The Sign

So I’m out for one of my late walks the other night…morning…about 2:00am. I walk up Main Street and the night is dead quiet, the air still, just the sound of the traffic lights blinking yellow. I’m lost in thought as I walk along, thinking about a girl……a girl from a long time ago. I…


Where The Road Ends

This past summer was a frustrating one. The company downsized and my responsibilities diminished. There was a time when I was one of the few people that could do the job I do, not bragging, it’s just a fact. I knew the company was downsizing this year, I had no idea it would affect my…


Home Is Where The Heart Is

The town looks the same, smaller. My mother is thrilled I’m here. Most of the people I knew are long gone now, time waits for no one, things look the same, but they’re different. I haven’t seen my old friend Dave yet, he’s working out of town, it’ll be good to see him. Late at…


Home

I hopped on the Greyhound and headed home, it would be the first time I saw my hometown in 14 years. I didn’t talk to anyone on the bus for that 5 hour trip. I stayed to myself and stared out the window, thinking, wondering what in the fuck had kept me away for so…


The Invisible Man

I’m invisible on the Midway most of the time, a wallflower so to speak. I wander and watch, mostly you people, the ones that come to play on the Carnival. You don’t notice me, but I see you. I’ll sit and smoke, watching, wondering what your life is like, if you’re happy with the choices…


Where I Fit In

We fit where we want to fit I think, in this country anyway. We have it good here compared to other parts of the world. To say that all I can ever be is a “Carny”, would be bullshit. I do know some people who will only ever be “Carnies” though, they don’t really fit…


Contemplating

So here I sit, the dawn creeping in the window of my hotel room, contemplating. The end of the season is a confusing time. Time moves differently in the Carny bubble, it’s more compressed, you live a lot in a short period where the pace of life is so much faster The people that come…


Silence

I’m sitting in a darkened motel room as I write this, looking out the window at the carpet of lights that are the last city we play for the season. The silence is deafening, the big “Merry Go Round” has finally stopped. I have a lot of stories to tell, but they’ll go in the…


My Boss

My boss, the owner of the company, is a fucking prick. He can’t help it though, he comes from a long line of pricks, he was born into this business and his dad was a bigger prick. That’s just the way a lot of them in the business are. Old timers remember his mom and…


My Initiation

Freezing rain. I’m 14 years old and soaked to the bone, the wind is blowing through my wet clothes, my teeth are chattering, every part of my body moves stiff and slow I’m so cold. I’m kneeling beside the big tent we just finished putting up, the canvas flaps are being whipped by the wind…