Life's Cruel Joke

The Prince of Darkness

As I pulled up in my car I saw the same red and white stripped tents that were here before. Except last time I was with my dad. Maybe i shouldn't have come here, I thought to myself. This was a bad idea. I started to turn around when out of the corner of my eye I saw the red haired boy that I had met that one night before. I turned back to see if I could get a better look at him, but he was already gone. I debated it in my head for a good five minutes until I decided to stay and watch the show. But I swear to god, if a clown even comes near me I'm smacking it.

I sat near the back not wanting to sit in the front for fear of red nosed weirdos, that and I didn't want to sit in the same spot as me and my dad. I didn't want those memories to surface. The show started out the same as it did man years ago. The ringmaster coming out raising his hands,, lights going out. Instead of the clowns running around the acrobats opened the show. That was a nice change.

After about five minutes I found myself starring at the seat that my father and I sat at last time we were here. The acrobats hadn't even finished performing. I put my hand to my cheeks and felt water. I was crying! I needed air. I slipped out the back hoping not to disturb anyone watching the show. I walked around for sometime. I thought about my father and how he would have loved to see the circus again. I looked up at the stars and tried to decide if there was a god or not. If there were then that would mean heaven was real and I could see my dad again. I looked back to were I was going and I'm glad I did, for I almost walked right into the side of a tent. The front of the tent said "FORTUNE TELLER," I thought it couldn't hurt. So I went in. In the tent there were little trinkets all around. Things on shelves and hanging from the cloth ceiling. Everything was tinted purple because of the color of the tent and some smoke danced around my ankles and around the floor, no doubt for effect. I was looking at a weird green bottle when a voice called to me. "Come my darling sit down. Let me answer some of those questions that are crowded in your mind." I followed the strange voice into the main room. A man with white hair sat at a table in the middle of the small room. He had a brown hat on and his eyes didn't seem to focus on anything. I hesitated for a bit then decided to sit down. "You have a lot on your mind, young child. What seems to be the matter?" The old man asked me.

"Shouldn't you be able to see that for yourself?" I said trying to believe in something.

"I see and know many things, child, but what you want me to tell you is something completely different. So tell me, What question do you want answered?" I thought about it for a minute, tying really hard to concentrate on what I wanted. Then I looked up and saw fake stars on the ceiling and I remembered my walk here.

"I want to know. Is there a god?" I looked at him with sincerity, not sure if he could see me.

"Give me your hand, my dear, and I will give you an answer." He held out his hand waiting for mine. Do I really believe in all of this? Come on Alice, you're being ridiculous. Despite what the voices in my head said I gave the old man my hand.

As soon as our hands touched he threw is head back gasping for air, as if my touch was suffocating him. I tried to take my hand away, but the man held onto me with a firm grip. The smoke in the room seemed to raise. I looked all around, scared out of my wits, I was about to scream, but it was all over. The man let go of my hand and looked at me. I was breathing heavily, still a bit on the edge.

"There is defiantly a god," He said and I smiled a bit, "because you have meet the devil, and you will see him again soon." I held my hand to my chest. That couldn't be real. From what I saw it was all smoke and mirrors, plus I thought that guy was blind. How could he have possibly seen any of that? I got up and started to walk out, that's when I ran into the red headed boy who I meet so many years ago. The only difference was he had an ax and he was splattered with blood.