beautiful costumes, wagons, cars, all with hundreds of tiny, colorful lights on them, walk and dance by a long street.”
“Then there’s the fireworks,” Sabrina added. “After the parade, they set off lots of fireworks while people cheer and dance some more.”
Kevin let out a long sigh. “It’s awesome.”
It sounded great, but too crowded. Maybe one day this would be my kind of thing, but I lived in hiding, even if lately it didn’t feel exactly like that. I had to avoid places with too many people.
But with Kevin’s big eyes, and Sabrina’s excited smile, how could I not go?
I grabbed the tickets from Carol’s hand. “I’m not sure Lia will come, but I’ll take you two to the festival.”
The screams that came from those two little kids almost made me deaf. They shot up from their spots and crashed into me, embracing me tight. I was the cheese in their sandwich, and I could count on my fingers how many times I had felt this happy.
I hugged them back.
Carol laughed. “You know I’m coming with you, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “As if you’d let me forget.”
Past
Kianna
The scents washed over the village, reaching Kianna’s nose even before she was close to the main street. Warm sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and other spices. People milled the streets from every side, all of them following the same direction. This was the one evening that the entire village stopped—poor, rich, old, and young. They all celebrated together at the lamp festival as friends.
Finally, the smaller street opened to the main street and Kianna’s heart warmed. In bright contrast with the night sky, colorful lamps and ribbons lined the streets. Stands with food and jewelry and games were spread out along the street, and musicians gathered at every corner, playing songs that ranged from sorrowful to happy ballads. People strolled up and down the street, stopping to buy food, to look at the necklaces and hairpins, to play the games, or simply to talk to each other.
Selina and Calvin skipped ahead of Kianna and her mother, while Devon stood a few steps behind them, taking it all in. It was odd watching him as he looked around.
Every year since her father’s death, her mother set up a stand of rice balls, filled with vegetables from their farm, with Giles and his wife. Kianna and Cat helped, but Kianna was always able to sneak out for a few minutes since she had to take her siblings to the dance demonstration—or competition.
The stand was set up right in the center part of the street, where everyone walked by, which meant that hopefully, they would sell lots of rice balls this evening. Especially since it was a beautiful spring day, which would attract more people than usual.
Cat saw Kianna coming from a mile away. Her lips stretched into a big smile and she rushed forward. “Give me those,” she said, taking the pans from Kianna’s arms.
“How is it going?” Kianna asked, her eyes on the group of people parked in front of the stand, trying all the food.
“Come see.”
Kianna followed Cat behind the stand. Giles and his wife were hard at work, luring the customers with their animated talk and enchanting them with the food. Underneath the stand, two pans sat empty.
“Oh my word,” her mother whispered from beside her. “If it keeps selling like that, we’ll run out of rice balls.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Cat dropped the pans over the table on the back of the stand.
“It sure is,” her mother replied. She and Devon followed suit with the pans they had been holding.
Kianna glanced at the many customers flocking around the stand. “Do you want me to stay?”
Her mother shook her head. “It’s fine. I think the four of us can manage. You and Devon take the kids to the dance competition. If I can, I’ll come watch them later.”
“All right.” Kianna kissed her mother’s cheek, waved at Cat, then fled with Devon. She stopped in the middle of the street and glanced around. “Where are those two pests?”
“There.” Devon pointed to a stand of ring toss.
Sure enough, Selina and Calvin watched the game, practically drooling with excitement. Kianna’s heart tugged. If only she had some change left to buy them some rounds …
Kianna and Devon gathered the kids and strolled to the end of the street, where it opened to the main square. Like the rest of the festival, the square was decorated with colorful lamps and ribbons, but here there were fewer stands, because