By: Hannah Yang
The sounds of children screaming emitted from the rollercoaster ride above. People bustled about, trampling popcorn that got spilled on the ground. I watched from the sideline, not joining. Not that I didn’t want to–I couldn’t. I was forced to stay in a carnival stand. Putting on my most annoyed expression to repel any unwanted visitors, I spaced out into the distance.
“Excuse me?” a voice asked.
“Mhm,” I replied, half-listening.
“Uh-sorry, the game? My son would like to play if that’s okay”
“Oh, right”
I forced my eyes to refocus and saw a middle-aged, balding man and a 10-ish boy. The man handed me the money and I handed the child two rings.
“Toss it around the duck’s neck,” I explained.
The boy missed the first ring, but the second ring snagged around a duck’s neck.
“Good job buddy!” the dad said, high-fiving his son enthusiastically, “What prize do you want?”
“That one!” he replied, beaming.
“I’m sorry but there won’t be a prize,” I said, smiling sweetly.
“Why not?” the dad demanded, “He got the ring around a duck’s neck.”
“Yes, but he crossed the line,” I said, smirking, pointing at a line drawn with white chalk.
The boy looked down and immediately retracted the foot that had gone over the line.
“You didn’t tell us that before the game started,” he said.
“Rules are rules,” I replied, shrugging, “His foot went over the line”
“Look, just maybe you can give him that narwhale plushie, he really wants it”
“No can do,” I said, feigning sympathy.
“That’s so unfair!” protested the kid.
“Life’s unfair,” I replied.
The dad shot one last look at me before taking the kid’s hand and walking off.
“Thanks for playing!”
I looked away from their retreating figures and my eye caught something on the ground. It was a little plushie doll, with brunette hair just like mine and a little dot for eyes. It must have fallen down or something. I picked it up and hung it along with its sisters on the wall.
“That wasn’t really nice of you, Delilah” Marcus called from the stand next to mine.
“Too bad.”
“You might want to turn around,” he said, smiling.
I turned and saw ‘Mr. Manager’ standing behind me with an annoyed expression.
“Yes?” I asked.
“I received another complaint,” he said, “from a very upset father and his son–does that ring any bells?”
“They broke the rules,” I said, picking up a ring from the floor and spinning it around my fingers.
“What’s the harm in giving a kid a small prize?”
“That’s not how life works”
“This is literally a carnival, at least try to spread joy and learn how to be kind”
“Oh give me a break, it’s my last day here anyway”
“Right,” Mr. Manager said.
“So–I’ll be needing my final pay, girls gotta eat,” I said, shooting a smirk at Marcus when he chuckled.
“Of course,” Mr. Manager replied, “Come see me after you’ve closed up”
Mr. Manager walked away, blending into the crowd immediately.
I sighed, dragging the back of my hand across my sweaty forehead.
“I can’t wait to never come back here,” I muttered.
The rest of the day was spent casually flirting with Marcus and ruining a few more people’s day. It was my last day—I deserved to have a bit of power didn’t I? 9 PM finally came and I made my way through the abandoned carnival. All the rides were powered off, but a few lights still remained. Arriving at the manager’s office, I knocked. No response. I knocked once more. Still no response. I tugged on the door handle and it didn’t bung.
“You have to give me my money!” I said loudly, “I worked pretty dang hard for it”
Still no response. I sighed and turned away from the door, only walking a few steps before I heard a door slam behind me, giving me a mini heart attack. What the frick… I turned and saw a white envelope in front of the door. I sprinted toward it, snatched it up, and retreated quickly. I opened it, smiling at the wads of cash inside.
“Thank you,” I said to no one in particular and made my way to the exit of the carnival.
I walked past some water gun clowns, and watched in surprise as their heads followed me. Must be a malfunction or something. As I was walking through the carnival, I felt like someone was watching me.
You’re not in some young adult horror novel…there’s no reason to be scared. I was finally approaching the white chalk line that marked the exit of the carnival.
“Help me!”
I whirled around and saw the young boy from earlier today again.
“You again? Where’s your dad?”
“I don’t know—can you help me”
“Sorry kid, but I’m going home. And technically I don’t even work here anymore”
The kid looked away. Something apparently caught his eye, because he ran towards the cornfield maze screaming ‘DAD’. I groaned. I guess I do have to follow this kid. Maybe this is the ‘kindness’ Mr. Manager was talking about. I ran after the child.
“I’m never having kids,” I muttered and entered the maze.
The maze was dark and extremely creepy. I’m already beginning to regret this…
“Kid!” I called out, hoping to hear a response.
Silence.
I blundered about for about half an hour, bumping into corn stalks, getting lost at dead ends, and trying to retrace my steps. Suddenly, I stumbled into a small area. I saw a figure up ahead and could barely make out…Mr. fricking Manager. The heck is he doing here…
“Um–there’s a kid stuck in the maze–he’s lost so can you deal with it?”
“You forget, every time Delilah, it’s amazing”
I had no idea what he was blundering about. Maybe he has dementia or something.
“Erm I just really want to go home and erase this place from my memory”
“That’s a shame–anyone can find happiness in everything. But you just see disappointment and you spread it”
“I don’t know what you’re on, but I just really really want to go home” I replied, getting frustrated. Dang, what is this man’s problem? Who the heck does he think he is? My non-existent therapist?
“Can you at least try to help the kid too?”
“I’m done helping. Besides, I got my cash now so I can go”
“Very well. Keep taking left turns to get out of this maze”
“Ok”
I turned, very creeped out about the longest conversation I and Mr. Manager had ever shared. Maybe he’s losing it working here every single day. Following his instructions, I turned left every single time and eventually made it out of the maze in ten minutes or so. Suddenly, I saw something following me. My flight and fight instinct kicked in, and I bolted from the maze. The water gun clowns started laughing and spraying water at me. I ran and looked up, seeing the Ferris wheel turn. I stopped and squinted. Was that me standing there? I must be hallucinating…must be the carnival food.
I was just about to cross the white line but then… I turned hearing a noise. I stared, horrified at the army of doppelgangers, with Mr. Manager leading them. I screamed ran across the line and… became a doll at the same one at the stand I used to work in. Mr. Manager stepped across the white line and picked me up.
“Delilah, you never learn…”
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
The sounds of children screaming emitted from the rollercoaster ride above. People bustled about, trampling popcorn that got spilled on the ground. I watched all of this from the sideline, not joining. Not that I didn’t want to–I couldn’t. I was forced to stay in a carnival stand. Putting on my most annoyed expression to repel any unwanted visitors, I spaced out into the distance. My eye caught a flash of brown on the ground. It was a little plushie doll, with brunette hair just like mine and a little dot for eyes. It must have fallen down or something. I picked it up and hung it along with its sisters on the wall.
Image Credit by Stas Knop