“Welcome!” the woman overseeing the bonfire said cheerily as the group of children ahead of them cleared out. “Thank you for collecting the blessings. Please deliver them one at a time, so that each blessing has the opportunity to be considered as it reaches the spirit realm.”

  Aida watched curiously as Lily handed her skewer to the woman as she stepped forward, a handful of cranes already nestled in her palm. She held the origami cranes to her heart, an uncharacteristically somber mood draping her body, before scattering the cranes into the flames. The young man tending the bonfire reached into the fire with long tongs, repositioning some of the cranes to make room for the next handful of paper.

  It took a few moments for Lily to empty her bag.

  “Am I supposed to say a prayer over the cranes? What kind of prayer?” Aida whispered to Ezra.

  “The standard protocol is to ask the spirits to acknowledge the blessings you deliver,” Ezra murmured back. “I have also heard parents encourage their children to add an additional wish of their own, as this is the best time to communicate with the spirits.”

  “What kind of wishes do they ask for? Are they personal wishes, or more generalized wishes like hoping for your family’s wellbeing?” As they eked closer and closer to the bonfire, Aida started feeling the panic of not knowing what to do settle upon her. She had been more thorough with her studies about the Fire Festival this time, so she had been able to disguise her unfamiliarity with the event pretty well, but there were still small details that weren’t covered in the books she had read.

  “It is a personal wish. You can ask for anything you want.” Ezra gave her a sad smile. “Because you can afford to be selfish as a child, but once you become an adult…”

  Aida’s brow furrowed at his explanation before she turned back to watch Vanita’s distribution of cranes. Vanita also took a brief moment to bow her head over her cranes, though she didn’t pause as she scattered all the cranes in her bag at once.

  Finally, it was Aida’s turn to step up to the bonfire. The woman smiled at her as she took Aida’s fruit-laden skewer, freeing up her hand.

  “Is it your and your friends’ last time delivering cranes?”

  “Yes.” Aida returned a quick smile before closing her eyes, a white crane in her palm. The first prayer, asking the spirits to convey the families’ requests for a good harvest was easy. But when she finally considered the second part of the wish, her throat caught.

  While standing in line, she had thought - perhaps foolishly - that she could just do a quick wish for her parents. Ask the spirits to make sure they were okay. But with the flames flickering in front of her, its warmth spreading over her, and the smell of burning paper tickling her nostrils…Lily’s proclamation that this was an important event, the culmination of “their” childhoods…Ezra’s melancholy observation about the difference between being a child and an adult…

  It’s my one and only time doing this. Can’t hurt to be a little bit selfish…

  Pinching her lips, Aida breathed out a quick prayer for her wish before dropping the cranes in her bag onto the fire.

  Stepping to the side where Vanita was waiting with Lily and Edward, Aida handed her empty paper bag to another attendant before picking a candy off of her skewer to keep her hands occupied.

  “You had a lot of wishes, huh?” Lily asked teasingly.

  “No, I was just trying to choose the most important one,” Aida said playfully. “Don’t want to overwork the spirits.” She turned back to eye the line. “It looks like it might take a while for Abedi to finish.”

  Abedi and his friend group had joined the snaking line to the bonfire. He did a good job of appearing calm and collected, but there were still some noticeable tics that displayed his nervousness: he kept glancing towards the bonfire, but avoided looking at where they were standing just beside it. His skewer was full of colorful globes, completely untouched.

  Shifting her gaze back to the fire, Aida watched Ezra’s ruminating form. Now that she had stepped far enough away from him, she couldn’t help but notice all of the attention Ezra drew to himself naturally. The adults were more reserved with their reactions, merely doing doubletakes as they took in his striking features, but the younger children behind him were extremely obvious, shuffling amongst each other to get a glimpse at the tall, silver-haired young man.

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  Ezra seemed to realize the commotion he had created, with his eyebrows gently furled in vexation as he kept his eyes closed, communing with the spirits. Fortunately, his natural intimidating aura kept even the children directly behind him from encroaching on his space; despite their fascination with him, they were all very cognizant of the invisible line Ezra drew in the sand.

  Finally, Ezra opened his eyes, the fire reflected in his silvery gaze. He gently, purposefully, lobbed the cranes in his bag into the fire, his movements so graceful it looked like he was releasing the cranes to fly free of their own volition. He stood there, staring into the fire, until all of the cranes had burned to a crisp. Despite holding up the line, none of the attendants made any move to hurry him along, waiting patiently with him. As if in solidarity.

  I wonder what he wished for. She wasn’t sure if it would be polite to ask; no one else was talking about what they wished for.

  After another moment, Ezra traded his bag for his candy skewer, slowly making his way to where Aida and the others waited for him.

  Aida patted his arm gently when he arrived, and he gave her a small, bitter smile before turning to Lily. “What’s next?”

  “Next, we wait for Abedi,” Lily said, beaming. An evil grin crossed her face as Vanita started blinking rapidly. “Or at least, that was the plan. You two can go on ahead if you want. Edward and I will wait with Vanita.”

  Aida looked uncertainly at Ezra, unsure if she should clarify the nature of her invitation. He met her gaze with equal uncertainty.

  “We can—“

  “We’ll go get some meat skewers for everyone,” Ezra interrupted. He pointed with his chin back in the direction they had come from. “The business side of the stalls are starting to get crowded.”

  “Great idea,” Edward said approvingly. “We need our strength if we want to win any of the games!”

  “Okay! Take your time,” Lily said cheerfully. “You can find us on the beach if we’re not here!”

  Aida followed Ezra back up the path, where he guided her past several of the more packed stalls to one that hadn’t yet accrued too many customers from the patrons who had just come from the bonfire.

  “At least you still have your candy,” Aida prodded Ezra gently after he placed an order for twenty skewers. He glanced at his candy stick, startled, as if he had forgotten he was still holding it.

  “Indeed,” he said, smiling briefly before he picked a fruit off of it. “The afternoon is off to a good start.”

  Aida smiled back as she ate her own candy. She sort of understood what Lily meant when she said there was a homemade quality to the candy fruit. Each piece of candy was distinct from the other ones, with varying levels of crunch, sweetness, and stickiness.

  “I fear I might have misled you about the wish at the bonfire,” Ezra said quietly, making Aida look up at him. “When I finally was faced with the prospect of presenting my wish to the spirits, I realized it was less about desiring for someone else to solve my problems for me…”

  Aida tilted her head inquisitively. He looked a bit embarrassed before he continued in a mumble. “I suppose it is more accurate to say it was a moment of reflection. To be faced with what you desire…”

  Ezra trailed off as Aida received a paper sack of skewers, and the two of them began meandering back down the road.

  “So what was your reflection?” Aida prompted, sniffing at the sack.

  The grilled meat smell wafting out of the bag made her mouth water, and she had a feeling it would taste really great paired with the sweet fruit she still had.

  “…I wished I could be carefree, like everyone else,” Ezra said softly, slowing down beside her. She slowed with him, looking at him carefully. He was staring off into the distance, but he continued speaking. “For just one day, I wished I could be normal like everyone else. Not to be burdened with my family’s expectations, or by my principles.”

  Ezra lowered his eyes, looking down at the skewer still in his hand. “I started questioning myself: why couldn’t I just set down my self-imposed burdens? I cast off my family’s expectations easily when I decided it was more important to live for—“ he hesitated, glancing at her guiltily “—I realized I couldn’t continue living for what they wanted. But why was I conflicted when presented with the option of continuing to live - with you?”

  Aida’s insides twisted uncomfortably, though the pang was less debilitating than before. “And did you come to a conclusion?”

  Ezra took a deep breath, closing his eyes and holding it, bracing himself for his admission. Aida waited patiently, before Ezra finally exhaled and looked at her with a sad smile.

  “During my moment of reflection, I realized it was in my own power to have one day of being carefree. So today, I choose to be carefree.” A brilliant smile spread across Ezra’s face, dazzling Aida and throwing her thoughts into disarray.

  You didn’t answer the question, she wanted to say - but with that beautiful smile on Ezra’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to disrupt his fantasy. I can always ask him later, she thought, bemused.

  “What kind of carefree—“ Aida started before Ezra grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the crowd back down to the beach.

  “As Lily said, this is our last day where we can allow ourselves to be children,” Ezra said over his shoulder. “I intend to take full advantage of that.”