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A small town on the outskirts of everything. Her mother comes home smiling brightly with a flyer in her hands.
A carnival.
She’s never been to a carnival before.
A traveling carnival, her big sister says, the only fun thing to happen in this town in years.
It's summer vacation after her first year of school. It was hot outside, so her mother had made her wear shorts. She would usually be eating lunches of peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks by now, but instead, she gorges on hotdogs and churros.
The place had looked perfect as they had pulled up to the once grassy lot in their family van; it was like something out of a movie. It sparkled and drew her in, demanding she have fun within its chain-link gates. Different coloured lights dance and flash from all around them, she has to squint when she looks at all the wondrous attractions strewn about. There’s knife throwing and jesters all around entertaining the passerby, games with fantastic prizes and coasters that went high into the clouds.
She liked the clowns.
The intoxicating aroma of sweets infects her nose and makes her mouth water at the scent alone. Her father bought her cotton candy, it's sweet as it melts on her tongue. It isn't enough.
The little girl wanders throughout the lit carnival, lights and displays surround her on all sides. Laughter and screams of unbridled joy permeate the air, but are pushed aside to her mild worry. He grips the pink cotton candy tightly in her small hands.
She’s lost her parents.
She regrets letting her mother talk her into wearing the shorts, they now allow goosebumps to crawl up her bare legs as the daylight is sucked out of the sky and the temperature drops. As the light in the sky fades, the carnival grows brighter, and more inviting, begging them all to stay; they are safe there in the light of the carnival.
The hay walkways are crowded with laughing people. Not one looks down as they bump and push her. They seem too entranced in their own fun to pay any mind to a lost, wandering little girl.
It's a joyous sight, every single person is laughing and having such fun, but she stands alone.
Where did they go?
A clown is standing alone as well, watching her.
She watches back.
He starts to make his way over to her, swinging his arms high into the air and taking long, exaggerated steps. He flows through the crowd undisturbed. She feels as if she should be laughing at the show the jester is displaying, so she does. When her childish giggles reach his ears, he smiles, satisfied.
He leaves the slow cartoonish steps behind and changes to rapid tiptoe-like steps, stopping directly in front of her. He grins wide, the crimson paint around his lips peeling and flaking down to decorate her cotton candy. He reaches out a gloved hand to pat her head before spinning on his heel and once again weaving through the crowd like it wasn't there at all.
He beckons her forward to a small alcove that had gone previously unseen, away from all the lights and festivities.
He asks her if she’s hungry. She isn't, but she says yes, anyway. He smells of jellybeans and lemons, the scent takes control of her mouth and agrees for her, making her crave something she doesn't want. He leads her further into the ever-growing darkness. She looks back, knowing her little brother would be jealous of her secret sweet when she returns.
She drops her cotton candy; she’s not going to finish it, anyway.