Believe in the carnival

At dawn, a young girl walks into an unknown forest. She had already been walking for an hour. The sun hasn’t come out of hiding yet. The sky had started to brighten itself but not enough. It was a cold morning. The young girl held her arms together, her shoulders were up to her ears. The girl shivered as she walked. She only wore a thin long-sleeved grey shirt and black leggings. Her clothes were not enough to cover her from this cold weather. She walked and walked endlessly in a forest she had never been to. It seems that she was lost but continued to go straight. She loved the sentence, ‘All roads lead to Rome’. And so she decided to keep walking until she finds her way back. 

Some strange noises could be heard throughout the forest. It sounded like animal noises. But they were all strange. The young girl couldn’t figure out whether it came from a small animal or a large one. Fog filled the forest and even the trees were not quite visible. Everything looked like shadows. Some of the noises were high-pitched and some were low-pitched. She began to feel fear. She clutched on her lion necklace and closed her eyes tight.

“Please lion, protect me from these animals.” She cried to her lion figure attached to her necklace. She knew it was just an object but she felt desperate. Even just feeling that she wasn’t alone and that this lion could protect her, made her feel a tiny bit safer. It was her solution to cope with fear. She continued to walk but only looked at her feet.

Suddenly, she stopped walking. She felt a large presence in front of her. A large shadow is covered by a large amount of fog. She slowly looked up to see a very tall cherry red door. Around the door was a metal fence that surrounded it by both sides. She walked to the fence to look at what was on the other side only to see nothing. The fog was too present to even see anything. Out of curiosity, the young girl pushed the door lightly. To her surprise, the door opened slightly. The girl fearing the forest decided to completely open the door and escape inside. As soon as she entered, it was clear. The air was completely clear. She could see red and white striped tents, a carousel and from afar a Ferris wheel. The young girl was amazed by her discovery. She covered her mouth with her hands and thought to herself, ‘I’m in a carnival!’ The young girl certainly was at a carnival. Due to the early time and the weird location, it was empty and quiet. 

The most intriguing object was in front of her. It was a Nutcracker statue. She walked up to the life-size Nutcracker and observed it. It had all that she’d seen in films, the red jacket, the black hat and the long mustache. She was curious and touched his moustache. 

“Perhaps not my moustache,” a voice could be heard. She jumped at the sound of it and stepped back. She looked at the nutcracker closely. His lips had not moved when she heard that voice. And so she ruled out the possibility it was him. She looked behind her and beside her. Soon enough, she felt someone lightly tapping her shoulder. As she turned around she saw the same nutcracker. But it was different, he was alive. 

The Nutcracker did not look like a statue anymore, he looked like a human. He wore the same clothes and had that same moustache. 

“Who are you?” She said while being on the defensive. 

“I’m the Nutcracker!” He answered. “You were able to find this carnival so bravo! And welcome!” He continued.

“But you were a statue. How-?” She was baffled by this situation. She swore she saw him as a statue just a couple of seconds ago. 

“You’ve arrived somewhere magic my dear. You will just have to trust me. Weren’t you lost? I can help you get back.” He said with a smile. 

“I was told not to speak or trust strangers,” she said with fear.

The Nutcracker looked at her, he placed his fingers on his chin and began to think.

“Would you like to become my friend then? If we become friends we won’t be strangers.” He told her.

“How can I trust you?” She said still suspicious.

“Humans are far too suspicious of everything. Walk with me in the carnival, I’ll stay a few feet away from you. Is that better? Or would you rather go back to those wild animals?” 

“Alright,” she told him as she felt that she had no other choice.

“First, what is your name?” he asked.

“M-Mia,” she carefully said. “And you?”

“Well Mia, I already told you, I’m the Nutcracker!” He responded. Mia thought something was off, surely, it was not his real name but she just brushed it off. She doesn’t know why but she felt as if she could trust him and follow him. It was just instincts.

They walked together into the carnival.

“Where to first?” The Nutcracker observed his surroundings and something flashed in his head. “Where has my head been, I forgot to turn on the carnival!” With a snap of fingers, the whole carnival light up. Beautiful colourful lights on the fence light up the place. The Ferris wheel also lit up and began turning and there was festive music playing. Mia was amazed by what she saw. She’s never seen anything like this before, at least not in person. 

“Wow! It’s beautiful!” She exclaimed in joy.

“Glad you like it,” he said as he looked upon her with a smile. “Let’s keep on walking,” he said. 

They walked beside the red tents only to stop. The Nutcracker eyed the cotton candy stand. He went near it and turned on the machine. He looked at her with a big smile.

“Care for some cotton candy?”

“I shouldn’t take candy from strangers,” Mia replied.

“Oh come on! You aren’t going to eat cotton candy in a carnival. That’s insulting.” He said looking offended. 

“Alright…” She said as she approached the cotton candy stand. He took the pink sugar from underneath the stand and poured it into the machine. He took a stick from the white vase next to the machine and proceeded to spin it round and round inside it. And like that he made large cotton candy. As he handed her the cotton candy she gladly accepted it with a smile.  Mia looked like a little kid excited for candy. The Nutcracker placed a hand out indicating they continue to walk.

“So Mia, what is it that you wish to accomplish in this life?” he asked her.

“I want to write stories to entertain and inspire people,” she replied.

“Well, that’s great! You know I was created by a story written from a human just like you.”

“But, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that so I stopped writing.” She said as she looked down.

“And why not?” Asked the Nutcracker.

“People, they say it won’t work. They say I won’t earn enough. Only a few get famous with writing they said.”

“Do believe that it won’t work?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see…” The Nutcracker stopped talking and stopped once again. It looks like there was something new he wanted to show her. 

“Do you fancy a gymnastic performance?” He asked her.

“Sure,” she simply replied.

The Nutcracker approached what looked like an ice statue of a woman and a man. He lightly tapped on the statue when they moved. Just like him, they became human. The woman had her red hair in a bun and wore a green tutu. The man had long black hair and wore a cobalt blue tank top and cobalt blue leggings. 

“Oh hello, Nutcracker! It’s been so long!” The woman said with extreme joy.

“I know! I have a favour to ask of you.” The Nutcracker asked. 

“Anything for you,” The man replied.

“Good, I would like to do a show for our friend Mia over there.” He said as he pointed towards Mia. As soon as they saw her they both waved with the biggest smiles Mia had ever seen before. 

“Alright, if you could take a seat, we’ll start right away.”The woman said. 

Both the Nutcracker and Mia took a seat on the red velvet seats. In front of them was a large stage. Mia looked around as they were the only ones seating. There were dozens of seats empty. She felt special at that moment. 

“Look, the show’s starting,” he said to bring her attention back to the stage. 

“Welcome to the show!” The woman screamed as she walked around the stage. 

“We are Taylor and Blake the gymnasts!” The man said.

They both clapped their hands from the audience.

The gymnasts looked at each other both nodding their heads. Mia looked at them carefully, she didn’t know what to anticipate. They had started with handstands and tumbling lines. They continued with somersaults and mid-air twists. Mia’s eyes sparkled as she watched the show.

“Amazing aren’t they?” The nutcracker asked her.

“They are!” She said not taking her eyes off of the stage. 

“When they were younger, they had this dream to become a gymnast.” 

“They made it!”

“Yes, they did, by working hard day and night. It was all practice but there is one important thing they did that lead them to their dream.” 

“What was it?” Mia responded as she now looked back at him.

“What could it be?” He answered with a smile as he turned back to watch the stage. 

“I want to know what it is?” She asked with determination.

“So you do want to realize that dream of yours and do have hope.” 

“If I had a solution I would have hope and keep working on it.” 

“I think you do know the solution, you have it in you.” He said to her. 

Mia was unsatisfied with his response but ended it here. She did not want to continue talking. Instead, she thought of his words. How was it that she already knew the solution? One of the gymnasts caught her attention by waving their arms towards. 

“For this last special trick we’ll need your friend,” they said. Mia pointed at the Nutcracker in confusion. The gymnasts nodded in denial. 

“No your other friend, the one on your neck.” They said.

Mia lowered her head to see her lion necklace. She looked at the Nutcracker in confusion. He smiled at her and his fingers again. A light grew from the charm. It grew bigger and bigger. The charm detached itself from the necklace and flew to the stage. It had turned into a full-fleshed lion by the time it arrived on stage. 

“A real lion!” Mia screamed in fear as she stood up.

“Don’t worry, he is your protective spirit.” He said next to her.

“My protective spirit?” 

“She asked for your friend, right? He is always with you to protect you not attack you.”

She regained her calm and sat back down. She had seen so many supernatural things in this carnival that she had started to get used to it. The gymnasts both had hoops which they placed across them. The lion hopped from hoop to the other. Each time, they had put in higher. No matter how high it was the lion still managed to get through it. 

“This lion is also incredible!” She exclaimed. 

“Yes, it is because he jumped. He didn’t think of whether he was going to make it or not. He just jumped.” The Nutcracker said. 

“You know what? I think I’m going somewhere with all that you’ve been saying.”

“Good.”

The show had ended and the gymnasts bowed to the audience. The lion roared, it was his way of thanking the audience. They both applauded again. 

“It was a great show!” Mia said as she approached them.

“Thank you! Oh, it was so much fun after such a long time.”

“Yes, we waited a long time to perform again.”  They replied. 

“Well well, it was great seeing you two again but I’m afraid we have to go. Lion get back in the necklace.” The Nutcracker ordered as he snapped his fingers again. The lion had gone back to the necklace the same way he had left. 

They both returned to their walk after biding their farewells to their friends. 

“Where are we going next?”

“The carousel!” He said with excitement.

They indeed arrived to the carousel. Mia was suspicious, everything he touched became alive.

“Are the horses becoming real horses too?” she asked.

“Why of course! Let’s go!” He said as he dragged her by the arm. They were both on a separate horse. The ride had started and like a normal carousel, it was spinning and the horses were going up and down. 

“Let the magic begin,” he said as he snapped his fingers. 

The horses were now alive but in place. They were attached to the ride so they could not go out of it. Not understanding that Mia had gotten scared and held tightly onto the horse. 

“They were tied by other people and can only go one way, round and round.” He said to her. 

The horses moved their legs and let out sounds that frightened Mia.

“I wanna get down,” she cried.

“Alright then, I’ll respect your choice.” The Nutcracker snapped his fingers and the horses turned back to stone and the ride had stopped. Mia sighed with relief and climbed down. 

“Let’s go somewhere else, shall we?” he said. She nodded and followed him.

As they strolled in the carnival, Mia spoke again. 

“Why were they so panic and scary?”

“They resent people, they don’t like them for tying them to a ride.”

“I guess I understand.” She said again.

The Nutcracker took a look at the big clock of the carnival and was startled. 

“Oh my! It’s already this late. I guess we have time for one last thing. Would you like to go on the Ferris wheel?”

“The Ferris wheel? Sure!” She simply answered. 

And like that, they headed towards the large Ferris wheel that could be seen from anywhere in this carnival.

“Is there something turning alive in there?” She asked once again out of fear and suspicion. 

“No, this ride is just for your enjoyment,” He said as he smiled genuinely with crinkled eyes. 

Mia felt like she could believe him. Her instincts told her he was trustworthy. 

They arrived at the magnificent Ferris wheel. Each cabin had decorative lights of all colours. The Ferris wheel was already turning. But with a snap of fingers, it stopped and the doors of a cabin opened in front of them.

“After you,’ he said as she entered the cabin. The Nutcracker entered at his turn and snapped his fingers to close the doors and start the ride. The Ferris wheel was turning slowly and you could watch the whole carnival from the window. Mia thought it was beautiful. 

“You know, I think I understand now. I’ve got the solution.” She said as she looked at the Nutcracker proudly.

“Tell me what you understood,” he said as he looked amused. 

“I was like those horses. I was tied by the words of these people and forgot...”

“Forgot what?”

“Forgot what I truly wanted.”

“And what is that?”

“Writing, for fun, for me and other people. It doesn’t matter whether they think I can do it or not. I will do it. Like that lion, I will jump into it. It’s not words that are going to stop me. If I don’t write, I’ll never know if I could have failed or succeeded.”

“That is true, I knew you’d understand. But do you know how those gymnasts were able to get to their dreams?” he asked her.

“It’s because they believed in themselves.” She said with a smile.

“Exactly! Now that you have learned the most important thing, you’ll be able to find your way home!” he said to her.

“I will?” She asked.

“Look around,” he said. 

In the blink of an eye, she was in front of her home. She stood in front of that white door with the number 356 written on it. It was her home. She turned around to see her lively neighbourhood.