The themes and events in this short story are not only unrealistic, but distinctly misogynistic. It's important that these themes are framed from a point of view of catharsis and not endorsement. Whether you have similar thoughts or are a victim of them, this story is meant as a safe way to explore this prevalent attitude. This method of coping is not for everybody, so indulge accordingly. Enjoy.
*Prologue*
Elizabeth, Olivia, and Bridget couldn't believe their eyes. Their unlikely friendship had first formed fifteen years ago when they had found each other at an unusual carnival. They each had been having the time of their lives. The entrance was free, the food was free, and the line-ups for the rides were either short or non-existent. The strangest part was that none of them could remember how they had stumbled upon the carnival in the first place and when they went back the next day, there was no evidence that such a thing had even been there. There was nothing but swampland.
The experience had been so bizarre that they had resolved not to tell anybody else about it. They continued to recount their own memories to each other however, to keep the event alive in their minds.
As they grew close, they started to realize other strange coincidences that the three of them shared despite having gone to separate grade and high schools. All three of their parents shared the same sets of names, Marcus and Marianne, and all of them had moved from their childhood home to their current town of Luxur on their tenth birthdays. On the subject of birthdays, Elizabeth's was on January 27th, while Olivia's was February 27th, and Bridget's was the 27th of March. The day they had all met at the carnival was the 27th of April and so they made a pact to return to that spot every year.
Every year they did and every year they were met with the same sight of empty swampland.
Every year except this year.
Now that they were all 30, their annual trip to the site of the mysterious carnival was more of a fun tradition than an expectation to actually see anything. In fact, in some of their minds, the women had started to suspect that they had made it all up after all, and it was just an imaginative game they had played with each other.
The lights and the scale of the carnival could not be denied, however, and all three were brought back to that strange and magical night as they gazed at the same orange and purple lights from their memories.
"Do you remember it being called Carnival Laxam?" Bridget asked. Her snarky attitude was always on her sleeve, as in-your-face as her short black hair, ripped jeans, and stretched out band t-shirt.
"I don't remember a name at all," said the aloof redhead, Elizabeth. She folded her arms in front of her and studied the scene before her eyes. She had grown the most skeptical of their collective memory and was the most unsettled by the sight before her.
"Well what are we waiting for?!" The always-eager Olivia enthused. Her straight long blonde hair swung side to side as she looked at her friends whom she was sandwiched between.
"It's all just a little weird, isn't it?" Elizabeth replied. "Shouldn't we show somebody?"
"I don't think so, Liz," Bridget said, ignoring the scathing look she got for using anything but Elizabeth's full name. "I have a feeling this place will be gone again if we don't go in now. I know it doesn't make sense, but none of this ever has."
"What Bridget said!" Olivia said with a wide grin as she looked at the profile of Elizabeth's face, trying to will her to smile back. Elizabeth had never once admitted it, but she had a soft spot for Olivia's unbridled enthusiasm. It encompassed everything that Elizabeth was not and although she did not return the look or the smile that Olivia was so obviously looking for, it did budge her position.
"Fine. But nobody gets to complain when I ask a bunch of questions," she relented.
"And you don't get to complain if I leave you behind for the roller coaster," Bridget smirked.
The trio walked toward the entrance and although they had heard no sounds from the carnival at a distance, the moment they stepped onto the walkway to the ticket booth sounds and music from the carnival surrounded them as if it had always been there.
"OOhh-ho welcome back!" A voice from within the ticket booth called. All three women heard a different form of the voice, and all three saw a different person, but of course they didn't know that. The carnival already had them where it wanted and they each began to be once again filled with that same spirit of excitement and wonder from that day when they had first met. They forgot about each other and each went their own way until fate would once again bind them together in the heart of the carnival, but under much different circumstances than last time. These are their stories.
*Elizabeth and the Fun House*
For Elizabeth, the person in the ticket booth was a middle aged man. His perfectly-kept salt and pepper hair disarmed her more than she wanted to admit. This man was nothing like her husband, but was everything that she wished her husband was. He was confident and well-dressed and - although she felt ashamed to phrase it this way - he was just such a man.
"Elizabeth! You've grown to be even more beautiful than I expected!" He grinned directly at her. She didn't feel strange that he addressed her directly in front of her friends. She was the special one, she thought.
"Thank you, Ringmaster," she said. She instinctively knew to call him that.
"Such beautiful thick red hair. It would be a shame to have it be any other colour, wouldn't you say?"
"I love my hair, Ringmaster," she said, putting some of it behind her ear in a clear sign of flirtatious submission. Ian didn't have to know. It was harmless.
"Well enough of that! You have some exploring to do, don't you? Here you go! One full-access ticket! I'm sure you'll want to revisit that special place you went to all those years ago, won't you?"
Elizabeth stepped closer to the booth. She did want to go back into the carnival, but she didn't want to rush this moment with this man that she only now realized that she had been dreaming about for fifteen years. With both hands, Elizabeth grabbed onto the large ticket that he was holding out and pulled herself in so that she was leaning over the counter of the booth.
"Will you be here when I get back?" She asked. It was thrilling to openly flirt. Although she was sexually dissatisfied with her husband, she had never considered cheating on him. He was kind and worked hard and they had built a fine life together. But something about the Ringmaster made her want to change that. It wouldn't hurt Ian if she just had an evening with this man, would it? It's not like the carnival left behind evidence.