Carnival Stories

She flipped the mask around to the back of her head. It looked like she had her face on backward as she led him by the hand up a little cobbled lane built in a century of donkeys and carts. Burnt russet hair flowed around the edges of the mask, falling over her shoulder blades as he trailed her, gripping her hand as her lithe arm extended straight back. He was sorely tempted to stop short and force her to turn so he could...

“This is crazy, I’m not going,” Marie said to her own reflection for the tenth time in an hour. Her hazel eyes were shining a little too bright and her cheeks were a little too flushed. Then there was the matter of the stupid grin that seemed to be permanently planted on her face since yesterday. She clamped her hand to her mouth as the most recent giggle slipped through her lips. “What in the world is wrong with me?” she...

I never imagined working at a carnie, joining the ranks of society’s oddballs: the clowns, the “mystics”, the giants and dwarfs, and the creepy redheaded puppeteer twins. But here I am, looking ridiculous in a straw fedora, a big red bow tie, and old-timey suspenders; a vision cut from the 50s, celebrating the end of summer, fireworks painting the midnight sky with thunderous bursts of colorful light. Your strange steam p...

We went to the late movie and were headed off to your place;(so you thought). "Where are you going?" you asked as I turned off to a side road. "It's a surprise," I replied. After a few minutes I pulled into a dirt parking lot, next to a large, darkened Carnival. "They're closed, Steve. It's too late at night." "You just wait here. I'll be right back." You watched me from the car conversing with two large men in security u...

It was a dark place in my life. I had absolutely nothing to do, nowhere to go, no job, no friends. I needed to get out of my house because my parents were fighting as usual. Yes I know what you're thinking. "Why don't you move out instead of complaining about how you hate living with your parents?" Well easier said than done. It is not exactly easy to just find a steady job and actually make enough money to afford my own...