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"Well that was a winner right off the bat," Momma B. commented as they emerged from the three-ring tent. "One point for Emmy," Momma R. continued, leading the way for several yards. They stopped by a lamp-post that was ready to light very soon. The sky above them was beginning to change into its twilight robes. "I think my favorite part was the high-wire," Momma B. said. "I liked the elephant guys. After those heart-stoppers it was nice to have just a quirky act." "What about you guys?" Momma B. turned to the cubs. "I think..." Emmy nibbled her lip. "I think the cats climbing around the 'thing' were the best. Just cuz it was kinda weird." "I thought you'd pick Skollride," Ket commented. "Why?" His shoulders raised and dropped. "No reason." "That was your favorite?" She inquired, hopping up on her toes for a second to stretch her feet. He shook his head. "Skollride's act was obvious, pretty much from the start. I liked the high-wire the best, she had to use talent. No tricks." "You better watch it, kid," Momma B. teased. "Skollride could be-right-behind-you!" Her attempts to startle him were met with an almost bored or confused response. He looked behind him for a moment and returned the bored-confused expression. Emeral and Momma R. shared a laugh. "Mom doesn't know Ket very well, does she?" "All right, all right," Momma B. rallied their focus, "What do we wanna do next?" "Can we do a merry-go-round?" Emeral asked, hopping up onto her toes again. "You had a turn, you little brat," her mom teased, "Let your friend make a suggestion; it's his turn." Ket shrugged. "We can ride a merry-go-round." Momma R. and B. exchanged glances. "Really?" His mom asked. He tilted an ear. "I guess?" "I think his testosterone is being sucked away," Momma B. whispered. "Better watch it or Emmy will start putting bows in his hair." "I will not," the tigress huffed. "If it's that bad we don't have to do a merry-go-round." "Kid, I'm just teasing. Does anyone not want to ride a merry-go-round?" No one spoke up. "Then let's go." It wouldn't be long before they found a merry-go-round, for such a ride was common throughout the park. But the walk they took revealed more of the park itself. Ket observed lots of different games to be played, all at a glance. Several people almost ran into him and Emeral; the intersections between tents or pathways were sometimes congested with kids that had no self-control or care about the other kids around. Twice, Ket did get bumped, and once someone stepped on his foot. Thankfully he wasn't going to be wearing those shoes for much longer. That didn't keep his feet from feeling any less pain, though. The sun was kind of annoying. They didn't have their glasses with them, and even though the sky was completely cloudy, there was one little spot all around the edge of the horizon where it was clear. The sun was in that spot at the moment, and so it was nothing but an orange glare in the sky. When they had to turn to walk toward it, Ket had to dip the bill of his hat to keep it from blinding him. Even when they got to the merry-go-round, there was a bit of a line. It was one thing Ket had noticed but didn't really pay attention to: everything here had a line. Tents, rides, games, food-stands, and sometimes even bathrooms. But the line was a little deceptive. The ride could hold about a dozen people, and while the line had both kids and parents it was usually the kids that rode. "I see a couple." Ket more or less felt the words vibrate against the base of his ear as Emeral whispered to him. Sure enough, a teen-aged boy and girl hopped onto the ride, well above the age of the oldest kid. He couldn't decide if that was good or bad. It was like he was watching his mom playing in a sand-box. Also kind of like carrying a pink a bucket. But Emeral seemed not to mind. In fact, he figured she was pointing it out so that he would feel less embarrassed when he got on one of the many pastel-colored horses that adorned the circling platform. The mouse that took the moms' money seemed cheerful enough. Twenty-five right? Yeah... Twenty-five plus six-- "You two have fun." "Huh?" Emeral looked up at the moms. "You guys aren't riding?" "Don't be silly, kid." They chuckled. "We wouldn't be caught dead on a kiddie-ride. Flushing red, Emeral huffed as she hopped onto her horse, glaring at the moms. --Plus three makes twenty-eight, Ket calculated as he hopped on the horse behind Emeral's. It was only when he had gotten himself situated that he realized it was a wonderful shade of pink. No. It was more like...light-red. Yeah. That was it. Light-red. He grasped the golden-painted metal pole. It was surprisingly cold to the touch. A few more kids got on the ride, before the mouse advised them to hold on to the pole and keep their legs on the platforms at the sides of their ponies. Ket cringed at the word pony. Maybe the moms were right. How did he wind up on this thing again? Maybe he could get off... Nope. Too late. The girls behind him giggled with delight as the ride started. The pole in his hand vibrated as the motor that powered the ride began to carry them forward, around the circle. He was surprised at how disoriented he got when the horse he sat on began to move up and down; for a second he had a pulse of shock. But this was a kid's ride. He wasn't scared or anything. It was just a horse. He watched Emeral in front of him. She tapped her foot to the little chime that played as they went around the center of the platform. And then Ket winced as the sun shot into his eyes. He dipped his bill toward it to block it, but the mirror on the inside of the ride reflected the sun back in his eyes again. That nuisance out of the way, he looked outward on the park. From his vantage upon his mighty pink pony of vigilance, he could see the Ferris wheel in the distance. It turned and turned, perpendicular to him. And then he could see the big tent from which they had just come, a long line starting to form in front of it as people waited for a show that was supposed to be next morning. He took in a big sigh. How much longer was this ride?

"Oooooh I wish I had brought my camera!" Momma R. huffed. "Don't worry, Micah I got ya covered." Momma B. reached into her purse and pulled out a compact digital camera. As their kids came around the bend she got several snaps of them, and more as they passed. Even in the screen she could see the dissatisfied looks on their faces. "You'll have to save all of them. I definitely need to invest in a computer..." "Don't worry, I told you I have you covered. I'll share every wonderfully incriminating photo with you, I promise."

Ket yawned, and then quickly shut his mouth when he saw Emeral glancing at him in the mirror. He could tell she giggled by her reflection, and then her right hand went to spank the pony as if to order it to go faster. Finally, the ride was over. Ket was actually surprised it didn't last much longer than two laps. But then he remembered this place was designed for money-taking; of course they'd let you ride for only the smallest amount of time possible. "So. How was it?" Momma B. asked. "Did you have a camera?" Her daughter questioned. "Hm? What do you mean?" "A camera. I could swear I saw you with a camera." "A what? Micah," she turned to the other mom, "What's a 'cam-your-uh'? 'Ca-...ca-mer-da'?" "I dunno. I think it's a European thing." Emeral sighed. "Sorry Ket." She said, pulling the bill of her hat over her eyes. "Well!" Momma B. said, and started to walk. "Now that you guys had your kiddie fix..." Following them, her daughter huffed and grumbled. "I think it's time for big-kid's stuff." "Where are we going?" Ket asked curiously, intrigued by what she meant. "Oh... you'll see." Momma B. and R. exchanged glances and smirks. "Ket, I think we're getting tricked." "Really?" "If we make a break for it now we can join the circus. It's just a few tents that way." "Oh stop it you two!" Momma R. said, turning to walk backwards for a second. "We're not tricking you at all. We promise this'll be fun." They didn't walk for very long before they came up to a line. They joined this random line-out-of-nowhere, and the kids looked about to get bearings on where they were. But there weren't really any landmarks that they recognized. Emeral could hear the roller coaster somewhere in the distance, but it was pretty loud so there was no way to tell where they were. She sighed. This had to be some kind of trap. More embarrassing pictures were to be taken for sure. Ket looked at the line, following it to its origin. It snaked this way and that, and then finally obscured into a tent. There was a sign on the side of the tent but it was too far away for him to read. "I bet when you walk in you get sprayed with glue and then feathers fall on you." Emeral said. "Huh?" Ket asked. "I'm just thinking of all the traps our moms could be putting us into. Maybe you step in a gigantic pile of doggie doo..." "Child, that is disgusting," her mom scolded. "If you're not careful I'm sure something like that can be arranged. I do know they have a nice big elephant here. Catch the drift?" "Fine. Just tell us what this is." "No," her mom retorted, a lot like a little kid would. "Issa secret. Besides, there's a sign right there." "But I can't read it!" "What are you? Dyslexic." Ket fought a chuckle. "Well that's probably your fault. It's inherited." "Well I know you didn't inherit that attitude young lady." Emeral crossed her arms, sorely miffed. "Ket, honey. We get along great, don't we?" "Sure, mom." He said, rolling his eyes. "You're so sweet," she chimed. Emeral squished her lips to one side of her muzzle. "Kiss-up." She playfully grumbled. The line was a terribly long wait. Ket looked at the sky every few minutes to see it darkening more and more each time. While the sky was dimming, the carnival was not: several lamps were set up much like the ones he had seen at the park over Christmas. Except these lamps were much better, like stadium lights. Instead of a blue, ethereal glow, everything was illuminated as if the sun were over their heads. To his relief these lights were not as annoying as the sun, either. It was real easy to adjust his hat to keep them from getting too bright. They talked very little in the line, waiting to move up a distance every ten minutes or so. "Arg. This is taking forever," Emeral mumbled. "Just be patient, hun." Her mom said, rubbing her shoulder. Ket listened to other conversations going on. Some people talked about other stuff to do at the carnival, and the two teenagers behind them kept talking about sports. He glanced back and saw that they were wearing football jackets, and both of them were freakishly tall, at least to him. His feet began to hurt. Not a sharp or drastic pain, just an ache. His ankles started to feel stiff and every so often he had to shift his weight from one to the other. Emeral began walking a little, stepping to and fro. "Don't get too far." Momma R. warned, and so the girl tigress once again stayed within the line. Boredom began to set in. Ket looked at the sky again; it was almost completely black. The last shades of sunlight illuminated the very horizon of the sky like someone was placing a big cup over them that had an uneven lip. "Can you read the sign yet?" The tigers looked up, both of them interested in a beetle walking about a tuft of grass. "Read the sign," their mothers encouraged. The kids shrugged. "Doesn't matter," Emeral said. "We're almost in the tent. We'll find out in just a bit, anyway." The moms exchanged glances, feeling a little disappointed. They both hoped the kids would get excited in just a bit. "Come on, the line's moving." The moms stepped through the tent, and held the flaps open for their kids. As Emeral entered the tent, she could hear the sounds of fun and laughter against a trippy beat. Like a magical spell being caste upon her, she began to feed from the energy of the atmosphere. Ket noticed immediately how different the lighting had changed. Inside, there was not a plain light in sight; every bulb was a different color of the rainbow. Green, blue, red, yellow, orange, purple, and pi--light-red. They even changed colors like a Christmas tree, making the entire interior feel like the inside of a disco ball. From a place they couldn't see yet, the tigers could hear a strange noise. Like the sounds the buses make when they're ready to start rolling with their stomach-fulls of Oakers. The noise happened a lot and often, a regular thing. It was accompanied with another noise, one that sounded a lot like dodge balls hitting the wall. And then, quite abruptly, the noises stopped except for the music. Several moments passed. The tigers waited with curious anticipation, while at the same time feeling the heavy bass-beat almost cause their fur to ripple. They spotted a group of nearly a dozen people leaving what looked like a cage. As soon as the group emerged the line began to move, and the tigers began to feel their adrenaline building. They wished they had read the sign outside, for now what lay ahead in the thin door-like passageway that everyone began to walk through made their tongues dry with a bit of fear. "Here," Momma B. handed each child three dollars. Thirty-four, Ket tallied. Taking the lead, the tiger boy stepped into the small passageway. A woman with bright pink fur, blatantly dyed, took his three dollars and handed him a helmet, exchanging it for his hat. He stepped into the other door, pulling the helmet over his head. For the first time in a while, he felt the goose-egg. The helmet fit uncomfortably. Another man, his fur shaved in lines about his limbs, greeted him and led him to what looked like a car. It was pod-like, with a large-backed seat, a single yoke protruding toward the chair, and what looked like a rubber tire that had been stretched all around it. "Hop in," the man instructed enthusiastically. Ket clambered in the pod-like car. The man helped strap him in. He felt almost restrained in the X-belt, and for a minute was worried about why he needed to be held so securely. "You ever ride a bumper-car before?" The man asked. Ket's eyes flashed. "N--no," he admitted, but with a bit of excitement. "It's real easy," the man said. "That yoke there is what'll steer ya. Push forward to go forward, back to back, and left-or-right to spin in that direction. It might take some gettin' used to, but you should catch on quick." The man smiled and patted the boys helmet. "Good luck!" Ket winced. The man didn't know about his bump. Waiting for the pain to ebb, Ket watched as more people with dyed and shaved fur were helping others get into their bumper-cars. The tingling in his hands and feet made him almost giddy. He'd never even heard of this, but it looked like a lot of fun. He spotted Emeral getting into a white car. He looked at his--it was red. Oh well, that would have been too coincidental if both of theirs had matched their fur color. Emeral smiled at him, and he smiled back. She was on the other side of the caged-in rink. Ket wanted to move his car closer to her, but as he jiggled the yoke, it wouldn't budge. A bit disappointed, he took to looking around the rink. It was pretty big, and nothing but flat. The lights reflected off the wires of the cage, which were a little bit intimidating, but it also made the entire place look... "cool". There was a thick steel baseboard around the bottom of the cage, and the ground was completely flat. It had various stains and scuff-marks, and the light bounced off of the rivets that held the metal together--or maybe they were for decoration. He also spotted his mom in a yellow car, and Emeral's mom in an orange. They were already strapped in and ready to go. Emeral was pushing on her yoke, too, wishing and hoping that it would somehow accidentally start moving. And then the music suddenly cut out, and series of loud beeps began to play over the speakers. Instinctively, Ket gripped the yoke of his car and felt the syrup of adrenaline spread through his blood. A loud buzz signified the start of the bump-a-thon, and immediately he felt the seat rumble. He pushed forward on the yoke, hearing the sound of gas pressure and feeling a slight rush of wind as he glided over the metal floor like a jet-ski over water. He charged right for Emeral, and she for him. They collided. The eruption of pain was almost too much to bear.