Cody

"There's no way I'm doing those weird-ass moves, Allie," Jasper is growling behind me, and I've lost count of how many times he stepped on my heels, almost tripping me. "Sorry."

I've also lost count of the number of times he said sorry to me since we started this trek around the park. I'm not sure whether he is sorry or not, but he's probably not doing it on purpose... If he is, he will soon realise that it's just my leg that is messed up; I still know how to use my fists.

The rows in front of us are moving along much faster than I can keep up with, limping along like this. I'm frustrated too, knowing that I'm holding everybody up. Sindy, Noah and Glitch are happily keeping pace with me, smiling and singing and doing their weird dance as if it is not bothering them in the least, and I think it really isn't bothering them.

Walking while I'm at the end of a chain of four people performing knee wobbles and jump steps is still uncomfortable and difficult because Glitch's right-hand holds mine while her left clutches the short stem of her candle cup and Sindy's hand. She'd extinguished her flame earlier when she joined the brides in preparation for the ceremony.

I'm able to do some of the moves using my free hand without setting stuff on fire with my candle, but my legs are already doing their own weird things without me making it worse by trying to follow their dance steps. I think it's these strange dance moves that are helping me not lag too far behind. The townsfolk are taking a couple of steps back every now and then while I just keep on going forward, and I've noticed that Glitch doesn't step back far, allowing me some room to progress in the opposite direction.

"Don't be such a killjoy, Jas!" Allie snarls, and after listening to these two argue and quibble for most of this crazy journey around the town square, I don't think they will both be alive by the end of their 'marriage'.

"I'm not a killjoy, Al! My body just has high standards," Jasper grumbles. "If it's going to do dance moves, it will be something cool like this."

Glitch is glancing back to see his high-standard dance and squeals, either in delight or fright; I'm not sure which and Allie, Sindy, Noah, and everybody who sees Jasper's moves are laughing now. Since he is directly behind me, I cannot do a quick mid-step turn to see what he's up to. I'm not nimble; doing a 180 while walking is currently still beyond my skill set; the most I can manage without face-planting is a little over 90 degrees. I'm working on it.

"Jasper Townsend! Jasper Townsend!" Humphrey Richards' voice comes over the sound system, accompanied by a shrill screech caused by his microphone. It seems the electronics were also shocked by whatever Jasper did just now. "Please keep the rules prohibiting lewdness and promoting proper behaviour during the festival in mind! No pelvic thrusts and twerking allowed!"

"What?! I didn't do either!" Jasper protests. "Since we're apparently doing old shit today, I was going with Gangnam Style!"

"Yeah, real classy," Allie snorts contemptuously, and I am clenching my jaws shut not to laugh loudly; I saw the guy's version of Gangnam Style years ago, and it wasn't pretty. 

"I'm totally digging your body's standards, Dude," Allie informs him, not sounding impressed at all.

"How was it worse than what you're doing?" Jasper demands to know, his indignation coming through crystal clear, but the girl just scoffs at him.

"Trust me, it was."

"I cannot help that I am just too sexy!"

"For your shirt?"

After three million two hundred and eighty years of sheer torture, the procession finally reaches the end of the full circle, following the band back over the breadth of the park in the centre of the town to the stage, where we all line up in long rows, finally ready to get this weird ceremony over and done with. I need some pain meds after all that walking, but holding onto Glitch's hand, feeling her fragile fingers embracing mine and her smooth palm against my festival-work-induced callouses, helped me carry on through the pain.

I am overjoyed to find myself standing in the line directly behind the Winston twins, Davy and Agatha. How awesome! Well, they sure would think it is an honour for me. The Winston twins take themselves very seriously and believe that others should too. I've got to hand it to these two; they never do things by halves.

In the last few weeks, I've learned (first-hand) that they seldom fail to drive up people's blood pressure. On the surface, they seem harmless enough. They are adorable with curly red hair cut in similar styles; Agatha's just a little longer and decorated with a blue ribbon today. They both have fair skin, showered generously in freckles that almost make them appear tanned. Davy has big blue eyes and dimples, while Agatha's eyes are green, and she didn't get any dimples to drive her cuteness meter through the roof too.

Seeing them, one might be fooled into expecting fun and joy when dealing with the twins; they certainly have that kind of air about them, especially when they're dressed up to look like the two rag dolls from Gramma's Raggedy Ann and Andy books, as they are for this incredibly insane occasion where they will be marrying each other... again... Yes, I've heard that it's a yearly ritual for them.

"How are you going to win any of the competitions if you cannot even walk right?" Davy asks me, and I shrug, trying to smile at him. Let the awesomeness begin! 

To be fair, the boy is not trying to be rude. He is ten years old, and when it comes to social skills and self-awareness, he is sorely lacking. To him, it was a logical question he is simply curious about. To me... I kinda want to knock his stupid hat off to see if it will fly.

I don't, of course.

"He'll have a seriously tough time trying to carry you during tomorrow's Journey Through Hell event," Agatha informs Glitch, and the words journey and hell are causing me to rethink this whole wedding thing. What am I even doing here? I'm not in the mood for fun and games and journeys through hell or any other place. She's right; in my current state, there's no way I'll be able to carry Glitch.

I turn to my bride, ready to apologize and tell her that I cannot go through with this madness, but she is looking up at me with that cheeky-sweet smile of hers, her eyes filled with a thousand lights sparked by my flickering candle and the words die unspoken on my lips, disappearing into my involuntary smile. I'll carry this girl any place she wants to be carried, even if it is through hell. What is it about her that causes my heart and brain to lose their normal function and makes me grin like a foreigner pretending to follow the local language?

"Oh, it will be fine, Aggy," Glitch says, turning her head to look at the girl. "I'm going to carry Cody."

"What?!" I laugh, gaping at her, and she just shrugs, still smiling. I might have lost too much weight and am on the scrawny side right now, but I'm still bigger and stronger than her.

"He is a lot taller than me," she grins as if she's extremely excited about this mundane fact, "so his feet will touch the ground, and we will have four legs; it is going to be great!"

"That's not fair," Davy points out, a frown narrowing his eyes and drowning his dimples in displeasure. He turns those eyes on his sister, who simply glares back at him. "You're going to carry me, then."

"It won't work!" she points out, angered by the suggestion. "You're shorter than I am." It's true, Davy hasn't reached his growth spurt yet; in a couple of years, he'll shoot right past his sister.

"Then it's cheating!" he whines now that it appears that he will not be able to use Glitch's superior technique... which I find ridiculous and am definitely not going to let happen... if she's being serious. It's hard to tell.

"The grooms are supposed to carry the brides!" Agatha joins the chorus of discontent to inform Glitch in the snotty tone of voice she has perfected through at least nine years of training, and now we are both about to be glared to death by twin rag dolls.

"So," Glitch shrugs and judging by the way she peeks at me from the corner of her eye, I'm now convinced that she is just messing with the kids... or with me... perhaps all of us. "Tomorrow, Cody will be the bride, and I'll be the groom. I have a pretty outfit already planned for him."

I'm getting a bridal outfit?! Kill me now!

There were so many strange visions going through my mind since I heard about this journey where the grooms are supposed to carry their brides because I saw a guy in a top hat leading around a cow with a veil, and then there's that bloke who seems to have two brides, a woman and a motorcycle. There are quite a few strange match-ups all around me, and most of them will result in disasters if the grooms were to carry the brides. Hearing that the brides and grooms can randomly switch roles makes many of the bizarre scenarios I've had in my mind redundant. Bummer...

"I still think it's unfair," Davy mopes, giving me a disgusted look as if I've gone off and broken my leg just to annoy him.

"We have to win more events this year! Those prizes are ours!" Agatha hisses at her brother, her cheeks flushing a red more vibrant than her hair. "Don't worry; these two are no competition for us; I think they are!"

I look towards where she's pointing, and no, she's not pointing at a young, virile couple with healthy limbs, like Sindy and Noah or Allie and Jasper; she is pointing at Grandpa Winter and his lively dog, who is trying his best to drag his human away from this madness. Wise dog.

Well, I can see why she doesn't see Sindy and Noah as competition; the two of them are too busy gazing into each other's eyes to win any prizes unless it involves kissing and cuddling, and there's no such event... I checked... Jasper and Allie are more likely to throw each other into hell than to carry each other through it, so... 

Still, plenty of other couples are likelier to win any event than Grandpa Winter and Charlie... unless Charlie is the groom... Actually, mounting a saddle on the dog and having the old man ride him might be better for Grandpa Winter's general health, even when they're not participating in an event.

When the twins turn to face the front, where Patricia Dunkirk and Humphrey Richards are standing on the stage, getting ready to direct the marriage ceremony, Glitch squeezes my hand, pulling me towards her. I bend down so she can whisper to me, her breath tickling my neck, causing goosebumps to erupt at the point of contact and cascade outwards, puckering my scalp.

"How badly do you want to do the journey through hell tomorrow?" she asks, pulling up her nose and narrowing her eyes when I turn my face to give her a surprised look. "I have an idea that will be much more fun."

I am startled to find my face a mere inch from hers. She is so close I can smell the gentle fragrance of her hair and see each of the tiny freckles cheering up her nose. The warmth of her glowing lips is calling out to me, and I have to fight a sudden urge to lean in more and kiss her. The only thing really stopping me is knowing that I will lose my balance and fall on her if I leaned over more.

"I think I've already done that journey," I tell her, my voice sounding a little hoarse, and I wonder what she has up her sleeve. "It's overrated."

"I agree!" she giggles, hooking her arm with mine, and, grinning, I turn to see what is happening on the stage.

Humphrey is now wearing a top hat and tails he'd conjured up from somewhere, and Mrs. Dunkirk's face is drowning in a white feather boa wrapped around her neck and shoulders. Most of her head disappeared into a multiple-layered veil, sprouting from her hair like a fountain before cascading down her back. 

They make an interesting couple created from contrasts. Humphrey is tall and bony, and Mrs. Dunkirk is short and stout. Her actual husband is her equal in build, and I can spot him sitting on a stool at the dessert stall, eating some kind of cherry pie, not in the least concerned that his wife is standing on stage, about to marry another man.

As the sun sets, dimming the natural light while enhancing the artificial ones provided by myriads of fairy lights, glittering candles and lanterns, the brides and their grooms turn to face each other, joining their free hands (if they have hands) and holding their candles between their chests, solemnly swearing to support each other through the highs and lows of the festival. To have fun and do their best to do their part in building the community spirit of Phantom's Rest and the whole of Granary Downs.

Hearing the twins shouting their vows at each other in rapid-fire precision, trying to outdo one another in earnestness, I cannot help but laugh. Further along our row, just past Sindy and Noah; I can hear Allie tell Jasper that there had better not be any lows during this festival, or she will tan his hide.

"Promise?" he chuckles, and then he lets out a yelp in answer to whatever punishment she is dishing out. I cannot see because she is directly behind Noah, and he is a tall guy. Only Jasper is visible, jumping away from the girl, nearly crashing into the bride behind him. "What the hell is the deal with those nails? Are you a blooming cat?!"

"I'm a tiger, Baby!"

I return my gaze to Glitch, joining her laughter at her cousin's antics, and the bright beauty of her face once again hits me in the solar plexus. I watch her eyes while touching the flame of my candle to hers, as instructed, seeing how it ignites a fire in her dilated pupils, glittering like stars along their gleaming surfaces. I can hear myself repeating the words after Humphrey, representing the grooms, while Glitch is repeating after Mrs. Dunkirk, the representative of the brides.

In my heart, completely different promises are bursting into life unbidden. They have no words or sounds, and I'm not forming them with my lips, and yet I can see those promises reflected on the cheerful face of the wonderful girl holding onto my hand and gazing into my eyes while pulling me deeper into the undiscovered regions of her heart.

~~~