Lost

Lost. That’s how I feel. I don’t know where, or who I am. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness is that I felt extremely dizzy.

I took a second to look around where I am, and noticed it was nighttime. I could tell by how bright the lights are. Lights? Wait, that means I must be in a city. But this place didn’t just have lights, it was an explosion of lights. I stood up, my legs felt weak and tired. Not knowing where to go, I picked up my legs and started to walk closer to the lights. I walked past a row of trees and on the other side, was a world full of mind-boggling brightness. I was at a carnival. I ventured further into the crowd. I wondered what time it was, but decided to wait a bit. I continued into the sea of people and heard someone call my name. 

“Bob!” it yelled. I quickly turned around, but I saw nor heard anyone. Was it just my imagination? Or had someone really called my name? 

I didn’t know. I shrugged it off and continued going. Soon, I noticed that many people were leaving. I didn’t pay much attention because it was night and many people would probably start heading home. But then I realized that everyone was exiting the carnival. I followed the people to the entrance, but just as I got there, I tripped and fell on a piece of wire. My head hit the ground and I instantly felt a spasm of pain in my leg. I tried to pick myself up from the ground but my ankle wouldn’t let me. 

The sky darkened and I lay there, unable to move. I heard the squeak of a gate, and a loud boom as it closed. I didn’t know what was going on. Then it hit me, the carnival had closed for the day. 

The lights began to dim until it was black. Just before the lights went out, I looked at a poster that said: “Opens on Sunday and Saturday. Weekdays not open.” I looked at my watch and it read “Sunday, July 11th, 12:04”. Just then, my watch died. 

Just my luck, I thought, of course when I need it, it’s dead. With my ankle throbbing of pain, I got up and gingerly pushed pressure on it. I winced as my ankle shot a shock of pain. Regardless of how much it hurt, I went on. I remembered I had a phone, but wondered if it was dead or not. I grabbed it out of my pocket and found it was at 93%. Phew. I went through my contacts and phoned my mom. No signal. Of course, there isn’t WiFi out here. I was stranded out here, in this carnival with no signal. I used the flashlight on my phone to find where I was. I was near a hotdog stand and some rides with four round cups. I didn’t want to waste the battery from my phone so I quickly took shelter in one of the cups and closed the lid. I sat there in the darkness, collecting my thoughts. 

So, I am stranded here, wherever “here” is, with no one, not any friends or family, or ANYONE. And the carnival doesn’t open in 6 days. 

Just as I was about to go out to find food, little droplets of rain started to fall. I thought that if I moved quickly, I would find some food and return to my shelter. I scrambled out of the cup and ran to the hotdog stand; took some hotdogs and ran further towards another food stand. This time it was soda and popcorn. I grabbed some and went back. 

Suddenly, without warning, the rain poured down. It felt as if someone just dunked a whole tank of ice cold water on me. I ran on the muddy ground and slipped inside the cup. As I sat there listening to the rain, I munched on a hot dog. It tasted cold and raw, but it was all I had for now. I cracked the lid open and looked outside. I saw the entrance but it was sealed shut. There was no way of getting out through the gate. I peered over to the walls, they were all  too tall and smooth to get any footing. So I really was stranded. I hoped that someone would come back to check, but in this weather, I don’t think anyone would come out. The rainwater started to trickle in, so I closed the lid. I planned to stay awake the whole night to think of an idea to escape, but I felt my eyes droop. I quickly snatched my phone and scanned for the time. It was 2 a.m. As the storm continued outside, my eyes fell down and everything became dark again. 

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I woke up to a sound. I don’t know who or what made it, but I peeked out the lid of the cup. The rain had stopped. The ground was full of mud. I gently stepped out and found that all the food in the cup had gone bad. I wasn’t hungry anyways. My shoes sploshed in the mud with each step I took. 

I checked my phone again, and it was 11 a.m. It was Monday and I would normally be going to school, but since I was stranded here, I couldn’t. A few hours passed by without any activity. 

3 p.m. now, I ate some popcorn and drank a can of soda. 

6 p.m.: I went for a walk in the mud as the sky darkened. 

9 p.m.: I returned to my cup and took shelter for the night. It had been a long, boring day. I survived almost a whole day in this disgusting dump. 

As I got ready to get some shut-eye for the night, I thought to myself: “When will I get out of this endless abyss.” and fell asleep. 

Boom! A heavy tree crashed on the lid of the cup, breaking it into pieces. I immediately sat up with a bolt. I looked around, there was no tree and the lid was completely fine. It had all been a nightmare. I heaved the lid up and crawled out. My ankle was still sprained. The sun was blazing, birds were chirping, all seemed at peace. I waltzed to the food court in the middle of the carnival and picked up some stale popcorn and bottled water. Shoving the food into my mouth, I took a walk around the carnival. All the rides we re closed for the weekdays. I wandered around the area until I found an interesting ride. It was a circular shaped track with the roller coaster cars inside. I stared at it for a couple seconds and began to explore other rides, but something stopped me from going any further. 

The flashbacks of the night I had fell unconscious suddenly struck in my head. I had gone on this exact ride. I got unbelievably dizzy and sat down in a corner of the carnival. I fell unconscious right after. So that’s what happened, I got too dizzy. How could I be this stupid? I knew I couldn’t handle dizzy rides, but I still went on one. What was going on in my head? Feeling tired, I went back to my cup. I needed to start thinking of a plan, I couldn’t stay in this scum for another 5 days! I sat down inside my shelter and began to think. 

After some time, I thought of an escape plan. What if I pushed the hotdog stand against the gate and climbed over it? No, that won’t work, the stand won’t take my weight. If I broke it, there would be no more cold and soggy hot dogs to eat anymore. I needed something tall and sturdy I could climb on. Then an idea flew into my head. This is a carnival! There must be ladders to fix the rides, right? Why haven’t I thought of that before? That was it! I needed to find a shed or some type of storage area. I climbed out of the cup and began to search. Before long, I came across an old looking shed. It was quite big and dusty looking with bunches of moss on the side. I slowly took a step forward and creaked opened the door. 

Inside was dusty and full of cobwebs. It seemed that no one had cleaned this place in several years. I cautiously walked inside and found many mechanical tools. Then I spotted it. A ladder boarded on the side of the wall. I grabbed the sides of the ladder and pulled it down. It was heavy and I strained to keep it upright. I carried the ladder out of the shed and back to my cup. If this mission was successful, I would be out of the carnival and into an unknown world. I would probably be out there for a long time, so I needed food and water. I went to the nearby food stands and gathered food and drinks, as well as a sack to put them in. I slung the sack over my shoulder and grabbed the ladder. I placed the ladder against the gate and climbed up. I went over the gate and dropped down. I was officially outside the gate, and into an unknown place. 

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