“What in the chaotic universe is this?” John said as he appeared beside Eli.
Eli shook his head and stared at the pulsing lights and whaling sirens and bells. Children ran around the place, followed closely by parents or guardians. To his left was a giant wheel that spun with little carriages attached to it and directly in front of him, a child bashed a large mallet against a device that seemed to have over large paperclips with faces jumping out of it.
“And where’s Andre?”
Eli blinked and turned to his friend. He then spun about, panic seizing him. “What? Didn’t he come through?”
John shrugged. “He stepped through the portal first. I figured he’d be here already.” John winced as a loud bell blared from the mule device and the child jumped and squealed in excitement. “I swear this world is worse than the traffic in that first one.”
Eli searched among the crowd. Usually, his father stood out in a crowd with his white-blond hair and youthful appearance. They’d both taken to covering their pointed ears, many of the human populated worlds didn’t like their kind, and his father had taken to wearing a bright red cap, but with all the color and sound Eli had a hard time focusing enough to find the old elf.
“Oh, I’m right here.” Andre’s voice came from behind them.
Eli turned to find his father pulling a clump of a fluffy substance from a large cone of the stuff that he held in his hand. The fluff itself was three different colors, all swirled together. The elf smiled at Eli and stuffed the fluffy substance into his mouth.
“To answer your first question, John, this is what some people call an amusement park. Though given all the paperclip and red pen characters I see around the place, I’m going to assume it’s actually a theme park. They’re perfect places for family bonding.” Andre draped an arm around Eli’s shoulders and tilted the fluffy substance toward him. “Cotton candy?”
Eli stared at his father. Family bonding? He looked at the crowd in a panic. He needed to find the next portal, and fast.
