[Adventure] Festive Prizes

The old museum, long abandoned and dilapidated, still held vast amounts of displays and relics intact. Where humans would’ve paced between the stands and information panels, there was now an onslaught of whimsical decor and no end to festival activity unleashed. Cheron, ringleader of this peculiar event, claimed this vault of knowledge and preserved history as his base of operation, and the Lunar Light Festival was in full swing!

The aerospace wing of the museum became the center of games, skill checks, and prizes to win. Many tested their brawn, speed and agility in races and obstacle courses, some others fished for just the right item to trade in for goods and memorable trinkets. And some tested their luck instead.

The prize wheel, a plane's propeller that had been repurposed for this festival alone, was taller than any of the styracos that stood before it and covered in panels that had been painted in colors that could hardly be found in nature. Symbols in simple white were inscribed onto each panel, likely indicating the tier of prizes to be won if the wheel were to stop on it.

Gwenn, Chiska and Riker stood before it, trying to figure out what could be won and if they had to pay anything to try. It wasn’t like these forest dwellers knew how to read this script, or any script for that matter. They looked between each other. Should they just go and spin?

Before any of them could even touch the wheel, the vendor burst upward from behind the wheel in a flurry of motion, an oviraptor with a plume of feathers so exaggerated it looked like it had been styled by a storm.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome!” she screeched, arms flung wide. The hurried motion nearly made her lose balance and fall off the rim of the wheel she stood on. “Step right up, feathered friends and scaly guests, to the game of fate, the wheel of whims, the spinny-spin of destiny!” She fluttered her wings again and the quadrupeds below could smell a hint of roasted nuts and honey coming off of her. “One spin! One chance! One glorious victory! Or mildly disappointing consolation prize.”

Riker recoiled a half-step, and shook his head. “Why are you yelling?” he groaned.

The oviraptor gasped, offended. “Because it’s a carnival!” she cried, as if this is simply how it is meant to be, as if it were a mere law of nature. “Now, who’s first? Each so valued guest has one free spin! You’re new, you’re yet to test your luck! How do I know? Why, I know every single face in this carnival! And you three have yet to try!”

Gwenn looked up at the oviraptor practically enchanted by that spectacle of her voice. She bounced on her feet. “Oh, oh! Me! I’d love to go first!”

The oviraptor accepted her enthusiasm with a flourish. “Very well!” she announced, and hopped off the wheel, disappearing behind it once again, and onto the plane's hull it was attached to. “Now, spin the wheel, brave contestant!”

Gwenn hopped forward, and inspected the wheel for a moment. Spin it. She looked over her shoulder at Chiska, who has yet to collect herself after that introduction, and Riker, who was once again less than enthused. Both simply gave her a mix of nods, shaking heads and unknowing shrugs.

Out of ideas, Gwenn planted both her front legs on the edge, and shoved the wheel with her mass into motion. The wheel spun with a satisfying clatter, the painted segments blurring into a dizzying smear while the little wooden clicker ticked madly. Yet, the wheel lost momentum at a pretty fast pace, and the ticks slowed in rhythm.

The oviraptor bounced from behind the wheel to one of the wings, and stepped from foot to foot in excitement, each tip-tap on the wing resounding a metallic clank through the plane’s frame. She chanted, "Round and round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!”

Riker leaned back with a scoff while the girls watched the wheel with curiosity and boundless expectations. There would be no question in his mind that the optimist of the group would be happy about practically anything she’d get. What else is there to expect from a free spin?

For anyone who could read the script, the wheel’s pointer ticked past “Free Spin,” slid over “Delightful Treat,” hesitated at “Bundle of Socks,” and finally settled with a dull thunk on “Questionable Surprise.” There was a heartbeat of silence, and then the oviraptor exploded into applause. “You won a Surprise!” she shrieked. “My personal favourite!” She hopped from the wing behind the wheel again, rummaging.

Chiska craned her neck. “That doesn’t sound reassuring,” she said. “Surprise. But isn’t every prize a surprise on the wheel? What does it mean for it to be a surprise even for the host?”

Gwenn laughed, a delighted sound. “You worry too much. The worst that happens is we get rocks.”

Riker tilted his head. “Or fleas,” he offered, which made Chiska make an utterly displeased face. The thought alone already made her feather coat itch. The other green styraco simply stuck her tongue out at him for putting that image on everyone’s mind.

The oviraptor popped back up, holding a small wooden box that wriggled faintly.

“Congratulation!” she said, throwing it toward them, and letting it fall to the ground with a thud. The box held, but something inside seemed to strain against the lid. “Open it! Open it!”

Gwenn hesitated only a moment trying to open the box with her horn, unperturbed by what mystery might jump out at her. That being a dozen paper snakes that unfolded and jumped right in her face when the lid popped off on its own.

Gwenn shrieked, as the paper snakes sprung up and caught in her horns, and she jumped back so quickly she knocked into Chiska, startling her as well. Both lost their footing and sat down hard in the dust, as the crafted creatures lay motionless where they dropped. Riker was the one who started laughing heartily while the green styracos processed what just happened, then, slowly, they all joined in a chorus of unrestrained chortles, chuckles and hollering.

“That’s it?” Riker wheezed. “That’s the surprise?”

The oviraptor beamed. “High quality craft!” she said proudly. “Very bouncy! Mostly safe! Only works this once though unless you try and squeeze them in the box again.”

Chiska poked one of the paper serpents left on the ground, crumpling the material. It remained still and motionless.

“That was fun,” Gwenn declared, unbothered by the colourful snakes still hanging from her crest.

“I’d pay to see that again,” Riker shook his head, still chuckling despite himself.

The vendor perked up at his words and leaned in conspiratorially. “I do take stories,” she mentioned out loud. “Or dares. Or compliments.” She shrugged. “Or you could take your spin now.”

Squaring up, Riker walked up to the wheel, deciding to take his chance. He decided to do as Gwenn did first and spun the wheel with his front legs and a good shove, sending it spinning rapidly again. The wheel slowed, click by click, the styracos leaning in together now, attentive to what it would land on.

“If it lands on socks, I’m eating them,” Riker joked.

“Nooooo!” Chiska yelped instantly, shoving him in the shoulder. The motion barely moved him. “Why would you even do that?”

“Watch me,” he chuckled, but fell silent as the wheel’s clicks slowed.

The pointer finally stopped on “Exquisite Meal,” and the vendor let out a noise like a kettle boiling over. “My favourite! Cooked up by our most treasured chefs and firebreathers, most skillfully crafted!” she crowed and chirped. “The wheel loves you!”

Riker’s nose scrunched at the idea that the wheel favoured him, and knowing the vendor’s idea of prices, he didn’t actually expect anything edible. Then again, after rummaging for something, the oviraptor came back with dried sheets of something. When she threw the prize to his feet, it was a little more clear what he has won.

“Oh, oh! They are, like, coated in syrup! You remember the trees and how it freezes against the bark when it’s cold?” Gwenn guessed when all three inspected the treats. Leaves, fern, and berries, all encased into flat sheets of crystalline sugar and caramel.

“I don’t think that’s maple syrup. It doesn’t smell like much?” Chiska sniffed at the candied plants, before Riker pressed a foot on his loot and tugged it towards himself.

“As long as it doesn’t explode in my face, I don’t think I care," he stated almost matter-of-fact-ly. With the expectant looks of the girls on him, he took a first bite of the candy. Which would remain his first bite for a little while as he struggled to chew through it. It was inexplicably sticky and crunchy at the same time. Fortunately it didn’t taste bad, but it took a bit for him to even get a single bite out of it, and even then he’d be busy chewing.

The vendor chuckled and delighted at the view. “Why! He can’t get enough of it, you see? Now, now, who’s next? Oh, right! Our wonderfully green lady has yet to spin. Go on, go on!”

When Chiska stepped forward, she didn’t quite know how to spin the wheel properly. She didn’t really want to put her all into it, so she simply caught her horn between the grooves of the wheel and nudged it into motion with a strong nod. The wheel spun, and spun, and settled shortly after. An almost disappointing spin, too short to build anticipation, but nonetheless it landed on something new.

“Well, well! A spin is a spin and this one has you win an Excellent Education!” The vendor chirped, and cackled. For the first time, once she retrieved the prize, the flurry of feathers jumped down from her perch fully and joined the styracos to hand Chiska her prize personally. A certificate declaring Chiska “Honorary Mammal,” and the fitting felt ears to go with it. The costume headband didn’t exactly fit onto her head, when the oviraptor clumsily sat it down behind her brows, but she was happy as a clam nonetheless.

“Look at me, I am a deer,” Chiska laughed.
Riker shook his head, but was unable to retort with some smart comment or banter.

Other carnival-goers drifted past, pausing to watch the spectacle of horned herbivores squabbling around a wheel, presided over by an oviraptor who seemed to be running on pure joy and sugar. At the end of their turns, the oviraptor bowed deeply once she was back up on top of the wheel. “You have been a delight,” she said, suddenly softer, though her grin never dimmed. “Come back any time with tickets and coin. The wheel remembers her friends, and make sure to bring yours.”

“We will tell the others, for sure,” Gwenn said, and meant it. Chiska nudged the headband back in place before it could fall, still baffled but oddly fond of it. Riker has already eaten his “meal” and now licked and smacked his beak in an attempt to rid his mouth from the stickiness. Even if he wanted to banter, the caramel between his teeth kept him too busy to try. As they walked away, still snickering and nudging each other, the oviraptor waved them farewell.

[1908 words according to Google Docs]