— Of course. I’d love to. —he smiled brightly—.
Atlas took Midori’s hands. Midori opened her eyes in surprise, starting to blush again. She lightly squeezed it and started to run to where the other rides where. Atlas had already walked around the entire park, so he knew where the location of each ride was. She ran to where the bumper cars were.
— Do you know how to drive?
— … No. —Midori shook her head—.
— Then you’ll learn.
Midori chuckled. They made their way to the floor and each one took a car.
— I don’t even know how these things work. —mentioned Atlas, in between chuckles—.
— Really? Haven’t you seen it in the movies?
Midori stepped on the pedal and bumped against Atlas.
— That’s how it’s done.
— Ah. So that’s how it is?
Atlas learned things quickly, although it wasn’t too difficult to just step on a pedal and drive around the floor. Atlas bumped into Midori. Midori just laughed and drove away from him so she could take an advantage.
— You won’t escape.
He stepped hard on the pedal, getting closer to her. Midori, even though she didn’t have much experience with those things, she could dodge it. She stuck her tongue out playfully. After a few more minutes playing, Atlas stood up, approached midori and extended his hand.
— Let’s go to another one.
Midori just nodded and stood up as well. When they exited the floor, Atlas released Midori’s hand. He took the lead so she could follow his steps. The park’s lights made Atlas’ figure stood out more than anything else in that place. Midori couldn’t stop looking at him. After a few minutes walking, they arrived at the rollercoaster again.
— Oh, I don’t plan on getting there. —said Midori, taking a few steps back—.
— Why not? It was really fun, trust me.
— It scares me a little bit…
— Trust me.
Atlas extended his hand again. Still a little nervous, she accepted and took his hand. They took one of the cars and adjusted their belts. Midori gulped down and took a deep breath. “How bad can it be?” she asked herself. But that small relied lasted only for a few seconds. The moment the car started to move; Midori tightly gripped the metal bar in front of her. Atlas laid his hand over hers and smiled. Midori nodded his way; it was all she needed. The car started to slowly ascend up the rails. Midori kept her eyes pinned forward. Once the car arrived to the top, it stopped for a few seconds.
— Ready?
Those were Atlas’ last words since right after it, the car started to descend at a fast speed. Atlas lifted his hands up, completely enjoying the fall. Midori just started to scream. But she was screaming out of happiness. While they were falling, she could smile while screaming. The adrenaline made her forget the nervousness and fear she had felt before getting in the ride.
A few seconds later, the car arrived to the end. The force of its sudden stop made both of them to shake to the front and then to the back. They were completely disheveled. Midori looked at Atlas and started to laugh. She felt like how the fall made all her problems go away. They stepped out of the car, Midori’s legs were shaking.
—Are you okay? —asked Atlas noticing how she was shaking—.
— I’m excellent. —she firmly said— Now I’ll choose the next ride.
Midori approached Atlas and took his hand the same way he previously did. Atlas was a little surprised. Only a few steps were needed to get to the next ride.
— Flying chairs?
Midori nodded. Since she was little, she always wanted to get in those. Midori ran to one of the chairs and sat down. Atlas followed her and took a seat behind her. The attraction started to work and a few seconds later they started to fly in the air, swinging to the rhythm of the song that was playing around the park. Atlas observed midori. Her green hair was flowing with the wind. She had a smile he had never seen before. It radiated warmth. She was completely happy. Seemed like another person. Unknowingly, Atlas smiled too. He was starting to feel some sort of attraction to her. When the ride ended, Midori approached Atlas completely happy.
— That was so fun! Wasn’t it? —she said filled with happiness—.
— Y-yes. It was. —he answered a little nervous—.
They started to walk and got water bottles on their way, all that fun left them a little thirsty. The day was starting to get dark, and with that, all the lights in the park started to shine more brightly. Without saying anything, Midori took Atlas’ hand once again and made their way to the last ride, a perfect way to end the night. In front of them was the Ferris Wheel. They took one of the cabins and stayed there in silence, until they arrived to the top and there it stopped. Both looked outside through the windows, the view was incredible from that distance. The view of the park was completely clear, and the lights made it all seem unreal. The stars too were doing their job, shining brightly all over the sky. After all the silence, Midori decided to break the ice.
— I’ve never had this much fun before. —she said while still looking out— You… You already know why.
Atlas gulped down.
— I… I have cancer.
Midori quickly turned around to look at him. She couldn’t hide the surprise showing in her face. Atlas looked down.
— Thanks to that I couldn’t play with the other kids either, I could never experiment these types of things. —he looked up and out the window, appreciating the view—.
— But at least here we can have fun, right?
Atlas looked at her and nodded. They looked at each other for a few seconds until the cabin started to slowly descend. When the ride was over, Midori noticed in the distance a small photobooth. She shook Atlas’ shoulder and signaled the booth. Both decided right there to take a few pictures to preserve as memories.
When they entered the booth, they immediately noticed the cabin was too narrow and couldn’t fit the both of them. Between movements and posing they accomplished getting into a comfortable position. They decided to make funny faces, making each other laugh, and in one moment Midori turned to look at Atlas. And Atlas did the same. As they were squeezed together, they were very close to each other. Midori just blinked, not being able to move.
TO BE CONTINUED.
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