Sandy the Clown's Travelling Carnival

I love carnivals. I have to admit it, I really do love them, and I have done for a long time.

When I was about seven, I went to my first carnival, I don't remember what it's name was was or where it was, but it was probably the best day of my entire childhood. It was night-time, so of course it was dark, and the lights were on. I loved all the bright colours that lit up the place as if the entire carnival was engulfed in a magical glow. I remember the carousel, with all the beautiful horses painted with golds and reds. I was particularly fond of the big wheel, standing there, covered in lights and towering over everything else. You felt like you owned the world when your cabin reached the top. I loved the candyfloss, for it's sweet taste, warmth, colour, and even the comical way it would stick to your lips every time you took a bite.

About the time I turned eighteen, I started gaining interest in older carnivals and circuses. The ones that had history, stories, and so on. As some of them aren't as popular, I spent a lot of my spare time searching for good places to go on the internet, that's how I found "Sandy The Clown's Travelling Carnival"

It started when I was strolling through results on Google. I was on about the fourth or fifth page when I came across the link; "Sandy's Travelling Carnival". Under the link the text read; "Sandy's looking forward to meeting you" I clicked the link, and it lead me to a website, with information about the carnival. The place had apparently been open since the late 1880's and would change location every two weeks. It seemed like fun, so of course my face lit up when I saw that it would arrive just outside my hometown in less than a month. I ordered tickets and decided to have a little look around the site for more information. I found a map, which showed that the carnival had about ten stalls, each with different games and shops, a small petting zoo, that housed about five animals, some portaloos, two little shops and a random building called; "Sandy's here" It was mentioned nowhere else on the site so I couldn't really find out that much about it.

About a month passed and it was time to go to the carnival. I got in my car and drove over to the location. I parked in the field that had been rented for a car park and made my way over to the entrance. Once I got there I was greeted by the presence of a life-sized wooden statue of a clown. The paint was peeling and cracked, and it was covered in dust. It stood on a box which read; "Sandy welcomes you to his carnival"

I went on through the gates and gave my tickets to the ticket desk and head on through to the hustle and bustle of the carnival. Everything was perfect, the stalls were old but well kept, with classic games, families where jostling about, buying ice creams and enjoying themselves. I'd sometimes pass someone who seemed to be very happy with everything, smiling nearly literally from ear to ear. I played some games, ate some candyfloss, and enjoyed the sun, it was all great. I looked at my map, and realized I was pretty near to the building labelled as; "Sandy's here" and decided to check it out.

I scanned the outside of the building, it looked like a fun-house, or something, and a fold-able one, which I guesses was pretty explainable. I made my way up to the door and went inside. The wooden paneling was decorated with paintings of sandy the clown handing out balloons to an array of people. The balloons were designed in such a way that they looked exactly like the heads of the people he was giving them to, only with creepy, disjointed smiles, that stretched across their faces. I shuddered and decided to look away from the paintings and carry on walking.

Once I reached the door, a thick musky smell hit my nostrils, and dust made my eyes itch and tear up. The place is old, of course there's some dust. The room was dimly lit, and nearly empty, except for an old laughing clown. (If you are unaware a laughing clown is the upper torso of a person that sits in a class case and shakes around and laughs when you put a coin in it) It was the same as the wooden statue outside, but something was off. It was in perfect condition, the paint looked new, the clothes bright and clean, the glass almost invisible. The worst part were the eyes. They looked real. I could almost see the shine of liquid on them, they stood out, it was really unnerving. I decided I was being silly, I mean, a lot of old things seem creepy, it's the way of life, in a way. So I swallowed my fear and walked up to it. I reached into my pocket for a coin, and pushed it into the slot.

The machinery started whirring and the model started to move. A tinny voicebox started playing an almost maniacal laughter. I took a step back, this was terrifying. The clown spun around and the laughing got louder and louder. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move. I wanted to close my eyes, but they were glued to the spinning dummy. Suddenly, the eyes turned to look at me, they were staring straight through me.

Actually, this is pretty funny. I found myself laughing along, a smile spreading across my face. I love Sandy, and you should too. Go visit him sometime. Sandy can't wait to meet you.