasures, the family caravanned back to their four-door conveyances. The treasures were stuffed into the trunks. Goodbyes were said. Then, the cousins were stuffed into seats that rested upon seats. With the click of closing doors, latching seatbelts, the cousins waved to one another. And then, both cars pulled away from their parking spots to head home, and eventually a warm bed with heavy protecting covers. The cousins never spoke of this adventure ever again, but Billie kept his magical flag weapon just in case.
