The feast

They arrived unannounced, in the afternoon, when the light had grown thick. A man with a slow, deliberate gait. A woman with a restless stride. And a girl with skinned elbows. They sat without a word - the setting was already in place. A field of sugary oddities: everything just a little too shiny, too soft, too colorful to be real. One of them laughed suddenly, for no reason - a laugh that clung to your fingers. A glass tipped over without apology, the liquid soaking into the grass like a misplaced thought. The man lay down and stared at the sky, as if waiting for an answer. It was hot. Some wore sun-scorched faces. Others still carried glimmers of childhood on their cheeks. And all around them, the world seemed unsure: Was this a game? A memory? A ritual?