Don’t put on the hat

This particular story was an assignment meant to show the same scene but from two different points of view. So I will do one this week and one next!

This week, First person

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I bounded to the sidewalk, not waiting for Grandpa as he walked down the stairs off the bus. I couldn’t believe I was here in the city – my first big girl adventure! I looked around, taking it all in and eager to know what was next. That’s when I saw him: the juggler.

“Grandpa, can we go watch?”

“Sure.”

Grandpa took my hand and we walked to the corner, nudging our way through the small crowd so we could see. The juggler was throwing knives in the air, around his shoulders, under his legs. The crowd gasped with every near miss. Finally, with a flourish, he snatched all the knives out of the air and took a bow.

That’s when I noticed his hat. I’d never seen anything like it, tall and wide, bright blue with a red bow and a feather, no… two feathers. His hat fell off as he bowed and rolled down the street towards me. I was vaguely aware of the juggler walking around, shaking hands and gathering money, but my eyes were on that hat. I walked up to it, away from Grandpa who was talking to the juggler, bent over and picked it up.

“No!” I heard a shout. Not thinking it was aimed at me, I put it on my head.

“No don’t put it on!” The shout came closer.

“Nooooooo!” I looked up as the shout came from right next to my ear and then began to fade, as if the shouter was in a car moving quickly away.

Everything went dark and suddenly I was falling. I seemed to fall forever until whump! I hit the ground. It was still dark, but then I remembered my eyes were closed. I was lying on something soft that smelled like wet grass. I opened my eyes and looked up to trees stretching high above me. No street corner, no juggler, no Grandpa. Only me and this stupid hat on my head. I didn’t know if I was somewhere in the past, the future, or another world. The only thing I knew for sure is that I was alone.