The Crimson Carnival: Chapter III, Lost At The Ferris Wheel

--- Gregory Fischer ---

Over the last hour that he’d been attempting to explore this place, he’d come to the conclusion that something was going on with the place to mess with its proportions. As demonstrated by his attempts to get closer to the only landmark he’d been able to see in this place.

Which is why rather than risking getting even more lost in an attempt to find somewhere new, he was going to see if the map could get him to said landmark. Namely the giant ferris wheel in the center of the carnival slowly spinning away as the day had progressed.

The map itself was seemingly harmless, just a colorful little paper that just based on his last hour could not actually contain the entirety of the park on its surface. Even his bored attempts to see if there was some kind of magic bound to the paper proved ultimately fruitless.

Yet despite this, with the map in hand he still somehow made progress towards the ferris wheel, the giant construct slowly growing larger as he did. The thing towering as high as some of the skyscrapers back home in the city’s cramped streets, which stood in fair contrast to how low every other building near it was by comparison.

The fact that he’d spotted several more of the map stands since picking up the first, in spite of not seeing a single one during his initial exploration assured him that even if he couldn’t sense anything weird with the paper there was something weird going on with it. (Maybe it works like a passkey of some kind to get around whatever field this place is covered in.)

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen a blanket perception field in play, but it would be the first time seeing one outside of a building or active warzone. (Especially on this scale… but it makes a lot more sense than the spatial theory at least… Not that either really helps me.)

The longer this all dragged on the more he just wanted to find a story and get back the library, the weirdness slowly eating at his paranoia as he burned through more and more of his cigarettes. (I really need to ask Briar how to make regular cigarettes instead of my special smokes if all her jobs are going to be like this.)

With that thought in mind and Mr. Peabody walking just a bit in front of him, he finally stepped into a large clearing of sorts around the ferris wheel. As if all the other buildings nearby shied away from the massive behemoth. (Damn, this thing is obscenely big…)

It was fully possible that alone was the reason this thing was at the center of the carnival, but something in his gut was sure that, (there’s got to be a story to this thing.)

He took a look around the clearing wondering if there were any festival employees or something he could interro- talk to about the ferris wheel or any of the other weirdness he was picking up about this place. Even if the latter was likely to be a deadend given how even in his city where magic and science went hand and hand very few people actually understood more than the utmost basics about it. (And I don’t see this place being full of scholars. At best I’ll find a fellow theory dropout who put their stuff into practice.)

In the end though the carnival appeared to still be as empty as it had been the entire time he’d been there, if not more so with how the only person he could see was a small- (Is that kid?)

He frowned, seeing a small pale child with dark hair staring up longingly at the ferris wheel. A second glance around the place had him wondering, (where’s this kid’s parents?)

With the way this place had been, if they’d been separated the kid might never find them on his own, and… “Fuck…” He cursed.

Mr. Peabody looked at him curiously.

“Ignore me, I’m just sticking my nose in someone else’s business.” He told the dog as he started toward the child, figuring even if he couldn’t find a ‘Story’ he’d at least help this kid find their parents. (Me and my bleeding heart…)

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

As he got closer to the kid he realized that they were wearing a black and white outfit not too different from what he’d seen all of the clown displays wearing. Something he’d never really seen in the city off of a TV screen, with several large fuzzy spheres on their shoes and shirt acting like buttons, and that was before taking into account the massive white thing they had wrapped around their collar. (I guess they’re dressed up for the carnival or whatever.)

Even when he was standing right next to the kid, they didn’t notice him, their eyes still staring up at the ferris wheel as they sort of bounced on their toes.

“You okay, kid?”

The little one startled before turning to him with half-lidded eyes wrapped in black paint alongside the pale grayish white that made up the rest of their face barring their nose.

He couldn’t help but grimace at the way the kid inched away from him, more than aware of how offputting he could look even on a good day.

Running a hand across the back of his neck, he tried to reassure the kid by explaining that, “You just look a little young to be out here on your own and…” It was occurring to him that he didn’t really have much experience with kids, not outside of-

(The little bodies laid surrounded by cinder and ash floating through the air despite his best efforts to-) He shook his head. (Don’t think about that.)

Instead he focused on the kid in front of him, (the one I can help…)

He sunk to a crouch so that he wasn’t quite towering over the little one. “Do you need help finding your parents?”

“Parents…?” The child slowly repeated, before shaking their head. “I don’t have those…”

“Oh…” He grimaced.

Mr. Peabody bumped into his side, before sitting in front of the kid and panting happily.

“Doggy!” The child smiled with half-lidded eyes.

“That’s… right.” He nodded with a wry grin. “Do you want to pet the… doggy?”

The kid turned to him with an excited if half-asleep look. “Can I?”

“Of course.” He awkwardly assured the kid.

The little clown nervously reached out and started petting Mr. Peabody, the dog bumping against the kid’s hand and clearly enjoying the treatment much as it had when Briar had been doing the same.

After letting the child enjoy themselves for a few moments, he risked asking, “If uh, if you don’t have… parents, um, who looks after you?”

“Mm, Big Sis is the one who looks after us…” The kid answered, more concerned with petting the dog than talking to him.

“And… where is your Big Sis?” He prodded, hoping to get the kid back where they belonged so that he could get back to his job without worrying about this.

“I don’t know…” The child admitted, not seeming to really care that they didn’t.

(Worrying, but maybe they’re just too young to consider it on their own…) He couldn’t help but run a hand down his face at that thought. “Alright… well when was the last time you saw your big sis?”

The kid blinked, thinking about the question before saying, “I don’t know…”

“Right…” He sighed, tapping his foot and really tempted to grab one of his cigarettes. (No, those things are terrible for kids. Especially one this young…) “What does your sister look like?”

“She’s super pretty!” The child smiled.

“I’m sure, but… What color hair does she have?” He tried, realizing he was going to have to be a bit more specific with the kid.

“Yellow and orange like the sunrise!” The little one answered, pointing towards the horizon that had started to change color as the sun began to set.

He didn’t bother to correct the kid as he frowned at the skyline realizing how late it was getting. (His sister is probably worried sick by now.)

Despite knowing that he likely wasn’t going to find her he still took a look around the clearing hoping to find the kid’s sister. (And she’s not here…)

“Can we ride the ride?”

“Huh?” He blinked, turning his attention back to the child tugging at his shirt.

“I’m too small to ride by myself.” The kid explained pointing up the stairs to an open carriage on the wheel.

“That’s… I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.” (Especially if I want to find their sister before it gets dark…) His eyes trailed up the behemoth of a ride, thinking about how long such a massive ride would take. (Then again, we might be able to spot where their sister is if we ride it… Though she’d probably have moved by the time we come back down…)

“Please? I’ve been saving my tickets.” The child asked him before digging inside their shirt and pulling out a long string of orange paper tickets. “I have enough for both of us… I think…”