Maze of Mirrors

Where your reflection is not what it seems.

Screams of delight filled the air mingled with the smells of popcorn, hot dogs, candyfloss and roasted chestnuts. It was mid autumn and The Autumn Fair came to town. People had brought their dogs and children, flashes of colourful stands and tents, crazy rides, haunted houses and bouncy castles decorated the old field. It was chilly, but not uncomfortably so, it was cold enough to need a jacket and scarf, but not cold enough to complain about and want to stay inside.

I saw two people wave me over from beside a pancake van, I walked over and we said our hellos before starting to explore the fair. The stalls were selling their own products perfect for Christmas presents, so we decided to do our Christmas shopping here. 

We came to the part of the Fair with rides and bouncy castles, we walked past an old man outside a tent. He beckoned us over.

"Hello there." he said cheerfully, he was thin and spindly, he had grey hair and was balding in places. His eyes were a blue-grey and he wore simple clothing.

"Hey."
"My name is Lucifer." he said introducing himself, we all introduced ourselves politely and he told us about his fairground activity. He ran a Maze of Mirrors, it was simple, we just had to find our way out and we got a prize, the prize he would not tell us, but he did say that this was no ordinary maze and that things were not what they looked like.

We entered the maze and he wished us luck. I put my left hand on the the mirror to my left, my dad had told me the way to get out of a maze was to keep your left hand on a side and follow your hand, never breaking contact, whether it worked was about to be proven. We eventually decided to make it a race, we were going to split up. 

I started walking again and the room went black. The lights came on, the floor, which had originally been wooden beams had changed to a reflective floor. I looked up and saw, what can only be described as a corpse come walking towards me. No, not walking, running. I took a step back and started to turn but it was already upon me, I lifted my hand in front of my face to protect myself, but I was never hit, the corpse went straight through me. I took a deep breath and remembered what Lucifer had said, things aren't always what they- Wait, Lucifer? I've heard that name before...
His name was the least of my worries, I had a race to win. I came to a fork in the maze, and went left, keeping to my dad's rule, when I saw a kitten walking towards me, it was so cute I wished it was real. It started to rub against my leg and I realised, it was real, there was a kitten trapped in the maze. I went down to pick it up when it shot off behind me. I heard a growl and saw a huge Alsatian, it was black except for streaks of brown on it's hind legs. It ran towards me, if the cat was real, then the dog must be too. I spun around and started to run,  I heard it snap on my heels, and suddenly it was in front of me, it had jumped right through me and carried on running. 

My heart was beating madly, I put my hands on my knees as I took in deep breaths, why did I think that was real? I am such an idiot. The maze threw other things at me, a snake, a swarm of insects, a small girl with a savaged face, a man with a Chelsea's smile. 
I heard a grating noise and saw a mirror slide across the floor behind me stopping me from going backwards. I turned and saw a mirror in front of me do the same. I touched each wall thinking it was a hologram, but they were solid. I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. Nothing. I turned. Nothing there either. And then I looked up, on the ceiling was a clown. A clown seeming to defy gravity and crawl on the ceiling. This was when I screamed. 
As a child I saw a clown for the first time at a circus, I don't remember what happened very well but the clown had called me up to assist him. But something went wrong, the clown was meant to jump from a platform and over a floor of spikes and I was meant to throw pies at him, the more pies that hit him the more prizes I got. He jumped too early. The people on the other end of the wire were not attached, and he jumped. His face was mangled along with his body, blood covered every part of him. He started to scream along with every other person in the Circus. The people working in the circus got a stretcher and the first aiders took him away. He glared at me and started screaming about how it was my fault. I had done this to him, my mother took me away, but not before he said he would find me and disfigure me in the same way he thought I did to him. 

I backed up into the wall, screaming and shouting at the top of my lungs. The clown wasn't a normal clown, he had sharp needle-like yellowing teeth and blood around his mouth, a sinister grin on his face.His clothes were ripped and bloody, but there was no doubt he was a clown. And then I remembered, this wasn't real, he isn't real, i'm safe, i'm safe. I sat on the floor and curled up, my head in my hands, crying, he isn't real, he isn't real. 
He landed in front of me with a thump, they had sound effects too? I hid my face in my knees. He isn't real. He isn't real. And then his hand gently caressed my face.

"Do you remember me child?"

Reviews

[selkietales]

Pretty creepy :P Why would be clown instantly blame her, though, wasn't she just off to the side or whatever? Seems more reasonable to blame the people not holding on to the wire.

[Beverly Jane]

thats crazy...