The Traveling Carnival
As I step out on to the grass of the midway, thousands of sights, sounds, and smells assault my senses. I see an old man tossing a ball at empty milk jars. He knocks them down and hands the prize to his wife next to him, like they were back on their first date all these years later. I smell the food from the food stalls, a salty-sweet combination of popcorn, caramel apples, and countless deep-fried foods on sticks. I hear the laughter of children, the shouts of the carnies coercing customers into their stalls, and the whir of the rides on the grass farther down the track. Above me, lights are strewn between the stalls on either side of the main aisle, creating a sea of twinkling lights that can almost put the stars to shame.
Walking down the midway, everything looks as if it's sparkling, despite the carnival's general shabbiness. Stopping only to buy some cotton candy, I continue down the aisle. I pass by the fortune-teller's booth, laughing at the thought that anyone could head her warnings for the future in such an enchanting atmosphere. All problems seem to disappear here.
As I step out on to the grass of the midway, thousands of sights, sounds, and smells assault my senses. I see an old man tossing a ball at empty milk jars. He knocks them down and hands the prize to his wife next to him, like they were back on their first date all these years later. I smell the food from the food stalls, a salty-sweet combination of popcorn, caramel apples, and countless deep-fried foods on sticks. I hear the laughter of children, the shouts of the carnies coercing customers into their stalls, and the whir of the rides on the grass farther down the track. Above me, lights are strewn between the stalls on either side of the main aisle, creating a sea of twinkling lights that can almost put the stars to shame.
Walking down the midway, everything looks as if it's sparkling, despite the carnival's general shabbiness. Stopping only to buy some cotton candy, I continue down the aisle. I pass by the fortune-teller's booth, laughing at the thought that anyone could head her warnings for the future in such an enchanting atmosphere. All problems seem to disappear here.
To my right a bird trainer releases a dove. I watch as it soars above our heads, it's wings a dazzling white in the glow of the million tiny lights above it. Across from him a magician performs tricks for a group of small children and their parents. The children are enthralled with each new trick, and, though they try to hide it, the adults are dazzled as well.
I watch the whimsy going on all around me and take in the simple, relaxed happiness on all the faces present.
In the distance I hear the delicate chimes of a music box, it's notes the perfect soundtrack to the scene around me. The music grows louder and I am jolted out of my fantasy and back to my room where I hold the music box gently in my hands. As the song finishes I grab my book bag and head outside into the rain. As I walk along the rain falls down on my head, but I'm not there to feel it. The wind blows past, but I can't hear it over the music and laughter of the carnival in my dreams.
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