A Ride Through Time.
~ 14 YEARS AGO..
Pa, look—it's Nova the star!" Elara exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder.Elias, ever the cautious father, gently took her hand. "Don't run, Elara. You wouldn't want to get lost here. Let's hold hands before we go and meet Nova." His voice was steady, his protective instinct ever present, the way it had always been since it was just the two of them.
Elara and Elias were each other's world—a family by choice, one built not on obligation but on a bond formed through love and loss.
As Elara reached the front row to meet Nova, she didn't need to compete for attention. Her presence alone was enough to captivate anyone. Her wide ocean eyes, filled with wonder and hope, caught the mascot's attention instantly. The cheerful figure in the starry costume approached her, and in an instant, she was twirled by her right hand, lifted into the air, the music swirling around her. Light and playful, the soft waltz of strings and bells seemed to be echoing through the entire circus tent.
The sound wrapped itself around Elara like a comforting blanket-soothing, familiar. It was not just music, but a feeling, a memory, a promise. The circus was always the place where time seemed to hang suspended, where joy had no end, and where she and her father could be completely happy. She laughed carefree, her heart aglow with the kind of unburdened joy that only a child can feel. The gentle twirl became a dance, a moment of pure magic under the vibrant tent, where everything outside of that fleeting moment seemed to disappear.
Elias watched her, his gaze soft and filled with quiet pride. In her, he saw his entire world—his joy, his reason for everything. He could get lost in the curve of her smile, in the sound of her laughter carried by the wind, in how she made even the most ordinary moments something special. Always, it had been them: just two souls against the world, but sometimes, at moments like these, it was enough. His love for her was endless, unsaid, yet lived in every moment he touched her with: the gentleness in his hand on hers, the tenderness in his eyes, and the swelling of his heart every time she smiled.
