When Melanie goes to a funfair, all she really expects is to have fun, get sticky with candyfloss, and maybe make some friends. Why must a girl so lonely have to be chosen for the worst things? Or is it her loneliness that makes her stand out? Is sh...
The lights danced around Melanie as she passed under the big sign which spelled out the word, "Funfair" in big red and yellow lights bulbs. She clapped her small hands in delight as the wonderous smells of popcorn and candyfloss surrounded her. How beautiful everything was, families in beautiful clothing, holding their dearest childrens hands, pointing to all the different rides and amusements.
How she wished she had a family like that. Luckily the change in her hand which she had spent a month searching through parks and general public places could give her anything a parent would buy for their child. She pulled her pretty little yellow dress with red cherries a bit lower, so they only just covered her knees, twirled her pretty pink hair around her forefinger, stoop on the tip of her toes in excitement before skipping through the heavenly arrangement of delights and horrors.
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As she neared a beautiful carousel, the painting on it gold and red in colour, with the horses being so detailed and perfect that it made her just want to stroke their plastic manes and stare into their glossy eyes, a tall man with a white mask which had thick black eyebrows and moustache nodded his head to her, taking off his top hat in the process.
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He presented her one hand in a pristine white glove, which she happily took as he helped her onto a beautiful horse named Beth Anne. It's coat a beautiful snow white, and it's mane a dark midnight black, with blue flowers in it. The saddle cloth looked like it could have been silk, if it were real, with pale pink flowers embroidering it's pale blue glow, similar to the colour of the flowers in its mane.
As the music began, it was different to usual music one heard when on a carousel.
It sounded a bit like a harpsichord, and it had a eerie repeated melody, which was why Melanie always came back here. Although this looked like a traditional funfair, it always had something different about it, something that sent shivers up Melanie's spine, and made her eyes widen in excitement.
The ride slowly began to turn, other children around her squealing loudly. She blocked them out and looked out into the night. She hugged the golden pole in front of her and closed her eyes, breathing in the night air and embracing the music. The carousel sped up and she turned her face upwards to see the beautiful illustrations which covered top of the it, which showed little girls being followed by talk dark men, blood dripping from apples, and many more things that you would expect a little girl like Melanie would to be repulsed by, but she just giggled and took it all in. How wondrous this was, like her very own wonderland, the horse racing around her, Melanie being the centre point of it all, and she loved it.
Soon, too soon it was over.
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The lights dimmed to pitch black, and the little kids started to fearfully mutter, the noise getting louder and louder. Just as quickly as the lights had disappeared, they had reappeared, and beside her was the man who had helped her on, his hand outstretched to her in his bright white gloves, his face unreadable behind the mask.
Although he had been kindly before, the way he had so quickly appeared, without showing any kind of, human like responses that one would usually feel if they had ran into a position so hastily, made Melanie feel suspicious of him, but not at all afraid. His chest did not move up and down, his face stayed perfectly still, his eyes masked by the shadows of the mask.
She looked at the hand thoughtfully. What would happen if she took the glove off? Would he shout at her, hit her, as her daddy had done when she had touched the pretty jewels he kept under his bed in a small wooden box? She looked around her, and saw children disembarking the ride, although she could not see any adults. They seemed to be being lifted by something invisible to her, their bodies floating in mid-air for a few moments, and set down, where they ran off to their mamas and papas, and grabbed their hands, laughing happily. She looked back down at the man in front of her. His body was held in the exact same way as it had been a few moments before.
She blinked.
His head suddenly cocked to the side, like a silent question.
She could almost hear his voice in her head:
"Will you take my hand, my dear?" the voice said, scratchy and not at all human-like. She grinned in delight at the strangeness of it all. She took his hand, and he lifted her off the carousel, and placed her gently on the ground. She turned to thank him, but in another blink of an eye, he was gone. Melanie giggled in delight of how funny it all seemed.
She wandered off into the darkness, looking for more.
