Chapter 04 - The glow of a park

His destination was far from the city centre. More precisely at its exit, already on the highway. If it took him half an hour to face the line of cars just to leave the university, an hour was necessary to cross the city traffic until he got to the avenue that would take him to the highway.

The mobile phone screen showed a little more than midnight when Leonardo could finally accelerate a little to follow the highway. Ten minutes later, a dense fog had forced him to reduce his speed and increase the light of the headlights, following the luminous signs that guided the drivers.

Living near mountains was definitely dangerous.

― Oh shit, I should have gone home.

Leaning over the dashboard to peer at his eyes, he read the signs quickly that announced the entrance to the park a few meters away. He had passed a roundabout and the dual carriageway took him through the huge portal with the park's name on it.

Leonardo pressed his fingers in the steering wheel, breathing deeply. His heart was already racing because he was approaching that place. Having finally passed through the fog, he found the crowded car park and the crowd entering and leaving the gates.

Lights exploded in colour at the entrance. Clowns and other entertainers greeted their visitors with joy.

He wanted to leave.

Definitely.

But he still parked the car again and grabbed his thick coat from the back seat before exiting the vehicle.

While he put on the heavy coat over his white sweatshirt, Leonardo kept looking at the park's façade.

It looked like a huge castle illuminated by coloured spotlights. The red colour exploded with the gold in an endless elegance. As he remembered, that was the ticket office.

Ah... Surely he would have to spend your precious money just to enter that place.

One more reason to never step on that place again.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Leonardo dodged the clowns that were playing with the children and their parents. When he entered the castle he was surprised with the crowd. The line at the ticket office was average, but there were still employees uniformed as soldiers of the nutcracker, taking care of the line.

Standing in the end of the line, Leonardo looked around noticing more and more differences. On the walls there were movies of the attractions and in the middle of the floor there was a panel with the park map and the shows schedule. Some jugglers made their welcome presentations to the visitors, and the children seemed to enjoy watching.

The atmosphere of the place was completely different from what Leonardo remembered.

It was warmer.

Happier.

― Sir, did you come alone?

Blinking at an attendant who had stopped in front of him, Leonardo remembered why he was there. With a bright smile to show her genuine happiness to work in a place like that, the girl was shorter than Leonardo, and held a tablet to facilitate the purchase of entrance tickets.

― Yes, I came alone to meet a... ― The smiling attendant's bright eyes caused Leonardo to shiver. Would he mention Vincent's name and she would know who he was? Or if he mentioned his last name... No, there was no way she should know who he was. ― An employee.

― An employee? Who are you looking for?

Would it hurt to try? Well, it was that guy's name anyway.

― Vicente.

Despite her plastered smile, the girl nodded, fiddling with her tablet. Leonardo arched an eyebrow as he noticed the abrupt change in the employee's behaviour, but before he could peek at what she was doing on that tablet, bright eyes and genuine happiness returned to his face.

The employee had stretched her arm out of the queue in an invitation.

― Mr. Vicente has advised of your arrival. You may proceed through the portal entrance.

― Huh? I don't need to...

― No sir.

Quickly dismissed by the girl, Leonardo stared at her in surprise. Did this mean that his precious money had been saved? A faint smile had grown on his lips.

Leaving the line, the boy walked back towards the portal. Technology was doing its part in enchanting visitors. Approaching the turnstiles guarded by more employees, Leonardo had almost turned around to buy the ticket.

Maybe his lost and frightened look had caught the attention of one of the employees. For the fellow disguised as the nutcracker soldier had looked at the tablet in hand and immediately invited him in with his hand. A broad, open smile, directed only at Leonardo.

Pointing to himself, he saw the employee nod. Approaching the turnstile, the employee had used a badge to release his entrance. Leonardo was skeptical that it was easy to enter that place, so he passed the turnstile.

Had Vicente prepared everything for his arrival?

Did the son of a bitch know he was coming?

Leonardo stopped staring at the employee and turned on his heels feeling the cold embrace him. And before he knew it, the bright world exploded in front of him.

Nothing compared to the anthill that was there. People moved from one side to the other, pointing to the shops lined up serving their customers. It looked like a shopping mall corridor. Although it was more refined and grandiose. Shops selling toys, clothes, accessories, souvenirs and all the other trinkets a person could buy were at their disposal.

As if that wasn't enough, small cafeterias and snack bars served quick and cheap meals. The smell of popcorn was the first one Leonardo felt while he stared at the place.

So beautiful.

He had completely forgotten his fear of minutes before.

A fire juggler was performing near a fountain. Spitting fire, the flame impressed the visitors and drew warm applause. How could he not get burned?

After walking for a while, he had heard screams. Raising his head to the left he could see the rollercoaster running with the cart going from side to side. The queue to get on the toy was considerably long.

There the amusement park began.

An impressed smile appeared on the boy's face.

Music was coming out of the loudspeakers on the poles. Flags were hanging in red and white with the park logo. Just looking around Leonardo knew that he could easily get lost there, because nothing resembled what he remembered.

― I want to see the circus!

― But the show is almost over, my dear.

― Just a little bit...

The child tried to pull her mother to a side street, pointing away. Despite her efforts, the mother did not melt at the emotional blackmail the bright eyes provided.

Yet she had captured the curiosity of a young university student.

Leonardo followed the street pointed out by the child, as long as possible. At the bottom he could see the huge glowing tent just behind the portal with the name of the space.

That's where that fellow was waiting for him.

Without any hurry, Leonardo followed the street without stopping to appreciate the park. Several toys were running, creating echoes of the shouts of their customers. The food stalls and shops were also there stealing the people's attention. All that under bright lights matching the night sky.

Delayed his walk, he had finally reached the portal with the glowing panel announcing the entrance.

Dreamland Circus.

It was slightly away from the central park, and when he had stepped through the portal, Leonardo could feel the difference in the atmosphere. There were several small tents there, but all behind the main red and white tent where he could hear the clamour of the crowd.

Squeezing his fingers in his jacket pocket he sighed heavily. Entering the tent the hallway handed him a red carpet to guide him. From there he could already hear the sound of the public and a band playing, signalling the show was on.

The walls contained posters of the shows the circus presented, from the oldest to the most recent and modern. Five posters on each side seemed to tell the history of that place.

Leonardo stopped in front of a specific one. The biggest poster stood at the second entrance. The image of a young boy with platinum hair and artistic make-up had captivated the university student's attention. All the characters gathered in the background highlighted the main character of that show.

Such that Leonardo knew very well.

His brown eyes bulged with such similarity. That young man certainly fulfilled the main character of the show, which took the name of the show.

The puppet.

The memory of a plush with similar make-up returned before his eyes. A certain made-up plush doll that never left the arms of a certain eleven-year-old boy.

The scream of the audience reached Leonardo's ears waking him up from his sea of memories. Two entrances, one on the left and the other on the right, were open to the public. Passing through the left one, Leonardo noticed the darkness in all the bleachers, and the dozens of people staring at a single place, stunned.

In the centre of the tent there was a circular stage where a group of men performed acrobatic tricks with a large elastic net. One would fall into the net and go up hugging his legs. The audience simply screamed with euphoria at how high those artists could jump.

― Wow. ― He did let it slip with another synchronized jump from those guys. ― Wait... Where is that guy?

Neither on one side nor on the other Leonardo had found Vicente's shadow. Taking advantage that the public was immersed in the presentation, the young man walked through the entire entrance without finding the one who had made him set foot in that place.

The lights went out at the end of the performance, a spotlight was lit at the entrance of the stage, where the clowns and other artists made jokes to get laughs from the audience. Dancers emerged as the band played again, and a melodious voice began to sing.

The euphoric shouts of the audience filled Leonardo's eardrums when a certain person appeared on the stage from above. Seated in a bow elegantly, the fellow looked like calmness itself. Like every spectator present in that tent, Leonardo was incapable of not catching a glimpse of the beginning of that fellow's performance.

And he recognized that act immediately.

The puppet.

That young-looking boy was playing the leading role. By the bright costume as of a cotton doll, he had recognised the subject of the poster.

The bow descended and with the movements of the subject who swayed back and forth, he began the trapeze. He hung by his feet, spun in the air holding on to the arch. His every move made the audience hold their breath without stopping to follow him.

His movements were delicate and choreographed. There was a touch of elegance to his performance. Risky spins and jumps that allowed him to impress the audience guaranteed the success of his act.

And when the arch began to circle over the audience, the euphoria reached its peak. Sitting on the arch with his hand outstretched as if greeting the audience, the puppet seemed happy to explore his own real world.

Going down some steps to have a better look at that guy, Leonardo barely blinked. He was astonished, because he still disbelieved in the resemblance of that artist with the plush of his childhood.

The arch had suddenly stopped in front of the audience. The trapeze artist had hooked his legs on top of the arch, continuing his act by spinning around without touching the heads of his audience. From side to side, inside to outside, vice versa. Finally, he sat back down on the arch smiling sweetly at the audience greeting him.

Taking a deep breath, the university student shook his head to disperse from that torpor. Taking the opportunity to look for Vicente, he couldn't find any sign of him in the stands. He had said he would wait for him in front of the tent. And he had even looked for him inside the tent without seeing his shadow.

About to turn his back to leave, Leonardo felt something heavy on his shoulders. Turning again towards the trapeze artist, he noticed that he was staring serenely at him.

It was completely strange for a puppet-like person to stare at him like that.

Relaxing his shoulders, he tried to climb the stairs to return to the entrance of the tent.

And then he found Vincent smiling broadly in his direction.

― Son of a bitch, you look like a ghost. ― complained the university student.

He passed Vicente leaving the tent, stopping again in front of the poster.

― I was counting on your coming, young master. ― Moistening his lips nervously, Leonardo turned back to where Vicente was still smiling. ― It's not as scary to step in here as you thought, is it?

Squinting his eyes, Leonardo felt a flea jump behind his ear.

― It's scarier knowing that you were waiting for me.

― I was counting on that, young master. What did you think of our show?

Vicente pointed to the entrance they had just passed. The university student could still see the light show and hear the music and the applause of the audience signaling the end of the show.

― I didn't see much, I was looking for you.

― I think you have seen more than enough. ― Vincent approached Leonardo, straightening the collar of his jacket ― We have to close the park, but I will call the representatives of our attractions to hear what you have to say.

― I thought everything was ready.

― I can't stop the show even for the young master. Please come with me.

The fellow with the affable smile followed the red carpet without looking back. Leonardo moved his head from side to side, snapping his bones, before following him.

He would put an end to that situation. Even if his fear had been swept away by some magical reason.