So, I want to write a story, and I want you all to help me. So here's how it works. I will start the story with one paragraph, and you will each add one paragraph to the story. You may post up to three times, but you may only add one paragraph (and/or a few bits of dialogue) in each post. I will also end the story at some point. Here's the beginning: The carnival just sat there, loomed there, amidst the well-torn buildings of the town. In some ways, it made the town seem more genuine, more alive, but the carnival's peculiar darkness and gloom had a most uneasy affect on the townspeople. Some said the carnival was a blessing to the town, a boom to its struggling job market, but others said the carnival was cursed, and that it surely foreshadowed nothing but despair. But no matter what you believed, one thing was for sure: the carnival would change the town, and the town could never be the same again.
One day a little girl in a red polka-dotted dress heard the wonderfully music of the carnival. She tugged on her mamma's dress. "Look, look." The child squealed. "A clown!" The mother was too busy squabbling to a group of clucking women. The girl only four, looked up at her mamma this time, "Mamma!" She yelled, while yanking her mothers dress harder. No response was given. The little girl screamed the loudest her little lungs could muster. Then silence fell for a few seconds, but the the girl was lifted in the air by her mother. Then taken to the side to be spanked.
You would think a stern spanking would put the girl off the carnival idea, but no it didn't. She kept trying to sneak back to the carnival, the lights and sounds to tempting for her. her mother would always catch her and bring her back, though. "You know better than to waste your time in such a...no good place!" She slapped her daughter's hand and brought her back inside.
The child sobbed, her tears streaking down her rounded cheeks. She rubbed her wounded hand on her belly while the other hand went swiftly to her mouth. She knew big girls didn't suck their thumbs. Her mamma had told her often, big girls didn't do that, but right now her hand hurt and right now she wanted her thumb. All she knew was that the clown had balloons. The clown was smiling with his wide red grin and calling to her. "Louisa", he crooned. He knew her name, so he must not be a stranger. He must be a friend. Why else would he know her name? And he must know her mother. Why wouldn't mamma want to see him?
That night, the little girl was lying in her bed, trying to sleep while the big round moon peeped at her window. It was stiflingly hot. She kept thinking about the carnival, about the clown with the balloons, and how cruel her mother must be to not let her explore this fantastic new place. She knew that the carnival wouldn't be there for many weeks, and that if her mother had her way, Louisa would miss out on all the fun. She imagined starting school again in the Fall and being the only girl not to have experienced the carnival. The thought was too much to bear. "I hate you," she murmured, directing her words towards her mother who was sleeping in the next room.
That night, she hatched a plan. She knew that her mother would go to town tomorrow, as she did every Friday. The only other person in the house would be her old nanny, who was half-blind and always fell asleep when she was left to look after the little girl anyhow. If her mother found out, Louisa would be spanked and locked in her room. Louisa knew this, but the carnival looked like such a jolly place, that it was too much for her to resist.
Friday morning came and her mother left as usual. The nanny sent her to her room to play quietly so that she could sleep. It wasn't long till the nanny was snoring and out the window snuck Louise. Her blue dress was very pretty and she only needed a sweater to keep out the chill. In her right hand she held $8.45. It was all the money she had in her piggy bank; which was now lying in peices on her bedroom floor. Within 15 minutes she had walked to the carnival. The music was playing and children were laughing happily. She paid $5 for her ticket and was left with $3.45 left in her pocket. It was enough to experience at least a little of the carnival. She knew exactly what she wanted. Louise walked up to the smiling clown with balloons in his hand. "Hello, Louise." He said leaning down and handing her a red balloon. "I've been waiting for you."
The clown plucked his red plastic nose and placed it on her tiny palm. Louise wasn't sure why the clown was watching her palm so intensely, and then she felt the weight. The red nose now became heavier and heavier, and it was glowing. She wanted to scream but she felt butterflies in her stomach. She blushed and she smiled. The clown smiled too at first, then he dropped down on his knees. He cried,"Thank you," his makeup washed away by his tears. A sudden bout of spasm and he lay dead on the ground.
