Maree

     I don’t remember any prior events of today. But what I do starts with me driving down the highway in my green Chevy Pickup truck. ‘COUNTY FAIR NEXT EXIT’ a sign indicated. “Daddy! Daddy! Let’s go to the fair!” exclaimed my 8 year old daughter Maree. My wife, Scarlet, and I both looked at each other. “Whelp. Nothing else to do. Why not?” she said. So we got off the exit, parked, and walked up to the ticket booth.

     “How can I help you on this inglorious day?” asked the ticket booth attendee. It was still pretty early in the day. “I want to buy two adult all-day unlimited ride passes, and one kid all-day unlimited ride pass,” I said to him. “That’ll be twenty-five plus twenty-five plus twelve is sixty-two dollars,” said the attendee. I handed him 62 dollars. “Have a nice day,” the attendee said while giving us our wristband.

     As we walked away, I thought it was kind of weird how the attendee said it was and “inglorious” day. “Daddy I want cotton candy, I wanna ride the Ferris wheel, the carousel, I want a snow cone, I wanna win a stuffed bear, and I want to have the best day EVER!” Maree said at the speed of light. “Slow it down speedo.” I chuckled, “Let’s start with the cotton candy. It’s right there. What color do you want?” I asked. “Pink. That’s my favorite color.”

     “What a cute little girl you have there,” said the cotton candy concession stand worker. “I have a son about her age” she said as she made the cotton candy. “Here you are. That’ll be one dollar,” she said giving me a slightly deranged look. I just shrugged it off, and handed her the dollar.

     We sat down, eating the cotton candy. It was one of the best family moments we’ve had in a while. “Mommy,” Maree said slightly concerned. “Yes dear?” Scarlett enquired. “You’re gonna ride the Ferris wheel right?” Maree asked not sure of if her mom would or not. “Why wouldn’t I? I always do,” she replied. “Ok,” Maree said. “Let’s go get in line,” I said eager to get in line, being my favorite ride as a child.

     When we got to the front of the line the worker was real muscular. He also looked a lot like a lifelong friend, but wasn’t sure. He looked real friendly, so I proceeded to start a mannerly conversation with him. I continued with the common question of “How was your day?” “Fine,” he replied with a forceful manner and a profound voice. It terrified me, it was so sudden. “You may enter the ride now,” he said. We boarded the wheel.

     When we got to the top, “Daddy! Look at all the stuff. There’s so much stuff. I can’t wait to do it all!” Maree said impatiently. “Me either,” I told her, “What do you want to do next?” Not sure at first, “I want to play the game where you throw the dart at the balloon, and pop it to win a prize.” That was her favorite game to play at fairs. “Ok. Sounds fun!” I responded.

     When we got off the ferries wheel, we walked over to the “Dart Game” as Maree called it. “Step right up. This game is so much fun,” sarcastically said the gothic looking girl working the booth. “Can I get three darts?” Not looking to enthusiastic, “One dollar.” She set down the three darts as I handed her a dollar. Maree threw all three darts and won a pig that said I love you on it. “Good job, Maree!” Scarlett congratulating Maree on her accomplishment. “Daddy, I want you to have this. I love you” she said sweetly handing me the stuffed pig. “Thanks, I love you, too,” I told her.

     “I want a snow cone!” Maree said happily pointing towards the snow cone concession. “Did that cotton candy wear out already?” I chuckled. “Yeah. I want a red one,” Maree said a little less happily than normal. I was confused, she normally wanted a rainbow snow cone, and she was always so cheery. It was so odd. What’s happening to my happy little girl? I wondered it could just be a change of liking and attitude.

     “Can I get one red snow cone?” I stated. The man working the stand was a little heavy set. He poured some Tigers Blood flavoring on it. “Red is the color of blood. That’s a dollar fifty,” the man said gloomily handing me the snow cone. I handed him a dollar fifty, and Maree the snow cone.

     We found a bench to sit down at. “Is it just me, or has today been really odd?” I asked Scarlet. “What do you mean?” she asked. “The workers got weirder and weirder,” I said in a troubling voice. “I didn’t see anything,” she spoke in an unnoticing tone of voice. “Daddy, Do you or mommy want a bite of my snow cone?” she wandered.  She could never finish a whole snow cone. “Sure I’ll have a bite or two,” I told her. I was getting hungry, the only thing I remember having was cotton candy today. That wasn’t much though. I took a couple of bites, not enough to sooth my hunger though. I handed the snow cone to Scarlet for her to eat some.

     “Daddy, I want to ride the carousel,” Maree said with an empty looking expression. “Ok,” I said. Every time we go to a fair or circus, Maree rides the carousel and I’ll throw rings at a clowns face. Sometimes, if you got a ring in the clown’s mouth, you got a free t-shirt. I haven’t won one yet, but I’ve gotten close.

     When we got there they were loading. Maree walked over to a black horse. I picked her up and put her on it. The ride started and we went around a small number of times. I went to grab a ring to throw it. I was about to throw it, then I saw the clown laughing. Everything was turning into shades of red. As we came closer, the clown got bigger. Its laugh became deeper and more demonic. I looked back at the horse to notice that Maree was gone. My heart skipped a beat, and I started to panic. My precious little girl. Gone.

     This was just one of the many dreams, or what seemed like a nightmare, since the miscarriage fifteen years ago.