Four years later--Present Day

"Will you check out the assets on this one?" Jared said with a low whistle, adjusting the knobs on his binoculars.

"Saying 'assets' when you mean 'ass' doesn't make you sophisticated-it makes you sound like a douche," said Kyle, grabbing for the binoculars.

Owen rolled his eyes, watching his two best friends grapple from afar and wondering how he had anything in common with them besides anatomy.

It was a hot, sticky day in deep August; the kind of day where the heat cast a suffocating haze and made even the flies sleepy. The three boys had taken refuge on the third floor balcony of the carnival's funhouse, which not only provided shade, but an unobstructed view of the whole fairground.

The worker running the funhouse didn't seem to realize-or care-that they had entered over an hour ago and had yet to emerge. Behind their posts at the balcony railing was a line of mirrors, the kind that changed your appearance to something you would never request of a plastic surgeon. Sporadic groups of kids had been walking through, exclaiming in delight and horror as their bodies morphed before their eyes. If they were curious why a bunch of teenage boys were playing lookout up here, no one asked or told.

Owen hadn't really wanted to go to the carnival, not really seeing the appeal in the rides or the food. But it was his day off from "Dad Duty" as his friends called it, and they had wanted to come here to live out fantasies of winning some hot girl a stuffed animal from a rigged game. Like a teddy bear was any incentive to take your clothes off.

The thundering of feet on the stairs heralded another group of kids. This time it was group of pre-teen girls who stopped when they spotted Owen and his friends and then hurried past, giggling and throwing glances back over their shoulders.

"Can we go now?" asked Owen.

"Now there is something I would like to ride all day," said Kyle, binoculars still suctioned to his face. Owen had a feeling he wasn't talking about the Ferris Wheel.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat disapprovingly. Owen looked around to see a mom scowling at them, clearly not appreciating Kyle's comment. Or maybe she was just judging them for being in a place so clearly meant for kids.

Owen was about to come up with an excuse as to why they were loitering on the balcony when a loud outburst distracted him.

The young boy the woman was accompanying was yelling and flapping his hands. As Owen watched, the boy took a run at the fun mirror and began beating his head against it. Flustered, the mom went over to her son to calm him down.

The scene took Owen back to this morning when his younger brother, Ethan, had reacted much the same way when his mom had left bacon burning on the stove and set the fire alarm off. Owen had reacted on instinct, reaching to restrain his brother to prevent him from hurting himself, when he received a sharp blow to the nose as Ethan jerked his head back.

The latest episode had taken a full ten minutes to subside and ended with an exhausted and frustrated Owen snapping at his mom to be more careful. She hadn't said a word as she handed him a bag of frozen peas to put on his throbbing face.

Thinking about it now, Owen felt sharp stings of guilt in his gut. He would offer to do the dishes tonight, he decided, to make it up to her.

"Aren't you a little old for a funhouse?" said a female voice.

Owen refocused, thinking it was the mother, but when he looked around he only saw a girl around his age. She was slight in a wispy kind of way, like she wasn't quite solid. The long white tunic she was wearing, along with the purple-gray corkscrew curls piled on her head in a frothy bun, only gave her more of a ghostly appearance. The only true color was in her pale green eyes.

"Aren't you?" asked Jared, turning to appraise the girl. At least Kyle had the decency to hide the binoculars.

The girl's eyes flickered to him. There was something unsettling about her presence and the silent manner in which she had appeared. "I work here," she said, evenly.

"And here I thought all carnies were supposed to be ugly," laughed Kyle. He flashed a winning smile and moved in front of Jared. Offering a hand, he added, "I'm Kyle, and your name?"

So much for decency, Owen thought.

At Kyle's question a flash of anger seared the girl's eyes. "Not interested," she replied with an edge to her voice.

"Is 'Interested' your first or last name?" interjected Jared. Kyle's hand was still held out. Owen felt a wave of second-hand embarrassment for his friends, and then for himself for being with them.

The girl turned to Owen, seeming to think he was the most reasonable of the three. "My boss doesn't want you up here any longer. She's asked me to escort you out."

"You can escort us anywhere you like," said Kyle.

The girl said nothing except to point to the exit at the far end of the balcony. Owen thought there was something wrong with her arm at first--it seemed too long and thin--until he realized she was holding a violin bow. He looked to her other hand and saw what he had missed the first time. An ornately carved violin hung from her grasp like a plucked daisy, beautiful and forgotten. A golden bracelet encircled her wrist.

The three boys shuffled ahead of her down the spiral staircase which spit them back out into the baking sun.

"I'm sorry about my friends," said Owen. The girl said nothing. "Are you a musician?" he asked, gesturing to the instrument.

"Do you always ask obvious questions?" she sighed, looking straight ahead. Water starved grass crunched under their feet as they made their way down the midway. The sounds of merriment and revelry seemed muted in the heat. Owen's throat itched for a drink.

"I just meant-your violin is beautiful. I do some wood-carving and the designs on yours are great."

The girl glanced down at the instrument with an expression that suggested she wanted to throw it as far from her as possible. "Yeah," she said in agreement.

Owen didn't know why he kept talking when the girl so clearly did not want to talk, but he had never been one for awkward silences. At least awkward conversation was conversation.

"So do your parents run the carnival?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, clearly thrown off guard.

"Your parents," he repeated. "Do they work here too? You seem kind of young to work at a carnival."

The girl was still walking but her gaze was trained on him as though she was trying to read him.

"I just meant if you are looking for a pig that's been taught to talk and walk on its hind legs, I have a pair of them right here," he said, pointing to his friends. Jared and Kyle had stopped at a stand to buy corndogs dripping in grease and were making obscene gestures with them. It could not have been a more perfect moment to emphasize his joke, but the girl just looked at him blankly.

Jeez, weren't carnival people supposed to have a sense of humor?

"I ran away," she said. And something about her tone effectively shut down the conversation.

Did people really run away with the circus? Owen wondered. He had always thought it was an expression-or something that happened in movies.

They came to a stop by the carousel at the end of the midway.

"You and your friends are welcome to stay at the carnival, but don't go back to the funhouse," she said. Her tone was so flat, Owen would have thought he was listening to a recording had he not seen her lips move.

Owen realized they were at the edge of a large crowd gathering around the circle of the merry-go-round. Murmurs of anticipation buzzed in the air like gnats. The girl turned to walk along the group of people, but turned back to say, "Don't drink or eat anything a carnival worker gives you."

With that, she pushed through the crowd and stepped up on the carousel platform.

Owen's face puckered in confusion. It seemed an odd warning, but maybe it was just insider knowledge. Like those articles "12 Things Fast Food Employees Won't Tell You."

An expectant hush feel as the girl took up position in front of a brown horse with a black mane.

The sun had shifted position now so that it was nearly blocked by the ride's peaked top and cast a welcome shadow over the throng of people. Dusty sunlight was cleaved into shafts by horses and their poles as it shone through the open spaces. It gave the girl an almost cinematic backlight with dust motes dancing in the air around her like lazy will-o-the-wisps.

Without any sort of announcement or introduction, she lifted her instrument and began to play. The first few notes breathed by the violin fell on the crowd like a much needed rain, restoring life into their wilted frames. The girl closed her eyes and played a bit quicker, the music hooking Owen around the navel with the urge to lean forward and listen closely. The melody swelled and it was as though four violins played together, singing a song so sweet not another sound was made lest they miss one note.

Watching the girl play, Owen felt a kind of peace rise within him; a feeling he hadn't felt for a long time, had maybe never felt. It called up old, forgotten memories of when he was a child. When his father was still around.

The feeling was even better than the calm that overtook him when he was in the garage carving wooden trinkets he could sell for extra pocket money.

And then it ebbed and he was brought back to reality, blinking stupidly in the afternoon light, the heat rebounding full force. The crowd erupted into applause.

"Not much of a talker, but she can play," said Kyle by his side. Owen nodded, having trouble finding his voice only to be distracted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. It was a text from his mom.

"Ethan. Come home now."

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Well, there you have it. Our first introduction to Owen. What do you think? Is the chapter too slow, or is it enough for a character's first appearance? Let me know in the comments!

Also, the video if the beginning is somewhat close to what I was imagining for Lira's solo, with the four instruments playing as one. It isn't exact, because Lira's music is influenced by the Spirit World, but do you like it? :)

If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to turn that star gold! Thanks for reading :)