The Ferris wheel

The Ferris wheel dominated, rising above the merrygo-round, the octopus, the dodgems, the food stalls and the haunted house. It had a stately rotation and people looked up to it. Without questioning the impulse, Theo went and stood in the queue at the ticket booth. It took quite a time for people to disembark, chair after chair descending. Even longer to fill again.

Theo’s random companion was an elderly man in a Harris-tweed jacket and dark suit trousers, both patently outdated. His face was narrow, lined, his soft, grey hair like rabbit fur. He smiled at Theo as he got in and they sat silently together, rising higher, jolt by jolt.