Paradox Circus

"We still have to buy tickets, too," Eliphas interjected vaguely as he tried to get the candied apple into his small and already red painted mouth. It couldn't fit it in completely, but it blocked him to the point where only the gist of what he was saying could somehow be guessed. Still, the other kids nodded in agreement. They too were all holding one of those sticky apples, and Kin Amir was already regretting giving in to the urge for it. The kids would probably be stickier than the apples afterward, and the trouble would be directed entirely at him when he got the kids home. But it had silenced the whining, giving the opportunity to enjoy the whole festival at least a little bit without being constantly begged by someone for candy.

Kin Amir knew that it was a deceptive silence, but he was willing to accept it and enjoy it as long as possible. Eliphas was the first of them, after 15 minutes of silence, to break it now

"You know, for the circus," Eliphas mumbled between the sugar scraps, when Kin Amir apparently did not show the desired reaction to his previous statement. The latter now sighed. Ah yes, the circus. They had seen it from far away and the children had been on fire when they learned that there would be a show today. He would probably not be able to avoid it, the children had not, as he had hoped, forgotten about the show. It was just postponed until those sticky apples were eaten.

"Yeah, you promised," Storyteller cut in without looking up from her apple. "We're allowed to see the show, you said," she added when Kin Amir tried to contradict her. He hadn't promised anything, he would remember. The fact that he had dismissed her pestering with an annoyed "Yes yes" only occurred to him now. It was not a promise, but somehow he had agreed. Again he sighed and looked to the tent on the other side of the square with the booths.

"It's haunted, I heard people talking about it." Now Jaden had also had enough time to feast on his apple, so he joined in the conversation while wiping his paws on his fur. Red stripes were now visible on the green fur. Kin Amir screwed up his face. "I've heard people say different things even though they've seen the same show."

"I've heard," Storyteller interjected. "That there's a ghost ship inside. And I really want to see that! Maybe there'll be zombies or something in the tent." She bit into her apple with relish, its sugar coating cracking softly. As she chewed, she continued. "A real ghost ship with crew and stuff."

"That's totally illogical." Eliphas shook his head. "Look at that tent, how could a ship fit in there?" He pointed to the tent. "A ship like that would be huge, it wouldn't even fit in there."

Storyteller thought for a moment. "Maybe it's a really small ship?" she said, not really letting her thought get away from her. "Just big enough to fit in the tent. Or..." Her eyes seemed to light up briefly. "Or the tent is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Magic and all." She nodded like a connoisseur, then turned back to her apple.

"Anyway," she continued. "Do we need tickets to look at this." 

She squinted at the adult. 

"And you said yes, so don't even try to talk your way out of it." 

She stomped her feet for a moment, then ate the remains of her apple in one bite. Accusingly, she pointed at it with the stem. "You promised! So let's get tickets now or we'll be late!"

The other children also seemed determined to head for the tent now, so Kin Amir had no choice but to comply. He sighed heavily, slumping his shoulders, but gave in to the urging and nodded in defeat. "If I must," he murmured, and the children began to beam. They quickly polished off their leftover apples to have their hands free later. For popcorn or something. Something you could eat during the show, because something like that was part of it. Grinning broadly, Jaden looked to his friends. "I'm mega excited to see the ship."

Storyteller nodded, Eliphas remained silent. He had somehow received other information about the show and a ghost ship had not been mentioned. But he didn't want to start a fight that might result in them not being allowed to attend the show, so he remained silent. He plodded after his friends, who ran excitedly toward the tent, the adults not so enthusiastically just behind them. The space in front of the tent began to fill up, apparently they were not the only ones who wanted to watch the spectacle.
They had to hurry if they still wanted tickets!