The World Inside My Head

The carnival arrived in a town on Sunday. It was filled with many attractions and strange but fun acts. It was spectacular at night and all of the lights shone from afar like a Christmas tree. The most interesting thing about the carnival, though was it didn’t really exist.

“Jamie, what have I told you about wandering?” Michael chastised.

Jamie sighed, “That I shouldn’t do it. But why? We’re already dead.”


Michael scowled, “I’ve told you this a million times. The dead can still be hurt and there are worse things than lingering here on Earth.”


Jamie frowned, “Like what?”


“Well for one we could move on and I for one am happy here,” Michael said.

Jamie scowled, “This life is BORING! What’s wrong with moving on anyway?”


“You don’t know if you’ll end up in limbo, heaven or hell. That’s what’s wrong,” he said firmly.

His sister rolled her eyes, “You act like dad Mike, but you aren’t him.”


“I know! I know,” Michael said.

The thing was, their father had passed away a long time ago, but unlike them he had moved on. This was Michael’s constant fear. That he would lose his sister like he had lost his dad. That was why he was so hard on her. He didn’t mean to be, but that’s just how it happened.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cole was part of the ghost carnival and he was in charge of the ferris wheel. He had blonde hair with frosty white tips on his bangs. His eyes were the darkest green and he was 5’8.

Like many people in the carnival he had people he cared about. His girlfriend, Lucinda was one of those people. His view point was similar to Michael’s, he didn’t want her to pass on, for fear they would be separated.

Cole had a little sister, Gretchen, who was seven. She had blonde hair as well, but hers was a shade lighter than Cole’s. Her hair was almost a snow blonde, a color that suited her very well. Her eyes were am icy blue and she wore a light blue sun dress. She meant the world to Cole and he protected her like a mother hen.

At the moment Cole was at his station, watching the ferris wheel go round and round. Gretchen ran up to him then and said, “Big brother why is there a human girl riding the tea cups?”

That threw Cole for a loop. Humans never saw their carnival and it was inconceivable for them to ride their attractions.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw Gretch?”
 She nodded and Cole told her to follow him. He headed for the tea cups. Once there, he saw with horror that a human girl had indeed wandered into their carnival. She was spinning in one of the cups. Cole frowned and went up to the ghost manning the ride.

“Kevin,” Cole said through gritted teeth.

The older man frowned and looked at Cole. “What’s wrong, Coke?”

“It’s Cole,” he said annoyed.

“Why is there a human in our carnival?”


Kevin frowned, “Where?”


Cole slapped his forehead. The old man’s age was clearly affecting him. He didn’t even realize a human was riding on the tea cups.

“There,” he said pointing at the girl.

Kevin shook his head, “She’s not alive. If she were how could she have gotten in?”
 Cole sighed and took a good look at her. He saw a rosy glow of life in her cheeks and he could tell she was alive because she didn’t have gray eyes. Gray eyes were the one sure sign to tell if someone was dead or not. 
 “Kevin, that’s a human girl! Look at her eyes!”

Kevin looked and he almost fell on the ground. “Wow! She is alive! How did she get in?”
 Cole shook his head, “I don’t know, but if it weren’t for my sister that girl would have discovered our secret!”


“You’re off the hook for now, but I’m watching you,” Cole said pointing at the old man.

He sighed, “Okay.”


“Come on Gretch, let’s go tell the boss. We need to let him know that there’s a human here.”
 His sister trailed after him like a loyal puppy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Shawn was the carnival’s boss or the head honcho as he liked to be called. He was in his office, talking to Zeke on the phone about buying a ghost elephant. Currently he was trying to get more attractions that would appeal to the dead. Everyone loved elephants. 


He was bargaining with him for a decent price, but so far the price was still high. His door burst open then and he let out a sigh. Which of his ghosts would be that rude? Cole he thought.
“Shawn! We have a problem.” 


“That’s Mister Price to you, Cole.”

Cole sighed, “Okay Mister Price, we have a problem.”


Shawn held up a finger, “Hold on a moment Cole.”


Cole let out an exaggerated groan.

“Cole,” he said dangerously.

Cole nodded and kept quiet.

“Zeke I have an emergency, I’ll have to call you back.” Zeke told him he understood, but that if he didn’t call back soon, he would already have a better buyer for the elephant. Shawn couldn't let that happen, so he agreed he would call as soon as possible. He hung up the phone and looked at Cole.

“There’s a human in our carnival,” he said with urgency.

“What? How!” He said anger leaking out.

“I don’t know how! Gretchen discovered her riding the tea cups. We have to make sure she leaves and never comes back.”


“Don’t worry Cole, I have just the thing for that.”
 Cole smiled and Shawn looked in his office for the ectoplasm mirror. After looking for a couple of minutes he found it. “Let’s go,” he said and walked out of his office. 


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I heard Cole found a human girl in the carnival,” Jamie said to Michael.

Michael frowned, “How did a human get in?”

“That’s the big mystery, no one knows.”

“Where was she last seen? I want to see this human,” he said.

“The tea cups,” Jamie said.

“Let’s hurry up then.”


By the time Michael and Jamie made it to the tea cups, Shawn, Cole and Gretchen were there. Shawn was talking to the girl and their conversation could be heard from far away.

“So you’re saying you have always been able to see ghosts?”
 The girl nodded.

“And that you didn’t even realize this was a ghost carnival, because we all look so lively?”
 Another nod.

Shawn unclenched his jaw. “Look miss, we don’t want any trouble. If you would be so kind as to never repeat what you saw, I wouldn’t need to use this mirror.”


She laughed, “I would never tell anyone. If I did I’d be admitted to an insane asylum.”

Shawn loosened up. “Thanks. If you want you could ride and partake in more of the

attractions. This place is dead a lot of the time.”
 She laughed. “I might take you up on your offer.”
“Good. Cole see that our guest is taken care of,” Shawn said. He walked off then and Cole shrugged.

“Well it looks like that girl just stumbled upon our carnival on accident. There’s no crisis. Let’s go Jamie.” 


Jamie nodded and the two of them left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Where do you want to go next?” Cole asked.

The girl didn’t say anything for a moment, then said, “Something’s been bugging me.”


“What?” He asked.

“Why is a grim reaper following me?”


Cole’s face blanched. That meant this girl would die soon. He didn't want to tell her the truth, it would break her heart. He knew he had to though. Cole let out a sigh and said, “I think it means you’re going to die.”

Cole watched as the girl’s face paled. She looked like she was going to faint.

“Actually I’m here to pass the carnival onto the next life,” a low voice said.

Cole whirled around and saw a young man with brown hair and a black robe with a hood standing near him.

“What, but why?” He asked.

The grim reaper sighed, “Your carnival has been trying for centuries to stay here, but it’s time for everyone to go to their rightful places.”

Cole felt a shiver run down his spine. What if he got separated from Gretchen or Lucinda? He couldn’t handle that. “Please don’t do this, I can’t be away from my little sister and girlfriend.”


“Ah, a spirit who is still clinging to life. I’ve seen your kind before. Look kid, you need to move on. If you’re with your sister and girlfriend great, if not too bad. That’s just the way life is.”


Cole glared at the grim reaper, “You can’t be much older than me dude. Also, I love my sister and girlfriend. You wouldn’t understand.”


The grim reaper shook his head, “Oh you think so?”


“Don’t you know I was once alive too? I held on to life for so long after I became a reaper, but you can’t do that. It weighs you down. You can only live in the moment. Move on, or you’ll sink into despair.”

Cole’s eyes widened, he had been alive? Cole thought every grim reaper was already dead when they were chosen. Cole couldn’t believe he was so naive.

“Are you okay now? I need to do my job,” he said.

Cole sighed and nodded. As the grim reaper said he needed to live in the moment.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Gretchen you’re here in limbo too?”


His little sister nodded. He smiled and held her hand. Cole heard a voice then, a familiar one. “Cole?”

He turned around and saw Lucinda. “Lucinda you too?”

She shrugged, “Yeah.”


Cole held out his hand and Lucinda grabbed it. The three of them headed into the light that shone through the cracked door labelled waiting area.

Hopefully they wouldn’t be separated.

In heaven, Michael looked for his sister. She wasn’t in the near vicinity and he frowned. Had she not been judged yet? Michael felt a tap on his shoulder then. He glanced behind him and saw Jamie. She smiled and Michael burst out into tears. “You’re here,” he said sobbing.

She nodded, “I am.”

The rest of the inhabitants from the carnival moved on in similar fashions. No one got separated and the panic of moving on was dissolved.

Back on Earth, the human girl had gone home and began writing a story about a fantastical carnival that wasn’t real. She had a feeling it would be a good story. Little did she know, that her memory had been erased by the grim reaper and that her story would portray real events.