Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

In the end, Iris still didn't get to drink the milk.

Under her calm but angry gaze, the old man threw the bottle to the two children:

"Each of you take half, to replenish your nutrition, haha..."

Successfully harvested the pursuit of two children whose targets were diverted.

Iris asked the staff to stamp her ticket at the entrance, and sat sideways on the colorfully painted carousel amid the background music of loud voices.

The colorful horses swayed up and down in a gentle rhythm to the bright melody. She shifted her gaze from the rope in her hand to the old man squatting on the ground outside the railing. He was crying "Ah, Aah", apologizing to Zoya who was pulling his beard, and shaking his hand to drive away Alexia who kept scratching him, with an empty bottle in his hand, vividly interpreting what it means to "the children in the south village bully me because I am old and weak."

"I drank it myself, I drank it myself! Go away, go away!"

Iris lost the ability to control her expression and turned her head away, unable to bear to watch any longer.

As the rhythm, which was as relaxing as a lullaby, played, she quietly stared at the sky blue protective rope in her hand.

A long, long time ago, in the memory of her first time spending time with her parents, what protected her on the carousel was not this small rope, but two pairs of hands that were very broad for her at that time.

It was probably summer at that time. The two hands holding me were warm and dry. The yellow to white sunlight not far away was very dazzling. I was in the cool shadows cast by the ceiling and the two people above, and I could hear the screams of other tourists and staff from time to time.

Although my memory is fuzzy, I can guess that it was nothing more than "Such a young child really can't ride on a wooden horse", "Sir, please stop it", "Let the child go", "Madam, please persuade your husband" and so on...

Little Iris didn't understand all this. She was just very curious about the beautiful ponies around her, and the milk in the bottle in her mouth was still warm and delicious.

When she grew up a little, Iris realized how dangerous such behavior was for a helpless child. However, her father, who always had an excellent memory, said that it was not true at all and she had just dreamed about it.

Why was their family permanently blacklisted by the amusement park? Iris didn't understand, and her mother blinked and said she didn't know.

This was just an insignificant little thing in her life so far, but perhaps because every "first time" has its special meaning, this earliest little thing that Iris remembered became different.

In her later turbulent life, she would occasionally recall it in her dreams, and the old man who often took care of her during the period when she was often injured also figured out what happened in her sleep talking.

But she didn't expect that after so many years, he still remembered it.

She herself hadn't seen a carousel for a long, long time.

This round of music ended. Iris, who had just dismounted from her horse, was still clapping her hands when two impatient children rushed over from behind her.

They were skipped by the staff just now because they were fighting fiercely and were busy bullying the elderly, so they were much more self-conscious in this round.

The old man came over from a nearby mobile stall, handed her a bucket of popcorn, and said:

"Eat it behind their backs. Don't let them see you. Otherwise, they'll start making trouble again."

The noise of the crowd varied from moment to moment, but was no different in noise and merriment, while the setting sun sank slowly to the bottom of the sky in the embers of the day.

The old man took Zoya to say goodbye to her. Lucius, holding an exercise book and a ruler, had been waiting for Alexia at the gate for a long time. Alexia ran home screaming all the way with an uncontrollable smile on her face, even though the angry tail was following her closely.

Before walking out the door, Iris felt a little thirsty, so she turned back to look for the omnipotent mobile stall.

The golden twilight scattered on the various facilities in front of her. She saw the "Hand-made Juice" sign with small colored lights hanging on it from afar. When she got closer, she found that the stall was leaning against the fountain, with a tarpaulin on the table, and it was no longer run.

On the bench nearby, there sat a straight-backed clown wearing a crooked clown hat with two small red and yellow balls hanging from the two pointed corners.

The most eye-catching thing about the clown's mask is the scarlet lips that occupy almost half of the face. However, the clown has his head down, and even though his posture looks quite elegant, it cannot conceal the decadent aura.

Iris wanted to avoid the clown so as not to disturb him who was hurt for unknown reasons, but when she walked past him, she accidentally touched a large group of colorful balloons extending from the silk thread he was holding.

The one that collided face to face with Iris was the little balloon bear that was licking honey from the corner of its mouth.

The moment she saw the other person clearly, Iris subconsciously touched the corner of her mouth, trying to find the honey that was stuck on the corner of her mouth during the face-to-face collision between the man and the bear.

The clown stood up and raised his hands, letting the balloons fly over her head and away from her pitiful, almost stunned head.

The clown walked over, pointed at the juice stand, then pointed at himself, then turned and left.

Was he going to take her to find juice?

After walking a few steps forward, the clown turned around and saw that she was still standing there. He waved to her, motioning her to follow.

Seeing that she seemed to be still hesitating, the clown had no choice but to walk back, picked up the silk threads in his hand, picked out the honey bear balloon that had just collided with her, and bent down to hand it to her.

As she got closer, Iris could see more clearly the absurd mask that obscured his entire expression and face.

The corners of his mouth that were raised high seemed polite against the backdrop of the clown's gentlemanly behavior.

"Do you want to give it to me or sell it to me?"

Iris asked.

The clown shook his head, stuffed the balloon string into her hand, waved to her, and turned away.

Iris didn't see any payment code or anything like that on him, and she was really thirsty, so she followed him with the balloon.

Maybe they still have so many balloons that they haven't sold at the end of the day, and they're feeling depressed. So when they see someone looking for water to drink, they're kind enough to show him the way and give him the balloons that they couldn't sell anyway.

The little bear was floating high in the sky, the clown was walking steadily in front, and Iris was holding the little bear and following the clown, strolling in the amusement park where the number of humans was gradually decreasing.

One colorful amusement project after another met them, and was left behind by them. The clown finally stopped in front of a juice stand, still with his head down, not looking at her.

As soon as Iris saw the stall owner, she found out the reason why he had not yet finished get off work: he had been sleeping soundly on the table in his stall before getting off work, so naturally he had no time to pack up and leave work when the time came.

The staff of the pirate ship next to them had just finished get off work and was taking off the identity badge around his neck. When he saw them, he hurried over and pushed the stall owner:

"Young man, it's time. Don't sleep any more. Get up and finish the last order before you go home."

The stall owner opened his eyes in confusion, raised his head from his sleep-stained arms, yawned and asked:

"What would you like to drink? We have watermelon juice, passion fruit juice, lemonade...Oh, we've sold out the lemons today."

Iris bought some watermelon juice and handed a glass to Mr. or Ms. Clown.

The other party has refused to speak, and she still doesn't know the clown's gender.

No matter what, he is a kind clown who is obviously too tired to talk but still insists on leading people.

The clown, with his head down, was stunned for a moment when he saw the watermelon juice handed to him. Then he took it with both hands and nodded politely to her to express his gratitude.

Yes, take it with both hands.

The moment the clown took the red watermelon juice, the crowded balloons in front of them broke free, gained freedom, and flew into the sky with a "whoosh".

After the layers of colorful balloons flew away, the face of a clown holding juice was revealed.

The face was hidden by a mask, but through the mask it conveyed a confused and helpless look.

Iris shifted her gaze and looked at the little bear balloon tied tightly to her wrist.

She untied the balloon string and handed it to the clown.

"For you. Don't be too sad."

The clown was silent for a long time before he reached out and tried to take the balloon from her.

Iris didn't give it to him directly, but tied the balloon to his wrist and tied a tight bow at the end.

"Here, this way you won't lose it."

The clown touched the rope on his wrist, looked up, and pointed in another direction.

Iris looked in the direction of his finger and saw the Ferris wheel shining with bustling lights in the dim light.

The Ferris wheel does close a little later than other attractions.

"You want to play that?"

In the world where light and darkness interweave and things gradually become quieter, the clown looked at her and nodded.

When they left side by side, the setting sun was still burning with its last rays of light, and when they stood under the huge Ferris wheel, they could look up and see the starry night sky above the bright lights.

The clown raised the work badge on his chest, and the staff smiled and nodded at them, making way for them.

Oh, employee benefit, no need to check tickets.

Iris had been thinking that if the staff wouldn't let her get on the Ferris wheel because her ticket had already been stamped, she would find a way to sneak up to the cabin where the clown was alone.

Our poor clown got to ride the Ferris wheel tonight!

Iris let the Joker choose a cockpit he liked. As the cockpit slowly rose, the two sat face to face, looking at each other.

The clown was holding a watermelon juice in his hand, a bear balloon in his arms, and the rope on his wrist was tied tightly. He looked out the window like Iris did, and the dense and flickering lights of thousands of houses in the distance came into his sight. His mind slowly emptied in the broad vision and the cool breeze of late autumn.

Iris had always felt that the Joker was very nervous, until their cabin almost reached its highest point, the Joker finally relaxed.

Since she didn't speak, the two of them were very quiet, and this atmosphere continued until they returned to the ground.

"I'm leaving now," she said. "I'll come to see you next time."

The clown nodded and watched her back gradually disappear in the dim lights of the night. The only real thing seemed to be the little bear licking the honey from the corner of his mouth, tightly held in his arms.