The Man

A bratty girl enjoys her first time at a carnival until she decides to ditch her family out of boredom. She doesn't realize the dangers that other people can do to her until she faces true fear.

A man with his face hidden by the darkness lurks in the shadows keeping watchful eyes on each person who passes by. He gets strange looks from teenagers and adults from the disturbing feeling running down their spines as they walk by. The man’s trained eyes immediately lock on any child that is wandering alone. Once he discovers his next victim, they disappear from sight.

                A family with seven children walks through a crowded carnival that is being held in an open field near a farm with a large, red barn. The youngest girl in the family has a smile so big that it nearly takes up her entire face. This is her first time visiting a carnival and she can’t wait to run off and enjoy all of the rides. Before she can run off, she is stopped in her tracks by the demanding, yet concerning voice of her father.

                “Wait a second, Dawn, you can’t go running off just yet.”

                She rolls her eyes as she turns to face him with a pout on her face and a matching scowl. Her father always seems to interrupt her when she is about to do something fun. She points at all the colorful and spinning rides behind her where she can hear all of the cheerful and frightened screams.

                “Why? I’ve been waiting weeks for this carnival and if I don’t ride on any of these rides I will be made fun of by the entire school.”

                He lets out a sigh as he hands the infant he is holding to his wife who is standing beside him smoking a cigarette. She takes their son from him and drops the cigarette on the ground and steps on it. Her father kneels in front of her and places a hand on her right shoulder.

                “I don’t want you getting lost; Donnie and Joanna are going to stay with you, alright?”

                She glances from her father’s worried face to her older brother and sister’s faces. Joanna, her teenage sister, is on her cell phone texting someone with a smile on her face. Donnie, her pre-teen brother, is chewing on his thumbnail and scratching flakes of dandruff off of his scalp.

                Feeling slightly offended that he thinks she can get lost by herself; she turns back to her father with a scowl on her face as she crosses her arms over her chest in the typical “Are you kidding me” stance.

                 “I’ll be fine on my own.”

                The hand on her shoulder tightens which makes her internally wince from the slight pain. His forehead wrinkles as he narrows his green eyes at her.

                “You’re going with Donnie and Joanna and you’ll do as they say or else we’re going straight home.”

                She grits her teeth together and mutters a few curse words she has heard from her mother, when she’s intoxicated.

                “Okay, I’ll go with them.”

                He stands to his feet and he pulls his leather wallet out of his back pocket. He searches through it for a moment and pulls out two five dollar bills and two twenty dollar bills. He splits the money accordingly and gives half to Joanna and his eldest son, William.

                “William, since you're actually responsible unlike you're brothers and sisters, you go with Maria and Lizzie and all of us will meet back here at five,” He pulls up his sleeve showing his silver wrist watch. “Which is in three hours, now go have fun.”

                The two groups of siblings nod their heads as they split up to do different activities. Dawn sighs and follows behind Donnie and Joanna as she studies each crack in the pavement. She bumps into Donnie’s back when she isn't paying attention and glares at him as he turns around.

                “Watch where you’re going, Donnie!”

                He narrows his eyes at her as he crosses his arms over his chest. Joanna turns as well and glances at their younger sister with an annoyed look.

                “Maybe you should pay attention more,” He says.

                “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

                Joanna rolls her eyes. “Just shut your mouth and let’s get something to eat.”

                As her two older siblings continue walking, Dawn knits her eyebrows together in thought. They’re going to ride rides first, not get food. They can get food later after all of their energy is gone. She glares at their backs and runs around the two of them so she’s in front of them which make them stop. She slams her right foot on the ground and looks both of them dead in the eye.

                “We’re riding rides first, not getting food.”

                Joanna places her hands on her hips. “We’re in charge, not you and we say that we’re getting food first, besides we never had breakfast since you wanted to get here so early.”

                Dawn grits her teeth together as she clenches her fists out of anger. She absolutely hates it when she’s told what to do, especially if it’s one of her siblings ordering her around. She takes a deep inhale of air and shuts her mouth making her cheeks pop out. Her brother and sister roll their eyes and shake their heads since they know exactly what she’s trying to do.

                “Oh great, now she’s going to hold her breath,” Donnie said.

                Joanna crosses her arms over her chest and leans her weight on her left leg. “Well we aren’t like dad; we aren’t going to give into her temper tantrum.”

                Donnie nods his head in agreement and continues to watch their younger sister’s cheeks begin to turn red due to the lack of oxygen. After another second, she opens her mouth and gasps for air. Donnie and Joanna cover their mouths and snicker making Dawn’s entire face begin to glow as red as a stop light out of embarrassment.

                Dawn glares angrily at them after she catches her breath. “I wish you two would disappear!”

                They roll their eyes, not bothered by her comment at all since she says it to them all the time. Dawn falters slightly when she notices that what she said had no effect on them. Joanna leans down and grabs her by her wrist, tightening her hold when she tries to pull away but doesn't succeed.

                “Listen, even if you want us to disappear we can’t, so just deal with us for a couple of minutes while we eat and then we can ride some rides.”

                The nine-year old stares at her older sister’s angry expression with a slight scared look on her face as she nods her head. Joanna lets go of her wrist and stands up straight as she walks to the closest food stand with Donnie. Dawn glares at her sister’s back as an idea slowly forms in her mind.

                As Donnie and Joanna wait in a line with five people in front of them, Dawn walks behind them and quickly snatches the money out of her sister’s slightly opened purse reaching past her waist. Smirking to herself at her accomplishment, Dawn backs away from them quietly until she’s a foot away from them then sprints to the first ride that catches her eye, which happens to be bumper cars.

                After she played on the bumper cars, she ran to a ring toss game but couldn't get any of the rings on the bottles. Then, she sprinted to the Carousel and climbed on one of the white horses. Once the Carousel came to a stop, she made her way to a roller coaster that travels 50 mph. When she got off she felt like she might throw up her stomach so, she decided to ride on the Ferris wheel last so her stomach can settle.

                After what feels like hours, she yawns tiredly from all of the running around and having fun that she has done as she walks to a stand selling funnel cakes. Her mouth starts to water at the sight of sugar-covered pastry. She steps in line and is about to order, since the person in front of her just receives theirs, when a voice stops her.

                “Want my extra funnel cake?”

                She smiles widely at the thought of getting a funnel cake for free and nods her head vigorously as she turns around to face him. She snatches it from him greedily and munches away at it while getting powered sugar on her shirt.

                Dawn smiles up at him with her cheeks filled with funnel cake. “Thanks mister, so far you’re the only person I can stand today.”

                He smiles at her and pats the girl’s head with his large hand. When he removes his hand from her head, he glances around suspiciously for a moment before locking eyes with her.

                “Where’s your family?”

                Her eyes narrow at the thought of her family that won’t let her have any fun. She stuffs the rest of the funnel cake in her mouth and swallows it, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

                “Who cares, they’re not nice like you.”

                “Well, would you like to come with me? I know a something you’ll love.”

                Her childish smile slips back on her face as she looks up at him with her large green eyes. 

“What is it?”

                “You’ll have to come with me to find out.”

                She nods her head and slips her hand in his when he extends his hand towards her. They walk for a while, passing by every ride and booth making Dawn begin to grow worried. There isn't anything more fun than the carnival. Is there? Without paying attention, they’re now in the gravel-covered parking lot standing in front of a white van. He reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out his keys while fumbling with them for a moment before finding the right key and unlocking the door then slides it open.

                Dawn takes a nervous step back as he turns towards her with a disturbing, yellow toothy smile. She furrows her brows as she tries to figure out what is so enjoyable about an empty van.

                “Why are we out here? A car isn't fun.”

                “You'd be surprised, let me show you.”

                Her eyes widen in fear as she steps back while he approaches her. As she steps backwards, she trips over her own feet making her fall on her butt. He grabs her by the front of her red sweatshirt and tosses her in the van. Dawn immediately jumps up and tries to get out but he blocks her way out with his overweight body. When he grabs her by her left wrist to shove her back, she bites his hairy wrist like it’s a cookie making him scream in pain when she rips off some of his skin.

As he’s distracted by his bleeding wrist, she jumps out of the van, noticing his red-veined, angry eyes scowling at her. She lets out a scream of fear as she flees back to the carnival without looking back at his gorilla-like running form. She passes by several people that stare at her with annoyance as she’s on the hunt for her parents.

Her luck turns around when she spots all of her brothers and sisters and parents yelling her name in various directions. All she sees is the back of all of their heads but that is good enough for her at the moment.

Just as she’s about to call out to them, a sweaty hand wraps around her mouth smothering her screams. The same man from before chuckles that makes goose bumps form over her pale skin. He throws her under his arm like a sack of potatoes while keeping a hand over her mouth as she thrashes in his hold to get free.

Dawn looks at each person they pass by dead in the eyes but all of them ignore her and continue on. How could someone just stand around and watch a little girl being abducted? When he arrives at his vehicle, he slips in the driver’s seat and tries to buckle her in the passenger seat but she keeps pushing his hands away. He grows annoyed with her resistance and slaps her across the face which makes her cheek glow red from the force. When he notices her moment of shock, he quickly buckles her in and turns his body to the steering wheel.

 Tears fill her eyes as she looks back in the direction where she sees her family still searching and calling for her. This is the last thing she sees as the man pulls out of his parking space and drives off.