"The Carnival of the Equinox"

“How much longer is this going to be?” complained Oscar, slowly trailing behind his friend. He had walked through the forest before, but never at this time of day. The sun was close to setting, casting an eerie orange glow over the world. The forest now seemed completely alien. Everything Oscar once found familiar about his surroundings was gone, replaced with something new and unsettling.

“Not much longer,” replied Kevin. With each new step he took, the sound of dead leaves crunching underneath his feet echoed throughout the forest. “We need to get to the dead center. The point where you take one step further, and you’re going out instead of heading in.”

“Why do you even want to do this?” asked Oscar. He adjusted his shoulders, attempting to cope with the weight of his backpack. “You’re not going to find anything, you know.”

“I know, I know,” said Kevin, rolling his eyes. “But there’s no harm in seeing if it’s true, is there? The eighth graders said there’s one night of the year where if you’re in the forest when the sun sets…”

“The eighth graders say stupid stuff all the time, Kevin!” interrupted Oscar, ducking underneath a tree branch in his path. “They love to dick with us! Remember when they told us the gym teacher was a vampire that turned kids who misbehaved into gargoyles? Remember when they tricked us to come to school on Labor Day and told us everyone else was killed by…by robot dinosaurs?”

“Remember all the fun we had while we thought that stuff was true?” Kevin sat down on a nearby rock and opened his backpack. He pulled out one of the candy bars inside, slowly unwrapped it, and took a bite. “Look, the worst thing that can happen is we spend a little time in the forest,” he continued with his mouth full. “And we’re already here at the center, too! There’s no big danger here or anything, so just try and enjoy yourself.”

“Oh, fine,” said Oscar with a reluctant sigh. He sat on another rock and ate one of his own candy bars. He looked up at the sky, where tiny daggers of sunlight only barely managed to seep through the sea of trees surrounding them. “I guess it does look pretty nice out here.”

“Really nice,” added Kevin. “When’s the last time we actually went outside like this, you know? It feels like we haven’t done it in ages. I guess things haven’t been too fun since summer ended. We’ve all been so caught up in school…”

“School!” Oscar quickly leapt from his seat in a panic. “I’ve still got math homework I haven’t finished! I need to head back! I need to…” Kevin slowly stood up himself and grabbed Oscar by the shoulders, steadily lowering him back to where he was sitting.

“Relax, relax…” he assured Oscar. “You can do your schoolwork as soon as we get back home. But we’ve got to stay at least until the sun sets.” Oscar shook his head.

“You don’t understand, do you, Kevin? If I don‘t turn in the math homework, I’ll fail it. If that keeps up, I’ll fail the math class. Soon enough, I’ll have failed the whole thing and I’ll have to repeat the grade. Spend even more time in school.”

“You don’t like school?” asked Kevin. He took another bite from his candy bar, strings of caramel dangling from the half that remained.

“I hate school. Hate the work. Hate the teachers. Hate the crappy cafeteria food. Hate the cheesy posters they hang up on the wall. I just hate it and I want to get out of it.”

“Get out of it?” repeated Kevin. He brushed away a leaf that fell on the top of his head. “Like what, you want to…be a grown-up?”

“Yeah, I want to be a grown-up,” answered Oscar bluntly. “Don’t you? No more school. You get to do whatever you want. You can drive around, you can buy beer, you can even…” Oscar’s eyes darted around the forest, making sure nobody else was around. He slowly leaned in towards Kevin.

“You can even do…you-know-what with girls,” he whispered, an impish smile on his face. Kevin lifted his right hand and slowly pushed Oscar’s face away from his own.

“You really want to do all of that stuff?” he asked skeptically. “Do you even know what any of that is like?”

“I know it’s not the same boring schoolwork every day. That’s all I need to know. Being a grown-up’s better than being a kid, end of story. When I grow up, I’m not going to miss anything about being a kid. Not one single thing.” Kevin checked the time, then looked back up to the sky. The orange light from before had all but vanished.

“Only a few more seconds before the sun sets…” he said aloud. Oscar looked at the sky with him, both of them holding their breaths in heavy anticipation. Soon the two children were shrouded in almost total darkness, each of them only barely able to see their friend sitting in front of them. Oscar pulled a flashlight from his backpack and turned it on, waving it around the forest. Their surroundings appeared exactly the same as they did before.

“Told you the eighth graders were full of crap,” Oscar said smugly.

“All right, all right, you don’t gotta rub it in,” grunted Kevin as he turned on his own flashlight. He rose from his rock and began walking back the way he came. “Come on,” he said, gesturing to Oscar as he made his way up the hill. “We should…” Kevin then stood perfectly still, neither moving nor finishing his sentence.

“Yeah?” Oscar asked impatiently, walking up the hill himself. “We should what?” He stood right next to Kevin, allowing him to see the other side of the hill. Almost immediately, Oscar became as stunned with silence as his friend.
The trees they had walked through were gone. In their place was a brilliant carnival, its bright lights illuminating the rest of the forest. Striped circus tents and booths sat through the field as far as the children could see. The faint sound of a calliope crept along their ears.

“It was true…” said Oscar in awe, slowly inching towards the spectacle below.

“I told you…” replied Kevin, following along. “I told you that it was true.” As the two stepped into the carnival, they could see other people walking through it. Some figures wore elaborate costumes with strange white masks. Others were dressed normally. Three children ran past Oscar, about his own age. In the distance, a family of four played a carnival game. He could just barely notice the father managing to knock down the stack of milk bottles, giving the toy he won to his daughter. Nearby a young man and woman laughed amongst each other, briefly sharing a kiss. All the other people looked different to Oscar, though. The entire carnival’s colors were slightly faded, making the whole environment feel slightly artificial. It was as if Oscar and Kevin had stepped into an old photograph, a lingering memory of a dead time.

“Snacks here!” barked a nearby vendor. “Get your snacks here! We’ve got funnel cake, we’ve got corn dogs, we’ve got all the eats you could ever…hey! You!” Kevin turned to face the food cart.

“Us?” he asked. He and Oscar slowly stepped towards the booth.

“Yes, you!” answered the vendor, every word of his being spoken in a tone so cheerful it seemed almost like he was singing. He smiled proudly to himself. “You two are new here, aren’t you? I know every last one of the regulars as well as I know myself, and you’re both new. I’m right, am I?” The two children looked at the vendor uneasily, then both gave a weak nod.

“I knew it!” exclaimed the vendor. “I knew I was right!” He went down underneath his booth, where the children couldn’t see him, then quickly rose up again. In each hand he held a tremendous stick of cotton candy. “Can’t even remember the last time we had newcomers. These ones are on me!” Hesitantly, Kevin grabbed one of the sticks from the vendor’s hand. Oscar followed soon after. Both of them stared at the candy with uncertainty.

“Go on!” encouraged the vendor. “What are you afraid of? It’s good!” Looking at the vendor, then back at the stick in his hands, Oscar ripped off a piece of cotton candy and ate it. The floss quickly melted away in his mouth, bathing his entire tongue with its flavor.

“Mmm!” moaned Oscar with satisfaction. “This is good!”

“See, son, I told you,” said the vendor. “No lies here unless you want there to be. Now go out and enjoy yourself.”

“But I don’t get it,” said Kevin, tearing off his own first piece of the cotton candy. “What the hell is this? What is it all for?”

“What’s it for?” scoffed the vendor. “Why, it’s for the greatest night of the year, going back every September 23rd without fail for as long as anybody can care to remember! The Carnival of the Equinox!”

Kevin and Oscar ran throughout the festival, marveling at all the sights it contained. The heavy scent of an autumnal carnival filled the air. Workers beckoned for the children to look at their attractions with every new step.

“Ferris wheel! Largest Ferris wheel in the state! You’ve got to see the view from the top, yes you do. You can see your house, you can see your friend’s house, you can see the houses in Canada if you squint hard enough! All it’ll cost you is a wait in line!”

“Test your luck! Come test your luck! Throw a ball in the hole and any one of these amazing prizes is yours to own, God’s honest! Three tries for a nickel. And this here is just the start of the amazing games we’ve got here, let me tell you that!”

“Good old-fashioned dancing! Step into our tent and share a dance with your sweetheart! Or with a stranger! No need to be shy! Everyone’s welcome to celebrate on the equinox! Smile!”

“Sideshow freaks! Perversions of nature the likes of which you’ve never laid eyes on before! The two-headed girl! The three-legged man! Tiresias the Half-and-Half, not for the faint of heart! Sword swallowers, fire breathers, and every other amazing feat you can think of all under one tent! Take a gander at our museum of the weird!”

Oscar and Kevin stopped at everything they saw, eager to take in the full experience of the carnival. Hours passed, both of them blissfully unaware of the time.

“Isn’t this great?” Kevin laughed to himself.

“Yeah!” answered Oscar, his voice carrying a joyful tone he hadn’t spoke in for a long time. The two friends looked in each other’s eyes, the simple look in their faces saying everything that needed to be said. This had been the best night of their short lives. “Hey, hey, I just thought of something.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“This thing…this thing is supposed to happen every year, right?” asked Oscar. “That means we can come back here next year!”

“You’re right!” said Kevin. “And the year after that, and the year after that…we can keep coming here forever!”

“Fortunes read?” asked an unfamiliar voice. The children turned around to see a young woman, a veil covering all of her face except the eyes. “Fortunes read, questions answered. Would you like to step inside?” Kevin began wandering off.

“Hey, where are you going?” asked Oscar, turning around.

“I want to see some more of the carnival!” Kevin answered. “Maybe we can do that spinning ride again!” Oscar looked back at the mysterious fortune teller.

“Do…do you mind being by yourself for a little while?” Oscar asked. “I just want to check this out real quick.”

“Sure!” exclaimed Kevin, who wandered off towards other attractions. Oscar stepped into the fortune teller’s booth, where large tomes and bizarre containers lined the wall. Oscar took a deep breath through his nose, then abruptly entered a coughing fit. He had become so used to the smell of the carnival that the new, mustier scent of the room was unexpected to him.

“So…” said the fortune teller, her hand brushing against the dusty walls. “I’ve been told that you and your friend are new?”

“Uh-huh,” Oscar answered with a nod. The woman sat at a nearby chair, a sentimental look in her eyes.

“That’s very good,” she said. “It’s been a very long time since the carnival has had new visitors. I don’t know why. Maybe times have just changed. Do you like the carnival?”

"I love it!" exclaimed Oscar. "I mean, all the rides, and the games...I've been to carnivals before, but...I don't know, this one's different somehow. Everything's just so...magical! I wish that..."

"Shh!" interrupted the fortune teller harshly, putting a finger to the child's lips. "We do not use that word recklessly on the equinox."

"Wh...what word?" Oscar asked nervously, his eyes darting around the room. "Wish?"

"You mean children no longer know about autumn wishes?" the woman laughed to herself. "Times have changed more than I thought. When I was your age, autumn wishes was all the other girls would talk about come the equinox."

"What are you talking about? Are you saying...what, if I make a wish it'll come true?"

"If you want it enough," the woman answered, leaning closer towards Oscar. "Is there a wish you want to make?" The child thought carefully, trying his best to look away from the fortune teller's gaze. Finally, he spoke.

"I want to be grown up," he said. The woman slowly leaned back.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked. "Autumn wishes are to be made carefully."

"I'm sure. That's what I want," Oscar answered confidently. "I wish I was grown up." The woman gave a heavy sigh.

"If that is your autumn wish," she said regretfully. Oscar blinked, and as soon as he opened his eyes again the fortune teller was gone. Around him was nothing but darkness.

"Huh?" he said out loud. Reaching into his backpack, Oscar pulled out his flashlight. He was back in the forest. Trees surrounded him on every side, their leaves slowly falling to the ground.

"Hello?" Oscar shouted into the woods. "Where did everyone go? Kevin?" His friend didn't respond. Oscar ran through the forest, shouting as loud as he could. "Kevin? Kevin?!"

"Whee! I won again!" Oscar could hear Kevin yelling in the distance. Heading in the direction of the noise, Oscar saw Kevin in an empty patch of the forest spinning around in ecstasy, a whimsical smile on his face as he experienced all the joys of the carnival of the equinox.