Summer Vibes

Jack wakes up, stretches, and is surprised to find his hands resting on something. — «You're still in bed? Such an uncommon thing to see!» — he says, yawning. Armando is sitting near him, with a book in his hands, for some reason settling on the bed, and not in his library. — «You're early.» — «It's kind of uncomfortable» — he answers, wrapping himself in a blanket. — «You won't believe it, there won't be any heat today» — Salazar says casually. — «What a pity.» He puts the book aside, adjusting the cardboard bookmark, yanks the blanket off Jack, climbing in next to him. He hugs his sparrow, kisses him on the cheek. Jack laughs, jokingly resisting. — «How many degrees is it that you're barely warm yourself?» — «It was twenty-three in the morning.» — «What time do you get up, it's morningnow!» — «Late morning» — Armando whispers, hugging the boy. — «Do you want to go somewhere? Somewhere other than the beach, where you're such a frequent guest that everyone has already remembered you!» — «He-he-he, that's great!» — he laughs. — «Do you want to go somewhere?» — «I want to take you to the park» — Salazar says. — «You'll like it, birdie.»

***

They stop at the parking lot a little further away to find a place for sure, and then walk down along the planted trees and you're there. From afar, a huge Ferris wheel is already visible. — «Hey, you didn't say we were going to an amusement park!» — «I never said we were going to a regular park.» — «Are you finally going to go for a merry-go-round?» — Jack exclaims, jumping on Armando. — «No way! I'll get motion sickness» — the man denies. — «Just try it once! Where else can you experience something like that?» They approach the ticket office, and Jack hangs over him again. — «Come on, one cycle, what's it cost you? They're amazing!» They walk to the place with four tickets, and the boy leads him to the chosen carousel, having noticed the desired one from afar. — «Look, we're going this way!» He points with his hand at a large circle, laid out like a plate, to which a line of other people has already formed. — «This is cooler than a Ferris wheel! You'll see everything in the area!» — «Have you ever been on that wheel?» — «Yes, when I was five» — Jack waves his hand, — «such a boredom! God, how slowly it moved, I regretted it so much. And my mother refused then, I don't know what she was afraid of. Come on, let's go!» He pulls the man by the hand, urging him on, until the carousel starts without them. Usually one cycle lasts no more than five minutes, usually three. Here the wheel begins to spin, just spinning, picking up speed. Armando did not think that he could somehow regret his agreement to try a couple of carousels, but then he felt some movement, similar to the coupling of two parts, and the wheel began strange movements: as if it began to spin at a different angle? And yes: it rises! And they are not fastened at all, they are just standing and holding on to the railings, although not all of them are holding on, and it begins to rise. He tries to move his head, stretching it forward, but the force of the wind presses it back. The view from it was... yeah, amazing at some point: if you remove this spinning, forcing the food that is already inside the stomach to ask to come out, then you really can look at the entire park, just at high speed. Too high! Why did he agree to this... When the wheel finally stopped, it took him a few more seconds just to keep himself from falling, and he heard an upsetting voice next to him, sounding like a mockness right now: — «So sad, the cycle is so fast-longing!» Well, at least Jack liked it... — «Was it really great?» — he asks, turning to the man. — «Oh, well, p-probably...» — these words were all he could manage. They go down the ride, Salazar trying to grab onto any bar, just so he wouldn't have to stand without support. They find a bench very close, and the man immediately sits down on it, bent over. — «Oh, my head...» — he groans. — «Are you dizzy? They didn't go round that fast there.» Jack sits down next to him, putting his hand on his back. — «Do you want some water?» —« N-no, not now... No, otherwise...» — «Are you that unstable to such things?» His voice seems to come from far away, then he feels the guy press his body to himself, starting to stroke his hair. After a while, the dizziness subsides, and the brain returns to a calm reality, and he no longer wants to bend down somewhere in the bushes... — «No, I will never, never go to these things again» — says Salazar, pulling out the two remaining tickets, and stretches his hand up. — «If you really like it, please go ahead, but without me.» His voice trembles slightly, his breathing is still ragged. He hears Jack, clearly frowning, groaning in displeasure, but he still takes the tickets. — «There are those which go weaker, shall we go?» — «Oh, my God, never! I will never make such a mistake again» — he declares, laughing slightly. — «Jack, if you like it, go, I don’t mind just watching, really.» The second carousel, for better or worse, does not rise at an angle, but it spins, in fact, twice as fast, because in addition to the main structure, the seats themselves form a circle that also spins... Jack runs out calmly, without even a falter, when the carousel stops. He approaches the Spaniard with a smile on his face. — «You still have a ticket left. Will you go?» — «No, no, no, I've had enough of watching you, and I'm not sure I can walk normally after that» — he answers, laughing. Jack looks away, lost in thought, even his lips pressed into one line. — «Jack, I really don't care, even if you ride a hundred times, I won't envy you. But if you want, we can keep the ticket for another time?» Sparrow looks at the man again, without saying a word, but his silence is so loud that the question seems to be written in the air. — «Let's go for a walk?» — Salazar asks, holding out his hand. The boy smiles again and answers: — «Let's go.»

***

Now they walk along the streets, on both sides of which there are small shops with games: throwing darts, catching fish. They pass by everything until they reach a place with plush toys displayed on top. — «Do you want to knock down some bottles?» — Armando asks. Jack turns around, looking at the prizes. — «Let's do it.» — «Hello, can we have a couple of balls?» — the man greets the seated shopkeeper, handing him a bill. — «Sure, gentlemen, here you go! Knock down all the bottles in one row, and you'll get a big prize.» They each take the ball given to them, five tries in total. Jack, aiming, practically hits the table, hitting only a couple of bottles. One did fall, but there are still four left... — «Oh, damn it!» — «Don't worry, there's more.» Salazar aims, choosing the right angle, as if he's done it before, and launches the ball from the other side, wanting to transfer the force of the impact from one bottle to the other, hitting them in this way. The ball hits the left pyramid, and the bottles fall, creating a quiet rumble from the falling plastic. And there's one left. — «Wha, how did you do that?» Both men laugh, and Armando pats the sparrow on the head. — «Try to aim straight» — he tells him, guiding his hand. — «These aren't arrows, of course, but you can also try to direct it in the right direction.» Jack tries to imagine where the ball will fly, but if he throws it too hard, it may not reach the desired level, or, on the contrary, fall to the floor at high speed. He makes another attempt to knock down the bottles, this time he manages to hit three more, and one, as luck would have it, only wobbles a little. — «Well, that's better» — Armando encourages, picking up another ball and throwing it, hitting the remaining one right away. — «Tch, you're amazing.» He hands the last ball to the man, and he knocks down the second pyramid completely. — «Ah, there's one pyramid left» — Armando notes with slight bitterness, then takes Jack's hand. — «Let's move on.» — «Wait, here's your teddy bear» — he stops them, holding out a small sand-colored teddy bear. Jack looks at it in surprise. — «Eh? But there are still some left...» — «You knocked down two, three are for those huge ones» — says the shopkeeper, pointing to the huge plush animals at the very top. They continue through the shops, not looking too hard anymore. Jack examined the new toy, wondering where to put it. — «And there really were plushes of different sizes» — Jack recalls. — «And the consolation prize would have been candy.» They laugh, and Salazar asks: — «And you wouldn't be upset about candy?» — «No way! Not at all even, I want a candy more!» — the boy declares, turning up his nose. — «Are you kidding?» — the man asks, laughing. — «No, I want candy! Let's go to the store?» — he asks immediately. — «M-h, let me buy you some fruit instead» — he says with a smile. — «I want candy!»