Three Days of Happiness

110
ahead. I was just starting to feel hungry, so I stopped the Cub in a
parking lot and went walking through the sauce-scented stands,
looking for something good to eat.
I hadn’t seen such a festival in ten years. I’d stopped going to the
local one since Himeno left.
It was a small festival, with only ten to fifteen stands. But it had its
own kind of liveliness. The fewer amusements in an area, the more
excited people get.
Everything went to plan up to me buying sukiyaki and a frankfurter,
but after that, stricken by some madness, I decided to buy
something from every stand.
I bought octopus dumplings, shaved ice, broiled sweet corn,
usuyaki, deep-fried chicken, a candy apple, a chocolate banana,
grilled chicken, grilled squid, and tropical juice, and took them all to
the stone steps.
“What are you doing buying all that?”, Miyagi asked, shocked.
“Fulfilling a boyish dream. There’s no way I can eat this all myself,
so you’ll have to help.”
I started working through them. Miyagi hesitantly reached into my
bag and began eating the usuyaki.
By the time we’d partaken in all twelve items, Miyagi and I were
deeply fed up with the smell of food. We both had pretty small
stomachs, after all; it was like trying to fit a volleyball in there.
Overly full, we didn’t feel like standing up for a while. Miyagi licked
the candy apple with a standoffish look.