Scarytale pt.3 of 3
by Quinn Ireland
Larry:
Lawrence and I stared at this giant circus tent for what seemed like hours, but it was only minutes. The height of the tent is taller than most of the trees that circle around the clearing. Hundreds of ropes are staked into the ground holding the tent upright, while the entrance to the tent is wide open.
“Shoul.. Should w… we g…g… g go che.. check i.. i… it out?”
Lawrence spoke in a shaky tone;
“I… it’s r…r… real.”
I had so many questions. How is this myth real? When did this get here? And most of all; Why is there a creepy circus tent in the middle of the forest?
“I want to check it out.” I said calmly.
“You can come if you want.”
“Are you crazy?” Lawrence whined
“What good would come out of checking this place out, it looks creepy as hell!”
“Isn’t this the whole point of our adventure anyway?” I spoke.
“We were hoping to find this, and now you don’t want to go explore it?”
“I just didn’t expect it to be real, would you, Scary? Did you believe that it was real before now? Did you?!”
“Shhhhhh, quiet down. Okay, I didn’t think that we would find this, but let’s at least peek in the door.”
Lawrence thought about this for a minute.
“Fine. But we’ll just peek in the door, no going inside.”
Together, we creep out from the trees and into the open click our flashlights on. We pad across the field until we reach the tent. The canvas for the door is rolled up to the sides to reveal the well-lit inside of the tent.
“You look first.” Lawrence says.
“No, we’ll both look, on three. One… two… three!”
I couldn’t believe what was inside.
Lawrence:
“Three!” Scary said. We both peered into the tent.
It looked as if the circus had been going on while we were in the woods.
Clowns held by thin cables hung, suspended in mid-air. A lion had its mouth wide open as if it had just been doing a “roar!” And all the white lights pierced our eyes. We both ducked behind the door wide-eyed and mouths hanging open.
“I gotta get a better look.” said Scary. He sat up and looked back in.
“No! Don’t, Scary!” I said while pulling him to the ground.
“Why not, I want to see what that was… wait! Do you have your camera?”
“Yeah.”
“Give it to me, I need some proof.”
“Fine, just get one picture and get we’ll get out of here.”
I rifle through my backpack until I find it. My prized possession. I had saved up for the camera for years, I bring it everywhere I go. I hand it to Scary. He points it around the corner of the door, and it goes off:
“Click!”
“Got it, let’s move” he yells.
We run back to the edge of the clearing and turn back to take one more look at the massive circus tent, before turning around. Right into a clown’s face.
Larry:
There we were. Standing at the edge of the woods staring into the horrific face of a clown. “Arrrghhghh!!” We ran past the tent, but the clown followed in a fast pursuit. We then circled the tent and, a few moments later, we were back at the front door of the tent.
“I think we lost him.” said Lawrence breathing heavily.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go in the tent.”
“Yeah, we’ll hide there.”
We duck through the door into the tent. Only, there is no light inside the place that had been blinding just minutes before.
“I dropped my flashlight outside!” said Lawrence
“Damm, I did too.”
We scramble around the tent before hunkering down in the corner. Then a faint light flickered across the tent from where we were sitting. Suddenly, all the lamps turn on at the same time. The clown is standing right in front of us.
Lawrence:
There was a clown standing silently in front of us, grinning and chuckling. Then he charged.
“Ahhhhhhrggg!!!”
We both screamed. Now the clown stood about a foot away.
“YOU GOT PRANKED!!!!”
All sorts of people pop out of separate places. I recognize Mr. Underburrow, the shopkeeper, Mrs. Kate, the preschool teacher, and even Axe man, nobody really knows about him. We understand now, this whole story was a fairytale. A scarytale. Glad that there’s no school tomorrow, Mrs. Ruchill would make sure that I get the most doo doo grade possible. Maybe I’ll go to Scary’s house, but I’ll consider it after my heart stops pounding from fear.
And so, as the two boys walk home in the wee hours of the morning, they know that this adventure will always be remembered. The scarytale…
