Carnival

Carnival
“Lea! Where are you” Morgan Daniels asked as she walked on tiptoe, looking from side to side hoping to catch her seven year old but she was met with a deafening silence.

“Lea! The pizza man just came” she called out again, hoping that would lure her out of her hiding place. But again, she was met with nothing but silence. Weird, that always works.

Now, Morgan Daniels was upstairs, tiptoeing through the hallway so as not to make any sound. She opened each door carefully, avoiding her sounds. The first door which was her playroom was empty. Nothing but toys scattered everywhere. she closed the door and tiptoed to the next. An empty, empty room. Literally. Morgan planned on transforming this room into a spare bedroom for when she had visitors over.

She closed that door, and walked on to the fourth door, ignoring the third door as it led to the bathroom as there was no way she was hiding in there. The fourth room was Lea's room and of course, that was too easy. She wouldn’t hide in her room, so Morgan walked on to the next door that was at the end of the hallway. That was her room. She pushed the door quietly and walked in. There was only one place where she would be hiding in here.

Not the bathroom, no.

Not the closet either. That was too easy. Beneath the vanity table yes.

Given her petite figure, Lea was able to fit underneath the table and pull the chair, making it the perfect hiding spot for her. Morgan would know that cause the last time they played hide and seek, it took her over an hour to figure out where she was hiding. She almost called the cops.

The pulled the chair and called out abruptly, “Found you!” but once again, she was met with a deafening silence. She frowned, where could she be hiding?

“Lea!” she called out, with more distress, she opened every door in her room, but every time she was met with an empty room.

“Lea!” she called again, this time rushing out of her room with panic in her voice. She opened the other doors she had already opened and those she didn’t open, however, the results were still the same.

Fear washed through her entire body as she stood in the hallway, ruffling her hands through her hair. Where could she be hiding? Morgan thought to herself. She knew for a fact she was hiding somewhere at home, but where Knowing Lea, she could stay in her hiding spot for hours if Morgan didn’t find her.

And that is what she feared. That wherever she was hiding is somewhat harmful, like maybe in an enclosed space with little breathing air.

She rushed down the stairs in a frenzy, headed to the laundry room to see if she was hiding in there but stopped dead in her tracks when she caught her seven-year-old casually sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Lea!” Morgan Daniels exclaimed and her daughter turned to her with a big smile on her face.

“Mummy! You lost” she exclaimed with excitement in her voice. Morgan didn’t know whether to be upset at her for making her worry or relieved that she had found her. She rushed towards her, taking Lea in her arms and hugging her tight.

“Don’t you scare me like that again” Morgan looked into Lea's eyes and fixed her hair.

“Were you scared mom? I was hiding in the bathroom so when you passed the door, I rushed and came downstairs” she explained with a happy expression on her face. Morgan smiled. She couldn’t stay mad at her.

“You little scoundrel,” she tickled her sides, making her burst into a fit of laughter and giggles.

“Mummy no!” she begged, but her pleas went to deaf ears.

“That’s for making me worry"

“Mummy!” she called in between laughs.

Morgan Daniels pulled Leam in for another hug. “I love you little monkey,” Morgan sniffed in the smell of coconut.

The front door opened “Where’s my favourite little niece?” Eleanor’s voice filled the room.

“Oh! That’s Aunty Eli” Little Lea exclaimed getting off the chair and rushing towards the front door.

“Hey, my angel” Morgan Daniels heard Eleanor's voice from the kitchen as she got up and made her way toward the living room. She smiled at the scene before her. Lea played with the ends of Eleanor's hair.

“This is for you,” Eleanor hands a packet of gummy worms to Lea who took them excitedly and was about rush off when Morgan stopped her.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! What do you say when you’re given something” she questioned with folded arms.

‘It’s alright-" Eleanor cut off when Morgan glared at her.

“Thank you, Aunt Eli,” Lea cooed, swaying from left to right with the packet of gummy worms in hand and her head down.

“You’re welcome my sunshine,” Eleanor spoke with a smile on her face as Eleanor dashed out of the living room.

“If I can’t stop you from spoiling her, then at least allow me to teach her some good manners,”

“Oh come on Morgan! She’s just a kid, don’t be hard on her” Eleanor followed behind Morgan as she replied.

“I’m not being hard on her, I’m teaching her human decency” retorted Morgan as she opened the fridge and took out a bottle of beer and slid it over to her.

“Okay, she’s your kid,” Eleanor unscrewed the cap of her beer.

“When did you get back? How’s everything up north?”

“This morning. Lea called yesterday and said she misses me, so I booked a flight and came down here”

“You booked a flight down here because Lea missed you?’ Morgan questioned with disbelief in her voice.

“What? She sounded sad on phone” she defends.

“Unbelievable”

“Come on now Morgan. You know how difficult it is to tell her no,” she says and all Morgan could do was roll her eyes.

She understand what her friend was talking about. When Lea gave her signature puppy eyes, there was no way one can keep up with a ‘No’.

“Anyways, when do we leave for the carnival?” she asks.

“In an hour, you can go on and help Lea get ready,”

Life hasn’t been easy. Raising Lea hasn’t been easy. It wasn’t that Lea was a difficult child, far from that. She was the sweetest. But sometimes seeing her face and having her smile reminded Morgan of the best friends she lost.

Lea was only a year and a few months when her parents, Laiba and Jonah died in a ghastly car accident. They had asked Morgan to babysit whilst they went on a date, to celebrate their eighth year of being together. Morgan received a call when Lea had just gone to sleep. The words said to her that night felt like it happened only yesterday.

That wasn't the kind of news one easily forgets.

That night marked Morgan for good. That night made her once again, alone in the universe. She made a fatal mistake and ended up losing the only person who loved her unconditionally, and as if that wasn’t enough, her best friend died. Morgan thought the universe was trying to punish her...

After they'd had laid Laiba and Jonah to rest, their will was read and they had decided to leave the custody of their daughter to Morgan. According to Laiba's will, Morgan was the only person she trusted with her daughter. Thankfully, her family didn’t contest her will and neither did Jonah’s family.

It was such an honour to Morgan and she was dedicated to showing Lea all the love Laiba and Jonah will have showered on her. But Morgan couldn’t do that in Middenhall. She had some good memories there.

But she also experienced the worst kind of pain there.

So Morgan sold Laiba’s house, bought another in Crestview and relocated there to start afresh.

Terry was managing the lounge in Middenhall whilst Resha managed Club Lux here in Crestview. Of course, whenever she could, Morgan would go down to the club and make sure everything was going on smoothly. On days she had to go down to the club, the babysitter Laura looked after Lea until she got back.

Morgan Daniels hasn’t had the chance to go to Middenhall to see the good fare of the club for herself. Who was she kidding? It was summer holidays and she had all the free time in the universe and could even take Lea along with her.

But she was scared. Scared that what happened to her friends may happen to her. It was stupid given the fact that Morgan drove Lea to school every day and literally anyways else.

But she couldn’t do it.

Eleanor showed up in Morgan's life at the right time and she couldn’t be more thankful to her. Almost as if mother nature knew what she was about to lose and brought her someone to stand by her through every pain. Eleanor has been an amazing friend and aunty to Lea.

With how much she adored Lea, Morgan knew she could always count on her.

Then sometimes, Morgan wanted to reach out to her. She knew her whereabouts and everything she had achieved. Call it stalking, but Morgan was up to date with everything she was up to.

It was difficult not to. She had become a successful woman. She would appear in journal and TV interviews.

Morgan knew she could achieve anything she wanted. She was proud of the woman she had become. However, she would have loved to be by her side, holding her hand every step of the way.

She wished she hadn’t been so stupid and fuck things up with her. Audrey tried and couldn’t succeed. Morgan fucked things up with Maia and she hated herself for that.

When Eleanor showed up, she gave Maia’s number and encouraged Morgan to reach out to her. Several times, the older woman would type in the number, but be too much of a coward to hit the call button.

Other times, she would dial her number and when she picked up, she'd hang up immediately. Morgan missed Maia

As Morgan walked down the stairs, she could hear giggles and it subsequently made her smile.

Lea wore a black long-sleeve over a denim pinafore and paired it with her favourite converse, whilst Morgan was dressed in baggy jeans and a crew neck.

"Let's go"

"Mummy! You look beautiful" Lea cooed.

Morgan smiled at her daughter. "Not as beautiful as you, my little monkey" she poked her nose, earning a chuckle from the seven-year-old

"Hey Morgan, Is it okay if you drive us? I'm feeling too tired to drive" Eleanor picked up her bag as she asked.

"Of course"

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The fare was grand.

It was being held at the Catholic University Institute of the Diocese of Crestview. They organised such fares every year to help the less privileged.

Several activities are organised and shades were spread in the inner court of the university where foods, drinks and other artefacts were being sold and proceeds of these artefacts went into the coffers of the less privileged.

"This is lovely," Eleanor says as she took in the beautifully decorated inner court. It was her first time attending something like this.

"Wait until it's evening," Morgan remarked. This place was even more gorgeous at the night. It was more colourful, more fun.

"Aunt Eli, can I have ice cream?" Lea tugged at the hem of Eleanor's dress and gave her puppy eyes.

"No, Lea. We only just got here" Morgan spoke firmly. Eleanor looked at her friend with pleading eyes, earning an eye roll from Morgan.

"Fine"

On cue, Lea yipped excitedly, taking Eleanor's hand in her tiny little hand and ran off towards the ice cream stand.

"No running, Lea" Morgan yelled as she followed behind them.

"Careful Lea, you'll bump into someone" Eleanor warned but this time, it was already late.

Lea bumped into someone, causing them to spill a cup of ice cream they had in hand.

"Bloody hell!" the voice exclaimed, sending shivers down Morgan's spine.

Maybe she was hallucinating, or hearing things. Maybe she wasn't.

But that voice sounded oddly familiar to the voice she'd been longing to hear for the past seven years.

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