Page 22 of Daddy's Little Chaos Gremlin

He clung as things flashed and ghostly faces appeared in glass as lights pulsed an eerie green around us, but he was giggling by the time we popped out, right before the last ghoul appeared, when he shrieked and would probably have leapt into my lap if it hadn’t been for the seatbelts.

“That was so much fun!” Zephyr declared, still holding on to me after we’d stopped. “Can we go again?”

“Sure, there’s no line,” Daddy said from behind us, as the attendant approached.

“Going through again?” he asked.

“Please,” Daddy replied, so the man waved us on.

This time, Zephyr didn’t hide his face, though he still held on to me and flinched occasionally, squealing several times when something startled him.

“That’s better than any of the carnival funhouses I’ve ever been in,” Zephyr declared as we stepped off after the second time through.

“I’d never been in anything that fun before the first time Daddy brought me here. Now it’s one of my favorite places out of everywhere we’ve been.”

“What’s that one?” Zephyr asked as he pointed toward a big blue loop high above a section of the park.

“That’s the Infusion, it’s my favorite roller coaster, ‘cause I get to dangle and get flipped upside-down.”

“Ohh, let’s ride that one next!”

Now it was his turn to tug me along the path, while Daddy followed, occasionally bellowing after us to slow down so we didn’t trip. It didn’t matter that we raced past a bunch of rides to get to that one. I always zig-zagged my way through amusement parks, letting impulse and whatever caught my eye decide what ride I went on next.

And Zephyr was the same way, how awesome was that?

Most people followed the path and went one at a time, which meant there wasn’t a line here, either. Daddy found it a little maddening and exhausting to rush from one end of the park to the other. Man was he in for it today. I heard him holler a reminder not to let go of one another’s hands, and felt Zephyr curl his fingers tighter against mine. We’d slowed down to go up the ramp, waiting for Daddy to catch up ‘cause he always went on every ride with me, even if he grumbled about a few of them.

This one was wild and twisty.

My heart hammered while Zephyr laughed and hollered beside me. His hair was a mess, windblown and framing his face with gentle waves that made his eyes stand out. I kissed him right there on the platform. Then Daddy kissed both of us and kept his arms around us as he walked us down the ramp.

“Let’s do all the roller coasters now!” Zephyr declared. “That one first.”

I caught the look on Daddy’s face when Zephyr pointed at The Avalanche. It was a bobsled coaster, and the only one in the whole park that scared Daddy half to death.

I was about to tell Zephyr that we always saved that one for right before we left the park, but Daddy gave a little shake of his head and waved me toward it.

Ohhh.

I got it in an instant.

Zephyr was so happy, Daddy wasn’t going to dull that look for anything in the world. The artist in me longed to capture the joy that made his skin glow and his eyes light up as he skipped along. My baby brother loved thrill rides, and he could handle them better than I could. I flopped on a bench after we finished the last one, flipped a hand over my eyes and started fanning myself with the other one while Zephyr bounced and climbed up on the edge of the bench so he could see what lay past the brightly colored awnings of several games.

Games!

Yes, game time would be perfect.

“Can we…play a few…games now?” I panted.

I’d have waved a white flag, or a white handkerchief if I’d had one. Daddy would have been happy to honor the hanky code and stroke me off before we went to bed.

“Some time at the arcade would be the perfect way to recharge,” Daddy muttered as he leaned against the bench, face considerably paler than it had been when we’d gotten there.

“They have games?” Zephyr asked as he bounced down from the bench and turned, searching for where they were.

Daddy must have sensed that he was about to bolt and trapped him in a hug until he settled a little.

“It’s getting crowded now, so I’ll need you both to hold my hand from here on out,” Daddy said as he held one out to me to help me off the bench. “I wouldn’t want to lose either of you.”

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