Carnival Angst

It was the usual end of the year festival at Green Axes where everybody would go out of their houses to enjoy the day. I would be accompanied by my parents and siblings to the carnival. My aunt Eve wouldn’t be able to go this year because of some problems mom wouldn’t make mention in the house.

As practiced, I would be left alone in the carnival riding all I want as long as they would buy me unlimited tickets. "Don't go too far without your brother, Jean," mom said as usual. I found it very strange why my little brother wouldn’t accompany me at the carousel today. He told me he saw a nasty little boy who would taunt him. I didn’t pay attention to this until I saw the boy myself. I saw him sitting behind the operator’s table with a knife in his right hand and a rag doll on the other.

He cheerfully stabbed the doll a dozen times and stopped when he noticed me staring at him. He was about my age and I noticed my cheeks turned pink. He was handsome and was white as snow. He looked like he was born royalty. At my young age at ten, it was the first time I appreciated somebody, particularly a boy. I slowly moved closer to him when suddenly he ran away. The boys nearby laughed at me at this sight. I was confused why he ran, was it because I stared at him too much.. I found out later why.. I followed him through the dark passage of the carousel under and saw him sitting on the ground. I felt like I knew him for more than a year. I sat beside him and asked. “May I help you? You seem to be troubled by something..” For a few seconds he only sat there staring at his doll, then the next minute he looked at me with confusion on his face.

Then he began to open his mouth but no words would come out. This started to make me feel a little scared. His eyes rolled and his hand landed on my lap. It was so cold. While his head bowed, I tried to look him straight in the face and what I saw made my hair stand on end. He had no eyes and his mouth was beginning to draw blood. I couldn’t think of anything to do. My feet were stuck with horror. His grasp was getting tighter and tighter. I tried to scream but the laughter outside drowned my voice. I wished I could scream as loud as I can get but it was no help. I couldn’t contain my consciousness anymore and I saw everything turned pitch-black.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital lying down with my mother at my side. I asked her what happened and she had very teary eyes when she said’ “Your little brother found you lying beside the carousel unconscious. There was blood all over your dress but you weren’t injured. We also saw a little boy beside you. But it was a pitiful sight. He was stabbed many times and the doll he was holding was said to be a prize he won over at the carnival. He was killed by your uncle, Eve’s husband Eric, who turned lunatic and got loose from the asylum. It’s just funny why the boy still seemed to be killed just yesterday when in fact he was killed a week ago, on your birthday.” After hearing that, I nearly fainted when I remembered on my birthday the boy was actually there where he was accompanied by my uncle who was reported to have killed himself after he killed the boy, on the same day, at the same time of my party.