Devils, Carneys and clowns

2 (the Carny)

It had to be about 6:30pm. Stores were starting to shut down, lights where beginning to be turned off, and people stopped walking down the street. The sun set was gone and the only thing left was a clear full move crowded by clouds. It was a slow day, not a single person noticed me except for that strange man. With that thought coming back into my mind, I looked down at that paper he gave me. "Jack-of-all times circus. That's all it says," I muttered to myself. I flipped the page over to see of there was any other information on it, "I need you, kitten, follow the signs," said the page. That's odd, I didn't remember there being any writing on there before.

I placed the page down back into my pocket, and started walking down the street. But with every step I took, I started to get closer to a line up of colourful balloons that all said 'follow' on them. "Whatever you say, balloon," I said to myself.

I didn't have to walk that far to get to where I needed to go. I started to hear oddly turned childish songs like 'pop goes the weasel.' And that's when I saw it. I huge colourful tent with lights, balloons and everything. I know the a pot of traveling circuses come here, but I've never been phased. When I got to closer to the tents, I had to walk passed a dark tree, "shows over, kid." Said a man. I turned towards the tree he was standing under. He looked tired as he puffed on his cigarette. He looked as if he was no older than me, wearing a messy form of formal wear and ruffed up hair.
"I'm not here to see the show," I said. "I'm here to see the 'devil'."
The man stepped on his cigarette, then stepped walked towards me.
"The devil often thinks of me as the devil, but in my point, he has no authority. Nothing but a fancy clown if you ask me," the man held the bridge of his nose, "sorry about that." The man held out his hand for a handshake, "I can't remember my real name, but they all just call me Fallout. Nothing but a carny here working under the dark shadow that you're looking for." 'Fallout' took my hand, then lead me into the circus area. "I'll show you to him, right this way."

All the lights in the grounds were so bright, it lit up everything even though it was pure dark outside. We passed a lot of strange looking people. Fallout held up his hand and started pointing some of them out, "You see that guy right there," the man was dressed in a clown suit. "Carney. And do you see that lady coming out of that tent?" He pointed at a well dressed woman, "clown. Nothing here is what it is. A clown isn't a clown unless they were given that title, however you don't want to be a clown, you want to run this. You want to be the devil." Fallout took me outside the only place that wasn't made up by a tent. "Well, this is it," he said. "You fate waits there. Hope you get a good start, if you start off as a clown you might as well walk, alright?" I shook my head yell, but how does he know I'm applying here?
I held one of my hands up, but before I could say, he pushed it back down, "I know who you're doing here because Noone here knows what the devil does or who he is. Now stop wasting time and go in." Fallout turned his back on me and probably walked back to his tree. In the distance I could see him pull out his pack of cigarettes and light another one up.

I turned towards the old beat up door, then gave a little knock, "devil? Jack? Could I see you?" The door opened on its own. I hesitantly stepped inside to the dimly light building. The only thing I could see was a candle sitting on an old wooden desk, at the other side of the room.
"Jack? Are you here?" I asked again. And then is when I felt a tap on my shoulder, "I'm always here when called," he whispered. It startled me so much that I jumped back in a blind force of fear. Jack chuckled a bit before making his was towards the desk with the candle. "Nice to see that you came to fund yourself here," he said as he pulled out two glasses from underneath his chair. He motioned me to sit at the desk with him, and so I did. As I sat down, I saw him pour both glasses with a brown liquid, "how was begging today?" He asked.
I shook my head, "terrible, that is why I'm here. I can't-" he slammed one of the glasses down close to me. "I can't take it no more," I said. "I Want purpose. I want to be someone."

Jack took a drink out of his cup, "well you've come to the right place. How soon could you start? Do you have qualifications? What is your home address and postal code?" He said with a smirk.
I gave him and evil eye and picked up my drink as well. Without thinking, I poured the whole thing down my throat. If tasted like gas, and burned the hell out of my throat.
"No need to drink and forget so soon, but I like your courage. I'm starting you out as a carny. I don't trust them, but they're smarter than a clown. Make me proud kitten, don't disappoint me." He placed his glass down, and grabbed the bottle from under his chair to take another drink. "Its getting late now isn't it? I had a feeling that you would come back, so I already had a tent prepared just for you. It's the last one down the row right before the forest. Remember that each member is responsible for putting up and taking down their own tents. You'll starts training tomorrow." I smiled at what he had told me. And from his look, he seemed rather glad to see me happy. He raised his bottle to me as I got up. "Now, you might want to leave. I've been knows to get naked after a few drinks," Jack started laughing like a mad man. I quickly backed out of the room, opened the door, and found myself back outside.

As I walked around the circus, I saw a little sign that read 'carny residents,' this must be my new home.