Holding the candle, Pan was trembling slightly.
He saw serious and focused expressions on the faces of everyone around him, including Peter Barry.
He followed the others and walked into the small room on the rooftop.
After placing the candle in the center of the room, Pan began to look around.
It was a small room, but it was enough to accommodate the seven of them.
Various posters, newspaper clippings, and magazine photos were neatly pasted on the wall. Pan began to browse the contents on the wall in amazement.
His eyes were first attracted by a photo of a "Ferris wheel."
He stared blankly at the huge wheel carrying the carriage, imagining its slow rotation.
"That was the Ferris wheel displayed at the Gregorian World's Fair in 1893..."
Pan turned to look at Holly Carter who was speaking. She was wearing braids today, obviously becoming more cheerful, and she also set her sights on the Ferris wheel.
Pan continued to look at the various newspaper clippings posted on the wall.
There are gorgeous fountains, the most luxurious carousel, and the clown haunted house that has people queuing up...
"These..." Pan's eyes sparkled, "What are they?"
“This,” Holly pointed at the clippings about the rides, “is the amusement park that Peter and we envisioned—
“We dream of becoming big shots in the future, with enough money and power to transform downtown.
"This amusement park, where children can play for free, is one of the renovation projects."
Being able to put so many interesting things together and allowing children to play for free... Pan was obsessed with it.
"Don't just immerse yourself in the 'amusement park'." Peter seemed to find Pan staring at the newspaper clippings in an area. He patted Pan on the shoulder and pointed to the wall next to it - there was more information posted there.
Skyscrapers inlaid with glass, automatic toasting machines, streamlined fuel vehicles...
Peter put his hand on Pan's shoulder, and Pan looked around numbly at the photos and drawings.
Looking at Pan's stunned expression, Peter smiled: "Pan, do you know what this means?"
Pan turned his head to look at Peter in astonishment, and Pan shook his head.
Peter Barry said patiently: "This is our dream."
Looking at Pan, who still had some confusion in his eyes, Peter continued: "Pan, you know, many people's dreams belong only to themselves. For example, becoming a rich man or a big star, dreaming of moving out of Lower City and living in Long Island District, Have your own villa and even a motorboat...
"I think these dreams are too small."
"Too small?" For Pan, who only had a dream to have a full meal, he didn't know how these dreams were "too small".
"Yes," Peter Barry nodded, "too small.
“They can only pretend to be themselves.
“If you think about it, even if they escaped downtown and lived the high life…
“Nothing has changed in the world.
"There are still people who die from pneumonia because of the cold, and there are still children who are stabbed to death by their peers trying to grab cans on the street...
"That's not a dream, that's an escape plan."
Peter paused, his eyes seeming to look into the distance.
“And I think differently.
“I wanted change, not escape.
“I want to lead everyone together to change the environment we live in.
“Not just yourself, let more people live in happiness.
"Among them..." Peter smiled like a wise adult and pointed at Pan, "including you."
Change your environment?
Let everyone live in happiness?
This was the first time Pan heard someone make such a wish.
Peter's speech shocked him more than imagining the playground that didn't exist yet.
"So..." Next to her, Holly joined the conversation again, "You know the purpose of our coming here, right?
“Peter’s dream is our dream.
"Our small family is not here to monopolize the newspaper selling business on any street...
“It’s about having enough power one day to build downtown into a beautiful place.”
In the candlelight, the partners showed tacit smiles.
Although Peter's dream was to transform the entire downtown area, Pan's focus was mainly on the playground.
He pointed to the blank space in the middle of the "park plan" depicting a Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round and asked, "Why is this place empty?"
Foley looked at the blank space, shrugged and said: "Peter believes that something particularly eye-catching should be placed in the center of the playground...
"It must be able to hold down the entire paradise."
"We haven't figured out what it is exactly yet."
"Isn't it even possible with a Ferris wheel?"
"Not even a Ferris wheel." Foley replied absentmindedly, wanting to return to the topic he and Mike had just started.
Pan fell into silence for a moment, and his friends began to talk about their own things.
They didn't notice that Pan's soul seemed to be flying to the sky - he was flying in the playground of his imagination...
Suddenly, Pan saw the thing in the center.
That's a castle.
He couldn't remember where he had seen such a castle before, he just thought it was a long, long time ago.
"How's the castle?"
Just a gentle word stopped the conversation around him.
Everyone, including Peter, turned their attention to Pan.
castle?
Building a grand castle in the center of an amusement park?
Everyone looked at Pan with surprised eyes.
"This is a great idea!" Peter was obviously excited. "No one doesn't like castles!"
The friends opened their eyes wide and nodded one after another, and began to discuss which magazine or book to find suitable pictures of the castle...
For the first time, what I said was unanimously recognized by people.
He even got recognition from the people he cared about most.
Pan's little face turned red.
The candle was still burning quietly, slightly warming the secret corner of the closed room.
The friends discussed in low voices about the future of the lower city, bursts of laughter from time to time.
At this moment, the whistles of correctional officers, the singing of drunkards, the frightening sounds of wild cats kicking over trash cans, and the yelling and cursing coming from unknown places, which are unique to Xiacheng District, interweave into a not-so-sounding piece of music in the sky above this urban area.
However, this small room temporarily blocked the music,
No one knows that there are seven teenagers here, talking about the bright future that belongs to everyone here.
It can be said that it was the happiest time both in Pan's heart and in the hearts of Mike and others.
That rooftop also left beautiful memories for more than one night.
Summer is here in a blink of an eye. Each of them held a bottle of soda and sat on the edge of the rooftop, looking at the blue sky above them and discussing what the clouds in the distance were changing into.
A buzzer suddenly sounded, and they saw a plane with three propellers flying across the sky.
Peter Barry stood up suddenly and ran forward after the plane that had just taken off, until he reached the edge of the rooftop and had no choice but to stop.
“Guys!” he blushed—it was rare to see him so excited, “that’s a new passenger plane from Transcontinental Airlines (TAT)!
"New Testament to St. Los!" (Note 1)
The plane climbed rapidly, and Peter stared at it so intently that he seemed to mutter to himself: "That's my Ford tri-engine!"
Peter didn't mean that by actually owning a Ford tri-engine airplane.
Everyone knows that Peter has an obsession with airplanes that is far beyond ordinary people——
He carved a Ford tri-engine airplane out of wood. Everyone knew that it was his greatest treasure. He kept it on his desk and played with it several times a day.
At that time, Pan was still sitting on the edge of the rooftop, with the sour and sweet taste of soda in his mouth, surrounded by his companions who were either lost in thought or whispering.
He turned his head and looked at Peter's back, which was watching the plane in the distance turn into a black spot in the sky...
He suddenly felt that the dark night that "did not dawn" seemed to be dawning.
He wanted this moment to last forever.
——
Note 1: This flight was launched in 1929 in our world line. In the modern world line, due to the progressive movement of "Saint Andre", the opening date has been advanced by more than ten years. Generally speaking, the social and technological development in the story is slightly earlier than reality.
