Have you seen the tall, blond guy?

Michael stepped away from the bar with the two bottles of beer he just overpaid for. He expected to be greeted by Alec as soon as he turned, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. Michael started drinking his beer and approached the security staff at the side of the bar. 

“Hi mate, did you see the guy I was with? Big guy, blonde hair, a beard?” 

“I did, yes,'' the bouncer responded in a perfect southern English accent. That was unexpected for Michael but he paid it no mind. “A group of VIP guests stopped by, and offered him a ticket to an exclusive set. They said you can join them as well when you can. They went into the tall tent past the food trucks.” He pointed to a tall structure Michael could only see the top of. He thanked the security guy and started making his way out into the field, sipping his beer.

Behind him, the first band was taking up the stage and Michael could hear them start playing as he walked past trucks serving burgers, nachos and fish and chips. Damn it, Alec, what are you doing going into random tents? We’re gonna miss the whole set. The tent he arrived at seemed big enough to hold a second stage, or a VIP stage, but the look was wrong. It was red and white stripes all over, with flags at the top of the poles holding it up.  He pushed the curtains to the side and walked in. 

Suddenly, the music was gone. All he could hear was the laughter of the people around him, and what he could only assume was a ring leader. Why would they run a circus in the middle of the festival? he wondered as he approached the centre of the tent. The man in the middle was wearing a red coat fastened with gold buttons, paired with a top hat and a perfectly shaped moustache. He was really loud, reaching every corner of the tent, but Michael couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He tried to tune in to the chit-chat and whispers in the crowd but the words still sounded foreign. What is that, French? A long time has passed since his French GCSE but that was his best guess. He approached one of the girls stood by the side of the ring.

“Excusez-moi”, he said in an awful pronunciation. He tried to remember even a couple of useful phrases, but only managed to come up with “Parlez...uhmm...English?”. The girl giggled quickly and responded in a strong French accent.

“Hello, can I help?” Oh thank God!

“Yes, yes you can. Did you see a tall guy walk through here, blond hair, beard?” he asked while gesturing. “He had a black festival t-shirt on...” He was scrambling for more details but couldn’t remember anything of significance. 

“Hmm, I do not think so. Maybe you can try look in the..look in the stands, maybe he’s watching the show,” the girl replied. Michael nodded and went ahead turning to look at everyone sitting down. 

He was moving up the rows and between people but things didn’t look right. Nobody was dressed like they were there for the same festival as him. The women all had dresses on, long dresses with long sleeves, and wore hats and feathers along perfectly curled hair. The men also had hats and tailored suits on. He felt like he was at the most coordinated fancy dress party to ever exist. His jeans and t-shirt with a plastic bottle of beer was suddenly really out of place, opposed to fitting right in outside the tent. 

Where the hell is he? he thought, as he was moving through crowds of strangers. He made it halfway around the tent with no luck before he came up to the ring leader.

“Hello friend, who do you search for?” he said in a strong French accent. “We have all that you are searching in the ring.”

“Hello, I’m looking for my friend, he’s called Alexander, he’s quite tall, and has blond hair. I was told he came in here.” 

“Ah yes, oui, Alec, yes he did. This was not the show for him so we did ask him to pass through the curtain there.” He pointed to a wall of red velvet to the side, which looked like the curtain the circus acts used to walk into the ring. He didn’t question it. He wanted to be out of there and back to enjoying the festival music as soon as he could, so he pushed through the heavy curtain expecting to find Alec on the other side of it.

Instead, the scenery completely changed. The sound of a bustling crowd was replaced by soft piano music, and the brightness of the circus tent disappeared to be replaced by lamp light on the small tables filling the room. It was daylight in the circus and he wasn’t there for that long, but now it seemed like it was nighttime. Michael turned around trying to go back, but the heavy velvet curtains he came through were gone, and behind him were two tall wooden doors. What the hell, where did these come from? He looked around and realised he wasn’t in a tent anymore. Where am I? He was still taking in every corner of the room when a waitress approached him. She was wearing a kind of bodysuit girls at a Roaring 20’s party would wear, with her hair slicked in a bun and a fedora. 

“Good evening, sir,” she said in a posh English accent, “I’ll show you to your table.” Michael followed her as if hypnotised and sat down in a comfy armchair at a low small round table. He put the beer bottles he’s been carrying around on the table. Almost instantly another waitress took them away and replaced them with a glass of what looked like whisky. Michael took a sip and started looking for Alec.

The room he was in had a big bar to one side, with golden edges and crystal glasses in which the dim lights from the tables reflected. On the other side, a small band played soft music on a small stage. A microphone stand suggested that singers would come up at some point to entertain. Couples were sitting at most of the tables around him, all dressed in tassels and pearls, waistcoats and braces. Once more, his outfit was not matching the ones around him. 

The waitress that seated him approached with another glass of whisky to replace the one he emptied.

“Are you expecting someone else?” she asked. Expecting? Who could I be expecting here? Then he remembered.

“Oh, I’m not, but someone might be expecting me. A guy called Alexander, Alec, tall and blonde, has a beard?” He was hoping his description was enough to track him down. 

“Oh Alec, of course. He was here earlier, but has left not too long ago. Sorry you didn’t catch him,” she said in a flat tone, smiling throughout. Ugh, not this again. I should just go back to the main stage. 

Michael got up to leave right as music started playing louder on the small stage. He turns around to see a sharply dressed man approach the microphone. He had to stand and stare for a while, as the man looked just like the ring leader he saw earlier. It can’t be.. Michael thought then turned to the wooden doors and left the room. 

Suddenly he found himself in what looked like an old-fashioned cinema, or one in dire need of renovation. The attendants were selling popcorn and drinks in red waistcoats and black bow ties. One of them looked just like the security staff that sent him here. He couldn’t be sure. He wanted to shout “Hey, where’s my mate?” at him, but another cinema employee was approaching him, who he recognised as the French girl at the circus. Hell no, I’m out of here, Michael thought as he started to take steps back before the girl could reach him. 

He could see a city street through the door but when he swung them open, he was back in the field. In front of him people were drunkenly dancing, he could hear live music, and he could see people wearing the exact t-shirt she was wearing. He turned around to look at the tent he went into but it was no longer there. In its place stood a small festival tent, and he could see the stage and speakers inside, and the small crowd that gathered to see whichever artist was new that year.

He made his way back to the main stage, rubbing his eyes, and trying to make sense of what he just witnessed. Suddenly, he hears a familiar voice:

“Michael! Mike, where are you going?” He turns to the voice to see Alec sit by the side of the bar, right where he left him earlier that day. “Where’ve you been man, you disappeared!”

“I disappeared? I was looking for you. This guy told me..” He went to point to the security staff that was there before, but a different guy was wearing the jacket. Michael walked up to him and said “Sorry mate, where’s the guy who was here before you?”

“It’s just been me since the morning, didn’t swap shifts yet mate,” the man responded. 

“Everything alright?” Alec asked, looking half-worried and half-amused. 

Michael recounted everything that happened, while continuing to look around for the man he spoke with before. He could see the disbelief on Alec’s face as he was telling the story.

“Mate, I sent you to the bar for a couple of beers, what did they give you? It’s a bit early in the day for hard stuff.”

“I’m telling you it was for real, dude, and they all knew what you looked like and said you’ve been in just before me.”

“How could I, if I was waiting for you to get out of the queue at the bar? You were only gone for a few minutes anyway.” It felt like I was gone for a long time, Michael thought to himself.

They got another drink at the bar together, and went on to watch the show on the main stage. Michael took one last look back, and there it was - a red flag blowing in the wind, atop a red and white striped tent.