Giggles

Prologue

The balloon popped into smithereens. Pieces of red rubber scattered all over the floor. Another one imploded. It was only a matter of time before a third was destroyed. Three... two... one... pop! A little girl screamed from the top of her lungs. The six-foot shadow that enlarged well above the girl's height; swept her off her feet. Darkness plagued her face as the man's head blocked the sun from view.

The man exclaimed," What did you win buttercup?" The girl's face enlightened with tomato red cheeks. She pulled up a white stuffed animal with dark blue hair and a painted red horn on its forehead.

She exclaimed," Daddy look! It's a unicorn!"

"I see that buttercup," he mentioned. She continuously wiggled and twirled its horn at her dad's scruffy face. The sight of a child's laughter at large.

Nothing beats the sweet stench of carnival hot dogs and cotton candy and the sound of popping popcorn and child's laughter that infiltrated the quiet, peaceful air. Loads of smiles, joy, and fun for everyone. Every square inch lied booths upon booths of fun and games. Some rigged and some for the kids. Any game from ring toss to darts to a ride on the carousel full of unicorns. Its flashing neon lights blinking in front of the little girl's eyes full of color and vibrancy. The sound of carnival music echoed into everyone's ears with its happy and delightful tune.

The little girl screamed," Daddy! I wanna ride the carousel!"

He answered," We gotta go pumpkin. Mommy is waiting for us," she glared at her father with the sweetest puppy dog eyes. Water building to the surface about to flood her rosy, palish cheeks.

"Please daddy. That's the most biggest unicorn I've ever saw!" he nodded and landed the girl on her feet. She sprinted across the tall yellowish grass, swaying back and forth as a slight breeze picked up from the west. The sign above the carousel that read "Jollykins Carnival" creaked and trembled as the wind suddenly picked up. Leaves rustled. Branches swayed. Thunderous clouds roared in the atmosphere.

The rest of the kids got off the carousel running towards their parents, but that didn't stop the little girl. She handed the weird man a quarter to begin the ride. Hopping on the unicorn, the guy smashed the red button. The carousel began slowly picking up speed. The girl screamed and shouted full of joy and excitement. Every turn she returned to the front, her dad would be standing there.

"Come on pumpkin! A storm is a brewing! We gotta go!" He exclaimed. However, the ride continued. Soon enough, her dad was just a blur. In fact, the entire world around her became nothing but dense fog. All of her surroundings disappearing with the wind. A strong, dusty wind. It was until a few seconds later, she no longer saw her dad. She saw someone else. Something else. A weird man with yellow eyes, a white painted face with a smudge of blue and black paint over its eyes and an enormous, blue clown painted smile over its unusually large mouth. Its head was mostly bald besides a tiny polka-dotted, purple hat hanging on the left side of his head and red hair patches on both sides of its gigantic head. Below its square jaw, the clown's attire consisted of striped pajamas of blue and red, matching its complete and utterly disgusting face. The clown giggled. Its rotten yellow teeth showed. His large pink tongue sticking out of its mouth. The carousel stopped. The giggling stopped.

She ran up to the clown and asked," Have you seen my daddy?" It glared its eyes down at the little girl, now slowly bending its back while still straight. The girl glanced down as the clown's giant red shoes nearly smashed her toes. It kneeled on its knees closing the distance. His face now just inches away from the little girl. Its mouth nearly the size of her small head. The clown kissed her. Leaving an outline of blue lips on her face. It giggled.

"You're looking right at him," the clown smiled up a storm and swept the girl off her feet. Her unicorn left in the dead grass.