The Thing in the Tent

We’d all been out to the Carnival,

Had chilled and thrilled and cried,

And Patsy laughed that she’d wet her pants

On the killer Monster Ride,

While Orville’s face was covered in floss

In a pink and sticky goo,

And I limped past the Penny a Toss

With something stuck to my shoe.

 

I’d won a horrible Voodoo Doll

That I tried to pass to Kate,

She said, ‘No fear, if I took that home

I would just lie there, awake!’

We’d had our fun on the Octopus

Though the Mouse had made me sick,

And the Big Wheel stopped in a passing cloud

At the height of a laughing fit..

 

A spider deep in the Ghost Train came

Unstuck in Patsy’s hair,

And Kate had shrieked, for Patsy had

No clue that it was there.

We threw it one to the other, first

To Orville, then to Jack,

But then it landed on some old dear

And gave her a heart attack!

 

We laughed and pranced and we danced beside

The sideshows - ‘Way to go!’

But Orville fumbled the rifle and

He shot some guy in the toe,

We had to run but were laughing there

So hard, and fit to bust,

That Richard ruptured himself out there,

And now he’s wearing a truss!

 

The time it had come to wander home

So we wiped off Orville’s goo,

But I had trouble in walking with

That thing, still stuck to my shoe.

I slid and wiped and I scraped at it

But nothing would make it budge,

Said Jack, ‘Just what do you think it is?’

I replied, ‘some sort of sludge.’

 

We got to the edge of the fairground

And the others wandered home,

But I was stuck, I couldn’t move,

I was standing there, alone.

And then my foot had begun to turn

Back to the lights and sound,

I felt myself, being impelled

By my shoe across the ground.

 

I tried to twist and I tried to turn

But my shoe was saying, ‘No!’

I had to follow wherever it went,

Wherever it wanted to go.

It took me back through the alleyways

Still lit with a thousand globes,

I felt a bit like a Brahman Bull

With a steel ring through my nose.

 

It dragged my foot through the mud and slush

And the other followed too,

I didn’t have much of a choice, I thought

As long as I wore the shoe,

It led me in to a darkened tent

With a dais, up on high,

Where a shadow sat in an old top hat

With a single gleaming eye.

 

The shadow opened its mouth to speak

And its teeth were long and sharp,

‘What have you brought me now to eat,

Some dross you found in the park?’

The voice was deep, was a muffled growl

And it shook the earthen floor,

The shoe was dragging me forward as

I turned for the flap of a door.

 

I felt a wrench and the shoe came off

So I hopped and ran like mad,

The growl of the shadow had freaked me out,

It had to be more than bad!

My father gave me a hiding when

He found that I’d lost my shoe,

He wouldn’t listen when I exclaimed:

‘You would have lost it, too!’

 

Next day the shoe was sat at my door

Its prints deep pressed in the lawn,

I couldn’t have put that shoe back on

If the Devil had blown his horn.

I took a stick and I picked it up

And dropped it straight in the bin,

I couldn’t go near a Carnival now,

I’m too attached to my skin!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Keith]

Another great story, The carnival is a fun place but I always feel uneasy among so many shady characters, so these horror tales from the carnival really resonate and amplify those fears. They bring out all sorts of emotions and I squirm while reading the tacky bits, your vivid descriptions take me right into that paddock. Superb write and another interesting carnival twist.

[Marie]

I wondered when he'd think of taking off his shoe. I still love carnivals...

[TL Boehm]

ooh this is a terrifying little tale. Carnivals are fun but there is this dark aspect about them and you have once again excelled at rooting that up and spinning a frightfully delightful story.

[SyberRose]

I love your imagery David...and of course your humor as always...i felt like i was stuck in the goo myself ha...
Nicely done...Rose:)