Cotton Candy Amidst a Drizzle

Sauntering in the park ,a man remembered this naughty lad, stuck on a wooden bench in the middle of carnival hours, yawning… till the drizzle of rain caught this toddler alone, while everyone flew off behind the edges: although his aunt’s red parasol could cover a messed-up hair, the nimble body leaned ahead-- watching the myriad of bright carousel flags rustle along . Ignoring the yells of kin’s shrill echoes, he insisted on staying to view a montage where hued ferris wheel stopped, the glossy fall of balloons warping as he laughed at this impromptu show. It wasn’t the gust that annoyed the child, not the gaudy umbrella… no, all he needed was a bundle of cotton candy he longed for the minute he saw it …rainbow-flushed-- just like the way he imagined such treat days before the fair arrived. Oh, oh! His run-down aunt wheezed away into a cloudscape bringing the sweetened fluff, in the nick of time. The man grinned at these imprints, replaying his own prank and innocence on that nightfall, when moments of boyhood were etched in a male adult’s heart… his fingers now gripping one large-sized, bright cotton candy. Contest: Red and White Polka Umbrella for Eve Roper 9/30/2017