forum Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. // OxO // ClOSED

Started August 24, 2022 by @EtherealDreamer

tune

"To be honest, I've never paid attention to it," Maya admitted, making both Lily and Damien blink in surprise. "It's probably not about fruit, though. I'm not sure."

"does anyone know what parade it is?" Aspen asked, looking around at them all.
"Anyone?"

"I-it's called the rose festival," Damien piped up, speaking slowly and carefully to cover up his lisp. "You know the song Ring Around the Rosie? And how it refers to the Black Death? That's where this celebration originated from, although they've obviously made it less ominous by focusing it more around the blooming of the rose fields instead of death."

Aspen nodded and smiled at him.
"Thank you Damien, nice to know at least someone pays attention." She told him brightly. She began walking and watched as someone from the balcony above poured down rose petals, she giggled and held out her hands to catch some as they got in her hair.

River smiled as a group of small children raced by him, squealing with delight and undiluted joy as they held vibrant multi-colored rose petals in their hands, tossing them in the air and watching in awe as they gracefully fluttered to the ground.

"We're lucky to live here," Lily said from beside River, making him jump in air. He turned towards her, bewildered; he never heard or saw her move from Maya's side. The young-looking girl watched at the playing children fondly, a soft smile resting on her face.
"Some loops, like the one in Wales, have to relive horrific events every day like bombings," she continued, her voice soft and lilting. "Ours, however, gets to live through a happy festival every day in a beautiful valley with a Ymbryne who isn't strict or old-fashioned. It's nice."

"It is," River agreed, wondering what brought on such an interesting conversation starter. Lily finally turned her intense deep saphire gaze to him, giving him a smile that rivaled that of the Mona Lisa. Then she suddenly vanished, as if the shadows at her feet quickly dragged her to them, and the cobblestone ground next to River looked normal again, as if she had never even been there.

Aspen stared at the children as they looped around the town square. The bright aqualine water in the fountain was riddled with rose petals, which floated on the top. She walked closer, kneeling at the fountain and scooped out a handful of the wet rose petals, she turned back to the others slowly, yet gracefully and put one on Celeste's cheek, she giggled and then she put one on Maya's forehead, where it stuck because of the moisture, she put one on Damien's cheekbone and she moved to River, where she stuck one carefully over his lips and looked around for Lily.

River chuckled as Maya grimaced and peeled the rose off of her forehead.
The velvety and wet petal on his lips fell off and fluttered to the ground, and he ran his hand on top of the fountain gingerly, the water embracing his hand as if he were an old friend.

Aspen grabbed River's hand back quickly, looking around.
"Don't." She warned "the people here might see you and I don't know how they feel about it."

River frowned. "I didn't do it intentionally…" he still obliged to her concerns and reluctantly moved away from the fountain with a small sigh.

Aspen gave him a softened look.
"I know," she said kindly "it's nothing against you, we just have to be careful."

"I know," River replied, smiling at her. "I honestly didn't see the water doing anything until you said something, so thanks for telling me."

Aspen nodded and smiled at him, placing a wet rose petal on his cheek and pushing until it stuck when she pulled her hand away, she giggled and bent down and kissed him gently on the non petal cheek.

"I love this place, I love you, I love this festival, I love everything!" She cried, throwing the rest of her rose petals into the air, where they landed in everyones hair.

River smiled at her, happy that she was happy.
"That's the spirit!" Maya whooped, earning cheers of approval from the people who heard Aspen.

Celeste laughed and looked up at the sky, dancing on the spot.
Aspen whooped for her and began to dance around her.

River spotted Lily braiding a little girl's hair, chatting happily with her. Damien was playing with the group of kids River saw before.
Everything feels so perfect here, River thought, feeling worried. Something bad's bound to happen soon, right?

Celeste gasped and pointed at a puppy, which was wandering after River's heels.
She picked him up and her nipped her thumb and she smiled.

"He's adorable!" River exclaimed, petting the puppy's soft head with a smile. He glanced at Celeste. "Does he belong to you or one of the townsfolk?"

Aspen nodded.
"Can we keep him?" She asked excitedly.

River looked at Maya hopefully, who hesitated slightly.
"I don't see why not," she said. "But Mrs. Finch might be reluctant. And even if she does let you keep it, you need to never let it go near Alastor. It's very ironic, but animals frighten him to death ever since he was attacked by a dog."

Aspen smiled.
"Let's take him back with us when we leave and see what Mrs. Finch says about it." She suggested and stroked the puppies head. He was a boxer, all brown and with a black colored nose.

"If he's part of the loop, won't he just reset and come back here? Or even if he does stay then won't he forget who we are?" River asked.

Aspen frowned and turned to him, gently sitting the puppy down.
"I guess you're right," she said sadly. "Bye, bye Arlo."
The puppy licked her nose and waddled away, lying in front of the fountain.

"You already named it?" River asked, feeling a bit guilty.

Aspen stood up, from scratching the top of the puppies head and nodded sadly.
"Yes, but to be fair I usually name everything, even my stuffed animals." She commented.

It took a second for River to remember what a stuffed animal was, given that he'd only glanced at one once in his life, but he nodded. "Well, on the bright side, we'll be able to see Arlo everyday since he's in the loop."

Aspen nodded and gave him a sad smile.
"But he won't remember me." She stated and walked away, making her way to the rose petal covered fountain.

I screwed up again, River thought, feeling angry with himself.
"We've all met someone in this loop that we want to be with," Maya said, walking up to River. "There's this girl that is the florist's daughter over there, you see her?"
She looked over and pointed to a beautiful girl that was putting a flower behind a little kid's ear. The girl glanced up and gave Maya and River a friendly wave, and Maya waved back with a small smile.
"Her name's Daphne. I've been in love with her every day for longer than I can remember," Maya said quietly. "I've flirted with her, took her on dates, showed her illusion tricks that she absolutely adored; I made sure that every day for her is a day that she would never forget." She let out a small laugh, but there was no humor behind it. "But obviously the loop never allows that to happen."
River stayed silent. He felt like saying 'Sorry' wouldn't help her at all.
"I wasn't trying to lament my tragic love life to you," Maya grinned to him, looking more like her old self again. "My point was that everyone at the Chateau has friends here who don't remember them the next day. It's part of life here, and it's just something you got to get used to."

Aspen got on her knees, leaning over the edge of the fountain and swirled the rose petals on top with her hand. Arlo woke up and began licking her arm, she used one arm to pet him and the other to keep swirling, finally she stopped and placed a wet petal on the top of Arlo's head.

Celeste spoke up from behind Maya, he voice had that dreamy quality, but now she sounded a bit saddened. "It's always been this way." She said softly "Jason never remembers me either."

River watched as Maya walked off and started chatting with Daphne, and he started to walk around the square, looking around at the happy crowd thoughtfully.