A Trip to the Carnival

What on earth? I asked myself as I looked into the eerie orange fog as it enveloped me standing there alone. What just happened? Where are the people? It happened in an instant, one minute I’m at the circus with hundreds of people. I could hear the laughter at something funny, the screams on the rides and see the disappointment on kids’ faces as they lost their last dollar to the barkers running the games; I smelled the unmistakable aroma of fresh popcorn and the cooking grease of everything being fried. I even felt the slight bumps and shoves of the excited kids and people as they rushed by.

And now nothing.

“Did I miss the rapture?” I asked myself, trying to take the edge off my fear. I tripped; I looked down and saw a pile of clothes with sandals, jewelry and glasses. Not one pile of clothes, but many, sporadically located where people previously stood. My heart thumped harder in my chest as I picked up my pace and wove in and out of the piles of clothes looking for any sign of life. Finally, I yelled…”HELLO?” Nothing but a faint echo, or could it be someone else?

I see someone, I wave frantically to catch their attention. I race to the figure and just find a cardboard cutout of Farmer John pointing the direction to the stockyard barns and baking competition. “HELLO?” I called again. I continue jogging and yelling at the same time. Am I alone? Am I left behind? The terror of that realization sets in. I see someone! And then a third person comes up and joins us. We say nothing. We have been cast aside, forgotten. We are the hopes and dreams and future of all people gone from earth.

298 wc