The Carnival - A short Story

“ I need to smoke a cigarette”
“Fa sho” I replied.

​

Sean and I start to look for a place where he can smoke his cigarette in peace. We come up to this old motel, we open the gate and walk up the stairs. Seems like a chill spot, I don't see anyone around. He sparks his Camel Filter and takes a few drags. We start to hear some clanking and the gate starts to open. Upon turning around we discover a cleaning lady coming through the gate so we quickly bolt down the other set of stairs and out the gate.

“Fuck man, can't smoke a cigarette anywhere in this town.”
“We can go straight and take the next left.”
“As long as I can smoke my cig I don't give a shit where we go”

​

We cross the intersection and make the first left onto this old street. No car has seen this street in ages, it has been taken over by grass and other small shrubs. Trees line the sides of the road. On our left is a fence which seems to run the length of the road and a parking lot. Still overgrown with grass yet the asphalt still partially visible through its layers of foliage. We start to walk through the parking lot, some weird giant objects are scattered about in the distance, curious we begin to walk farther through the parking lot towards them.
​

“Hey remember when I first met you?” I asked to spark conversation
“Yea man, I had just got my mac book from my parents. I was drinking a beer and asked if you wanted one you said no, like a square.”
“That was a big ass laptop man.”
Suddenly a rumble emerges from behind us we whip around to find a giant bus coming our way. Sean grabs my sleeve and yanks me to the side and says “ we gatta leave man, we're not suppose to be here”
Normally my curiosity would override that fear, but I agreed we should leave. As we are leaving through the gate another enormous truck runs by carrying a carnival tent of many different colors. The bus and truck drive off to the other end of the parking lot until we can no longer see them.


Sean takes out another cigarette and begins to smoke it. He grabs a log laying on the ground moves it and sits down. “We should keep going down this road, see whats at the other end.” I stated.
We get up and start to make our way to the end of the road. As we approach the end a building arises, it looks to be abandoned. The perfect spot to hang out and explore. It looks like an old race horse track or even a place where rodeos use to be held. We look around a bit but there isn't much besides old rusted gates, cracked concrete and warehouse style buildings we turn to leave. At that instant people start to appear in the distant parts of the race track, some walking others even riding in on horses. This has us both a bit bewildered “Where the fuck are all these people coming from?” we both said almost simultaneously. “ Fuck it lets leave, I thought this place was abandoned” Sean murmured with an uneasy weakness in his voice.
We turn around to be greeted by a black man sitting in an office chair at his desk. When we first entered the building there was no one inside and definitely no office. The room was littered with signs that read “Ask 0 questions” “Don't be later than 0” The man directed his attention towards us and asked “Do you want a job?” My first response to a question like that is always “ What do I have to do?”
“Don't ask questions!” He quickly tongued. I thought the question was harmless, but he seemed to think different. I thought it might have been a the question I asked which had angered him so I proceeded to ask another “What is this place? Or what was it? Some kind of race horse track?” The man looks at me with a violent temper in his eyes “ You ask too many questions!” he spouted. He gets on the phone and starts talking to someone “ He is too nosey, he wants to know too much.” I can only hear one side of the conversation so I try to make sense of it and image the other side. “Ya? Put him through? Okay.” *click* He rests the phone back down on the receiver and says “come with me.”


He brings me into a room with many beautiful women in it, all dancing about in lingerie
“ Pick any ones you want.” he announced.
“Uh...W-w-what do you mean?” I stuttered.
“ Have sex with as many as you want, they are all here for you.” and with that last statement he left the room. Now it was just me in a room with fifty plus half naked woman at my disposal. I walked up to the first woman I was attracted to. A blonde haired blue eyed woman that stood 5'4 with an ass you could grab and hold onto and tits to match. “ Hey what is your name?” and before I could let loose my last syllable she was completely naked on the ground ready to please me. “Damn easier than I thought “ I muttered to myself. We fucked and this process continued with countless women until I was exhausted from all the carnal knowledge I had gained. The door creaked open. I know it had been a while, but in relativity it seemed to have only lasted minutes.
“You're done here, lets go!” The man shouted from the door. I got up, made my way to the door and exited the room.


He brought me to a new room with a man sitting alone inside with his hand clasped over his mouth. He opened the door and pushed me inside “help him” he lipped and closed the door behind me. The man removed his hand from his mouth to unveil what looked to be chapped lips, but the most severe case you have ever seen. His lips were split open, almost apart in many places, riddled with cuts, scars and discoloration. I was instructed by him to use the chapstick on the table to soothe his ailment. Almost instantaneously his lips began to regenerate. They continued to regenerate until they looked as though they had never seen a single wound. As quickly as they regenerated the door rattled open. He hissed from the doorway “ Now cut them, make him suffer.”
“What? No! What the fuck? I just healed him!” I resounded.
“Do it!” he screeched and the door slammed shut.

I paced back and fourth a bit, examining the situation in my head. I can't do this I thought to myself. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! What do I do? I looked down at the man still sitting there in his chair. He stared back at me stoic and his emotion unwavering, not a smile nor a frown adorned his face only an empty gaze. “I can't do it. Fuck it I'm out of here.” I cried out. I ran for the door and bolted out of the room. Doors raced by on all sides of me – all presumably filled with other tasks - but my eyes stayed focused on the main doorway at the end of the hall. I hear a clamor behind me, the rhythmic sound of foot steps echo through the halls, but they are not my own. I swing my head to look behind me; the man I had just helped is now chasing me blood spewing from his mouth. My heart begins to race and I increase my gait. The main door is fast approaching I am almost free! I reach for the handle twist it and slip half way through when suddenly the door slams against my frame. Blood saturates the back of my head. I look back and the man continues to spit blood all over me. I slip through the door to the outside as he continues to chase me. I make it no more than twenty feet from the door when the man tackles me to the ground.

I look up at him as he sits atop of me in half guard - my life is over he has caught me. Blood continues to spill down his face and out of his mouth, but less profusely. I start to go into a hyper meditative state and think peaceful thoughts. I look the man right in the eyes and exclaim“ Why? Who are you?” Instantly the blood stops, his face regains the life it once had it is no longer frail and boney.
“A lost soul here to warn you” the man expressed. He starts to review my day here at the carnival. “Do you remember all those women you had sex with?”
“Yes” I reluctantly reply.
“That was a test. They all appear as beautiful women, but they are lost souls. They came here and tried the test, but never passed. Now they are simply apart of it. They appear beautiful because He makes them so. It is also in your mind, you envision what you want to see. You made those women beautiful. The truth is they are as disgusting looking as I, but even now you envision me much more beautiful than I truly am. Some of them are even men, the mind is powerful.” I lay there not in distress, but in complete mental collapse. The man continues “You need to leave before you get trapped. There is not much more explaining I can do. That is the nature of this game. Curiosity draws you in the unknown keeps you playing. That is the reason for the “Ask 0 questions” and “Don't be later than 0” signs you see everywhere. If they think you are starting to ask too many questions it is time for a new challenge. One that will ultimately trap you. It may not be this one, but the thought of what waits in the next room keeps many people playing.” As I try to process all of this information the man delivers his final words “ You must be able to leave now, no questions asked, no looking back because any sign of curiosity will draw you back in. Your mind will be at unease from questions unanswered, but your soul intact from games never played...” And like that the man got up walked back through the door and left me.

I got up dusted myself off and started my jaunt back through the forest. Familiar figures began to take shape, trees emerged on all sides of me. The ground littered with grass once more. There was Sean off in the distance smoking a cigarette on the log where we last were before I started playing this game. I thought to myself I wonder if the carnival is still there? I had the urge to look back and check. I take a half step and begin to turn around, but then I catch myself - Fuck it....

I leave the forest never having looked back. I never did find out if the carnival was still there, but for some reason I am okay with that.








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I hope you enjoyed the story, this was actually a dream I had today. I woke up this morning, and just began to write it down.

 

Thanks guys! I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a semi lucid dream, everything felt real, but I had no control over the direction of the dream. Scary at the time, but very fun when you wake up knowing you had just lived another life.