Cotton Candy Skies

And then they were in. Colors everywhere - red and yellow flags snapping in the breeze, a Ferris wheel turning slow and lazy against the bright blue sky. Balloons bobbed past on strings, and somewhere a bell rang.

The teacups spun until the whole park blurred into a soft rainbow smear, and all three of them laughed so hard their cheeks hurt. The bumper cars were even better - Benjamin grinned the whole time, and Elsa zoomed circles around them both.

"Hattara," Elsa said, pointing. They each got one - three pink clouds on three little sticks. Lucas let a wisp melt on his tongue, and Benjamin ended up with a pink sugar mustache that made Elsa laugh so hard she nearly dropped hers.

They wandered on until they came around a corner and stopped. It rose up above everything else in the park - tall, silver, with a track that climbed and climbed and then dropped into a curling loop. A sign read THE COMET.

By the time they reached the front, Elsa's hand had found Lucas's sleeve. "It's really, really tall," she whispered. Benjamin crouched down eye to eye with her. "You can just look at us. We'll be right there." "The whole time," Lucas added.

Click, click, click - the car climbed the hill. At the very top, for just one heartbeat, everything went quiet. Then - WHOOSH! Down they went, wind roaring past, and Elsa's little gasp turned into the biggest laugh Lucas had ever heard.

Afterward, Benjamin tossed rings at a game stall and won on his very first try - a soft stuffed seagull with a crooked smile. "For being so brave," he said, handing it to Elsa, who tucked it under her arm like she'd had it forever.

The afternoon melted into evening. The sky turned first gold, then a deep warm pink, like the whole world had been dipped in sugar-fluff. The Ferris wheel lit up with strings of little bulbs, one by one, and a slow music box tune started playing.

They walked out through the gates and made their way down to the shore. The sand was warm from the whole day of sun, and the sea moved in slow, quiet swells, painted pink and gold by the setting light. Three sets of small footprints trailed behind them.

At the cottage, they rinsed the sand from their feet and pulled on soft pajamas. By the time they climbed into their beds, the window was full of that same pink-gold light, fading now toward a deep, quiet blue.

"Best day," Elsa mumbled into her pillow, the little stuffed seagull tucked under her chin. "Best day," Lucas agreed. Benjamin was already dreaming, with one small, sleepy smile on his face, floating gently into the quiet night.