Rowan had been mulling on the prospect of visiting the Chinese New Year festival for the past few days. It seemed like it might be a nice distraction from the confusion of the recent…events she’d experienced. Besides, it had been too long since she spent time with either of her sisters so it was a special treat that Willow was available to accompany her this evening. As she got out of her car, she spent several seconds scanning the crowd for her older sister. Finally Rowan spotted her bouncing honey brown curls among the throng of people and waved her over.

Willow was the tallest of the three sisters, easily a head taller than Rowan’s petite stature. With her freckled face and mischievous green eyes, it was not difficult to mistake her for someone significantly younger than her twenty-five years. “Hey Rowan!” The young woman’s voice rang out easily over the din of the revelers as she gave a high, dramatic wave.
Rowan trotted over toward her. Dressed in a pale pink dress over a pair of light grey lined stockings and pale yellow pumps adorned with small bows just above her heels, she felt slightly self-conscious among the crowds. She had made certain the night before that her nails were just the right shade to match her shoes. “Hey,” Rowan pulled her sister into a much-needed hug, I’m glad you were able to come!
“I should be saying that to you! Where have you been hiding the past few weeks? Rowan knew that Willow meant that playfully, and almost certainly believed that she’d been busy with work and school, but it was still difficult to keep her mouth shut about her entire situation. Still, she’d come here for a break from all that. “Well, you know how a final semester is,” she shrugged, hoping that was enough to curtail any further questioning on the subject.

As often as she’d debated telling her family about Tempesti, the cons always outweighed the pros. “I definitely do, and you definitely look like you could use some actual food. Have you been doing the ‘only salads’ thing again?” Willow looked her over searchingly, she hadn’t been eating particularly well. Mostly energy bars and salads, as Willow suspected. It was a long-held habit when she was under stress and apparently it showed. “I don’t care how busy you are, you need to eat actual food sometimes. C’mon.”

Before Rowan could protest, Willow looped her arm in hers and made a beeline for the food vendors. “I read that this dumpling truck is amazing,” The brunette gestured in the direction of a bright red food truck emblazoned with the name “Humpty Dumplings” and featuring an anthropomorphic dumpling with a broad smile and no qualms about selling its kind for human consumption.

Rowan scrutinized the menu as they approached, “Y’know, they’ve got a sampler plate.” Willow’s voice interrupted her indecision. “We could get a couple a those if you want. We could trade the ones we don’t like.” Rowan nodded in agreement. That was a good plan, most of her difficulty deciding stemmed from a desire to try several different items.

“OK, I’ve got this one tonight.” She ignored her sister’s protests as she ordered two of the sampler plates and a small pile of the sweet sesame balls she knew Willow enjoyed, paying with most of the tips she’d earned over the weekend.

As the crowds subsided, Rowan noticed a raccoon darting between two of the trucks, a dumpling held firmly in its mouth.

It was good to get out.