2 January 1895 - Padmore Park Winter Fair

Padmore Park was finally reopened, and it had seemed to have attracted a large crowd of people who were ready to see what it looked like now that the sinkhole had been filled. Delilah would be lying if she were to say that’s why she hadn’t come, although looking around, the park looked exactly how it had prior to the incident, down to the way the paths weaved and the water from the lake rolled against the shores.

Change wasn’t a terrible thing though, and Delilah herself had things she wished to effectuate now that the new year had been ushered in, such as making new friends and focusing on herself more now that Jemima was married. She loved her children more than anything but sometimes loneliness crept up on her. Well, Lila would just have to put herself out there more. It was one the reasons she was at Padmore Park for its grand reopening, watching the snow sculpture competition; Delilah didn’t have a creative bone in her body, but it was interesting to watch, at least.

Others were around her as well, curious eyes watching as they tried to determine what the shapes were going to be turned into. Lila had just started to guess that the sculpture that looked the most impressive to her might be a dragon when a sharp crack broke through the cold air; a rogue spell must have shot from one of the competitor’s wand, hitting a large pile of snow in front of them.

At first nothing happened, but then the snow thinned and spread out, creating a very slick surface just beneath the crowd’s feet. Delilah’s hands shot out to steady herself because she definitely didn’t wish to fall flat on her butt, although a second later she felt her balance wobble. On instinct she grabbed at the person next to her as her feet slipped out from beneath her – when Lila said she desired to make new friends, she certainly hadn’t meant this way.

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Philomen was naturally curious to see Padmore Park now that it had reopened, though aside from the new botanical gardens--which he'd already taken a tour of since it was the new thing==the park looked much the same to him as it had on occasions he'd visited before the summer. Though he supposed that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

He'd joined the crowd of onlookers for the sculpture competition. He didn't consider himself particularly creative, but he was as much an enjoyer of art as the next person.

He was less an enjoyer of spell mishaps, but at least he managed to hold his ground somewhat as the ground turned slick with ice beneath him. Phil thought he just needed to move very carefully--

This was, of course, the last thought he had before being knocked off his feet by the woman next to him--who he only recognized as Mrs. Warbeck as he landed half on top of her with an "Oof!" before rolling and sliding off to the side to spare them both some dignity. Such as it was.

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