The Carnival

Chapter 4
Chapter 4

Chapter Description: Written by Mysterio

’Maybe it’s not as good as I planned!’ thought Janie. Her father was supposed to be working today, and it was only lunchtime. Why was he home so early? Janie panicked for a moment, wondering whether she should tell him the truth or make something up. She went out into the junk-filled garage where he was entering.

’Hi, Dad!’ said Janie, trying not to look nervous. ’Why are you home so early?’

The balding man had a dejected look on his face. ’Pumpkin, I ... oh, what’s the point of euphemism? I got laid off!’ He tossed his briefcase onto a pile of magazines carelessly. ’If only I had ...’ He muttered to himself for a moment. Janie had heard him complaining before about his rapid loss of hair. ’I need to talk to Mom, Janie, where is she?’

Janie realized that her mother’s car was still two blocks down the street. ’Um, she and Susan went to the carnival, Dad. I don’t know when they said they’d be back.’ She walked with him into the kitchen.

’So why’d you stay behind?’ said her father. He loosened his tie slightly. One of the little girls in the backyard, Carla, ran shrieking into the house, pursued by little Susie who had armed herself with a water pistol.

’I gotcha! I gotcha!’ she said as they chased each other around the table, then back outside.

’I see,’ said Sam. ’They left you to babysit while they took off.’

’Yeah, that’s right,’ said Janie, thanking God that her father had made up a story for her. ’I, uhh, think these are some neighbor’s kids or something. Mom didn’t say when she’d pick them back up, maybe later this evening. She was looking forward to spending some time at the carnival.’

’Without me?’

’Well, she thought that you’d be working today and tonight on that deal--’ Janie stopped herself before she made the situation worse. Her father walked into the living room and slouched on the couch, rubbing his forehead.

’Dad,’ she ventured, ’I have a sort of meeting-up with some friends of mine at the carnival tonight, too, and I was kind of wondering...’

’Great,’ he said. His hand blundered over to the remote and turned on the television. ’You want some money for the carnival, right?’ He took out his wallet and gave her a twenty. ’Don’t spend it all in one place.’

Janie wanted to ask him if he would drive, but she decided to leave him alone. This day was turning out to be a roller coaster of highs and lows. Hopefully her date--a DATE! she thought to herself--would change everything. And when she went to the carnival she would ask the Gypsy-looking woman if she had something to make Carla grow up into her mother again, but not Susan!

She decided to call her next-door neighbor Roxy Norton and see if she wanted to go to the carnival. Roxy had an older brother, Martin, who took her places when Susan couldn’t. She dialed her up and asked her mother to speak to Roxy.

’mmmm. Hi?’ came the sleepy voice of Roxy. She liked to sleep in during summer vacation. Her record was sleeping in past one-o’clock! Janie told her what she had told her father. Roxy thought it was a good idea, and after a few moments of silence on the phone, said that Martin agreed to take them both later, at three o’clock, because he had to go home temporarily. Then he’d find them later and take them home whenever they wanted.

’Great! see you at three!’ said Janie, then hung up the phone. She giggled to herself for finally getting a date and not worrying about Susan (or Carla) getting in the way!

The five-year-olds came into the house and complained about being hungry. Janie didn’t have much time, so she made them and herself some peanut butter sandwiches. She offered one to her father, but he declined, still flipping channels on the television.

Janie spent nearly an hour deciding what to wear. She finally settled on something casual, shorts and a bright tank top, because she didn’t want to dirty up her nicer dresses at the carnival. She went into the bathroom to wash her face. Drying it off, she noticed the bathtub, still full of the water that had turned Susie into a little girl and ended her problems.

’Well, bathtub-of-youth, I’m glad you helped me out, but I guess I’d better drain you.’ She reached into the murky water to pull out the plug. After only a few seconds of being unable to find it, she exclaimed ’What am I doing?!?’ She jerked her arm out of the water and began furiously scrubbing her arm dry with a towel. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. ’Am I getting younger?’ she worried. She looked the same to herself in the mirror. Of course she did, the Gypsie’s spell would keep her from thinking she was a different age! She inspected her clothing. It was hard to tell with the casual shorts, but they weren’t loose at all. She breathed an audible sigh of relief. ’Must have only taken a few weeks off me.’

By the time she was done, it was almost time for her to go to Roxy’s and take a trip to the carnival. She came back into the living room, where her father was watching a commercial for Rogaine with a pained expression on his face. She felt incredibly sorry for him. Then she had an idea.

’Dad? You want a beer or something?’ she offered.

’Oh, a beer would be nice,’ he said. Janie went into the kitchen and retrieved a beer bottle. Removing the cap, she put a single drop of the potion into the beer. ’Just a little younger,’ she thought to herself. Two drops had made Carla eleven years younger, ’so one drop will make him five and a half years younger,’ she guessed, back when he had hair. That will make him happy.

She gave her father his beer, and he began to sip from it. Janie wanted to watch him get younger, but it was time to go. ’Bye, Dad, I’ll be seeing you!’ she said, (hopfully happier!) Sam waved back to her non-commitedly. The last thing she saw before she left was Susan chasing Carla with the squirt gun again.

Waiting at Martin’s car was Martin and Roxy. Roxy’s white shirt and skirt stood out against her chocolate-brown skin, but Martin hardly looked like he was in a position to walk, let alone drive. He was the only person who slept in even later than Roxy! Janie greeted her friends and got into the back seat, but to her surprise, Roxy took the wheel!

’Roxy?’ asked Janie. ’I thought Martin was going to drive.’

’Hey, I’m almost sixteen, give me a break!’ said Roxy. ’I’ve got to learn how to do this some time.’ She started the car and checked everywhere for oncoming cars. She backed the car out very, very slowly.

’That’s good, Roxy,’ said Martin, suppressing a yawn, ’but you might want to try it a little faster next time.’

’Hey, I’m being careful!’ retorted Roxy. ’It’s all these other jerks on the road who drive fast!’

Oh, man, thought Janie. This is going to be a looong ride...