Polaris by Beth Bowland

again, and he quickly gulped for air before he was immersed. A few seconds later he found himself floating in a shallow pond. He stood and waded his way out before collapsing against a tree.
    In the distance he heard music and got up to follow where the sound came from. As he neared a clearing, he saw a dim light in the distance.
    “A closed-down carnival?” Aaron whispered to himself, as he wrung out different parts of his shirt. “There are no carnivals this time of year in Bixie. Where am I?”
    Aaron stopped at the entrance and looked for the ticket booth. There was none, only a sign that read, “Your adventure begins with your first step.” When he looked down, he saw a red line. He heard children laughing in the distance.
    He placed one foot over the line and looked around the area. He brought his other foot across. When his foot crossed over the line, the amusement park lit up with lights and the rides seemed to start up on their own.
    Aaron slowly moved forward, looking for whoever had turned on everything.
    “Excuse me, young man,” a voice said from behind him.
    Aaron turned to find a clown standing inside a booth that read “tickets”. “Where did that come from?” Aaron asked. He silently questioned if he’d somehow missed it when he entered. Although he knew that he had not.
    Aaron approached the clown. “Um, I guess I somehow missed you on the way in.” He looked the clown in the eyes. No amber sparks.
    “No problem, young man,” the clown said. “Most do.” He smiled.
    “How much are the tickets?” Aaron asked.
    “They’re free,” answered the clown.
    “Okay, thanks,” Aaron said as he turned and walked away.
    “Excuse me, young man,” the clown yelled.
    Aaron stopped and returned to the booth.
    The clown squeaked a horn in Aaron’s face and tossed confetti. “You didn’t get your ticket.”
    Aaron’s eyebrows cinched together. “But you said it was free.”
    “Yes, it is free, but you still need a ticket,” the clown said. He wiggled his massive ears and clapped his hands together above his head before bringing them down and stretching them toward Aaron.
    Aaron’s eyes went to the clown’s hands, back to the clown’s eyes, then back to his hands again. The clown opened up his hands and in them was a bright orange ticket.
    Aaron retrieved the ticket. “Thank you.”
    The clown curtsied and then vanished.
    “What?” Aaron looked over and behind the counter. The clown was gone.
    He looked down at his ticket and read the words out loud.
    Experience the thrilling excitement
    of the one-of-a-kind carousel!
    Close the hundredth eye of Argus
    and watch life abound.
    “My clue?” Aaron said out loud to no one. He continued to roam around, passing by several rides that were in full motion, but seeing no other people. He walked past a corndog stand. The delicious smell caused his stomach to grumble and ache.
    “The clown said it was free, so I’m sure he meant the food, too.” Aaron quickly glanced around before grabbing one of the corndogs from the stand and slathering it with mustard. He bit into it. “Mmm … so good.” He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and continued his search for the carousel.
    Once he passed the bumper cars, which mysteriously moved around unmanned bumping into themselves, he saw the glowing golden lights of the carousel directly in front of him. The large carousel, covered in thousands of twinkling lights, stood majestically as a centerpiece for the park. The slowly rotating circular platform held throne-like seats for riders, along with galloping horses, tigers, giraffes, and zebras. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors covered the inner walls, and rustic wood planks covered the floor.
    Aaron took the final bite of the corndog and tossed the stick into a nearby trashcan. He then retrieved the orange ticket from his pocket and read it once again.
    Experience the thrilling excitement
    of the one-of-a-kind carousel!
    Close the hundredth eye of Argus
    and watch life