Not that long ago, a carnival moved really close to my house. The entire place was just a big empty slot of grass space full of grass and some trees. My family .....has...... had that house for many generations but it was the only one in for miles. But now, with the peculiar carnival (that ......has........ also appeared overnight), it felt weird. I am not used 8 to people and I like the sound of silence. Of course there was no more of such thing as peace with the annoying music and bright lights at night. It also happened that around that time, my parents went away, just the two of them. Being alone, like really alone was enough trouble but the noise was on a way other level.

If I didn’t make haven't made myself clear until now, I was not a fan of such events. However one day, out of pure boredom, I told myself that it couldn’t be that bad to see what’s going on in that place. I arrived in the middle of the day and first thing that I saw was… Nothing. Not a soul. Not a kid to make the noises that I surely heard. Well that was strange enough to make me shiver. The silence didn’t give me a very good feeling and although I just wanted to run out of there, I kept myself in place and started to look around. Some tents were filling the place up along with some empty stands, a carousel that gave me the creeps and a giant wheel just in the centre. The stands had scribbled words like “fun”, “win”, “try your luck” and so on. The games were right there but still, I had no idea where the people were.

Out of nowhere I heard  the sound of upbeat music. Lights started flickering, blinding my eyes with bright colours from everywhere I looked.  But as I kept walking, I felt like they were leading me somewhere. I was so concentrated on the carnival that I didn’t even notice when the sky turned dark. But that couldn’t be right. I just got here and a few minutes ago it was midday. I tried blaming it on loosing losing track of time, but still, things didn’t add up. I passed one of the stands and a silhouette made me turn my head. There was a big sign written in red “The Magician” and some poorly drown drawn shapes. I got closer and I could see a young man looking right back at me. My heart skipped a bit as I didn’t expect anyone to actually be here. He just smiled at me, almost grinning. As a light touched his face, I saw one of his eyes was white as his suit and the other one a deep back alike the shadows that surrounded him. There was no speaking as he reached out his hand. I searched for some pennies in my pockets and gave it to to him everything I had. The man tilted his head, still his face a smile and rejected them. He pointed to my hand. I gave it to him and he placed a white ribbon, closed in my fist. When he opened it, a bird jumped into the sky, scarring scaring me. The man smirked and positioned a deck of cards on the table. I chose one and he made it disappear right before my eyes. I gasped ....as...... he got it out of the hat some flowers with my exact same card in them. I thanked him for the show.

I had enough magic for that night so I walked away to the carousel. Something about the plastic horses dressed up in vibrant colours made chills run down my spine. Without any warning, it powered up and started spinning. I couldn’t move my feet so I just watched as the lights and somehow unsettling song made me even more anxious than I already was. Then, after watching the empty carousel rotate on and on a couple of times, my heart jumped and I was ready to scream when a little girl appeared out of nowhere. I backed up as any sane person would. She had face paint on and she was laughing with something like cotton candy in her hand. As I wanted to turn and run for my life, her laugh turned deeper and soon I could see another man dressed in something like a parade jacket. His hair was black and greasy, covering most of his face. The man was so pale I had no idea if that was white paint on his face or not. The creepy laugh did not stop, but morphed into something that sounded like pain, almost like a howl. He looked at me with big eyes and grinned. He softly started the sentence but raised his voice suddenly.

“A surprise party? For me?” he asked and I was sure this was a nightmare. I looked around expecting to see a way out but I saw people. A crowd looking happy and enthusiastic. The man in black looked directly at me and said in the most horrifying way “You shouldn’t have”.  He flapped his hands playfully and disappeared in the shadows. Everyone cheered and I was ready to cry. I had no way out but that didn’t stop me from running around trying to escape this carnival of horrors. I didn’t even see where I was headed and I just knocked someone over. It was the girl at the carousel. She made a move with her finger to let me know not to speak. He scanned the crowd and she led me into a tent. Inside, everything I could see was my reflection. It was a mirror room. I looked around for the little girl but I knew she wasn’t there anymore. I walked deeper into the room, not caring if I lost my way. But then, of all the reflexions, I saw a black thing. It was a door but leading nowhere, just a door in the middle of an empty room. Although I knew there was no way that door could be an exit, I stepped inside. The ground disappeared from beneath my feet.

I was awoken by the sound of my name being shouted. When I opened my eyes, I could see nothing due to someone standing right in front of me. It was a guy maybe in his early 30s or even younger. He helped me get up. For some reason I was on the ground, in the grass. I wanted to say something but the guy, that who seemed utterly familiar I might mention, just looked at me with concern in his eyes and asked if I was alright. I nodded and he insisted to walk me home. We got there fast and with no words. I thanked him as I opened my front door but he stopped me.

“Hey, have you seen the carnival?” he asked.

“No”, I replied a bit unsure of what to say.

“What a shame. We are living leaving today and it is really fun in there. But till next time, here” he passes me a parade jacket “so I can recognize you in the crowd”.

I looked at his black hair that fell to his shoulders and his really pale skin. The voice I heard in my nightmare was identical to his. He waved goodbye and right as I closed the door, I heard his voice again and a chuckle.

“Next time don’t get scared. There is nothing to be afraid in there”.

To this day, when I look out to the window I ask myself if I will ever see that carnival again and I don’t know what answer scares me more: yes or no.

Last edited by galactic_traveler (2019-06-09 21:17:52)