AS TIME GOES BY [OPEN]

[Joshua Michael Cazalet]

"soon turned out had a heart of glass"

Josh stretched out his long legs in front of him as he lazed on his sister’s leather sofa. It was so much more comfortable than the beat up material sofa that he had in his apartment. It was four thirty in the evening on a Monday night and Josh had just finished his last shift in work for three whole days. With picking up every over time shift he had been able to, due to his desperate need to save money and book himself a trip to Panama, he couldn’t remember the last time he had a day off. Not that he let work get in the way of his socialising and drinking time though. It was why he was looking so haggered these days. Consuming copious amounts of alcohol, inhaling numerous cigarettes and getting minimal sleep were all starting to show on his face. His sisters took great pleasure in pointing it out to him too.

One minute he was chatting to Evie about something back home in New York, and the next thing he knew he was waking up in a dark living room with a fluffy blanket thrown over him. Next to him was a handwritten note from Evie which read ”I hope you feel more human now you’ve slept. Had to go meet some friends. See you tomorrow for dinner with mom and Sammy. Love you, E x x x” Josh ran his hand over his face before looking at the watch on his wrist, eight forty six pm. He definitely did feel better after sleeping for four hours. With a yawn and a stretch of his limbs, Josh threw the blanket off of him and stood up off of the sofa.

Grabbing a pop tart out of Evie’s cupboard, he popped it in the toaster and lent against counter top scrolling through his phone while he waited. No text from anyone making plans, so it looked like he was going to have to make his own fun again. As soon as the toaster popped, he swiped the pastry and started munching it as he made his way towards the front door. He vaguely remembered seeing something about a carnival being in town for the next few days, and decided that his plan for the night would be; check out the carnival, get some food and then get a few beers. Sorted.

Josh climbed into his car and made his way towards the middle of the town, hoping that some sort of signs for the carnival would appear and point him in the right direction; though Forks wasn’t a big place, it would take him long to find it. And as if to reinforce that, as he rounded a corner, the tent tops of the carnival came into view and the entrance glowed in the distance. He wasn’t holding his breath for this thing to be amazing, just good enough to be able to kill a few hours. There were cars parked along the side of the road, which told Josh that it was pretty busy; just what he wanted. He was missing the hustle and bustle of busy places. Finding a space on the side of the road, Josh bounced the Toyota into it, before walking the rest of the way to the carnival on foot.

Five minutes later, Josh found himself smack back in the center of the colourful lights and carnival smells; hot dogs, popcorn, funnel cake, cotton candy! If he closed his eyes, he could almost believe for a second that he was back standing on the boardwalk in Coney Island. Unsure what to do first, he joined the first queue he came across and was soon handing over five bucks for a ticket into a large white and red tent. The circus. He hadn't been to a circus since he was a kid; the one time that Christopher had taken him somewhere of interest. He was actually excited. From a vender standing at the side, he bought a bucket of popcorn and made his way further into the tent. Finding a seat in the middle of a section, he waited for the rest of the audience to file in and for the show to start.

open <3
MADE BY ★MEULK OF THQ