The fairground

The Fairground by Leo

Turning in all directions, you find yourself enchanted by fantastic, dazzling lights. All the colours of the rainbow flash brightly in the night sky. Giant teddies, medium teddies and small teddies as far as the eye can see. People are scattering everywhere in excitement, unsure of which ride to try first. Children drag parents from one stall to another with relentless determination.

Long, loud screams can be heard high up in the sky as the whirling, twirling rides spin people faster and faster; higher and higher. Some rides seem to touch the clouds, so high that you have to strain your neck to see.

In the children’s area, you can see parents smiling and waving animatedly; desperately trying to make the rides more interesting for their bored children. Cars and trains going round and round at a pace a snail could beat.

Music from the vast array of rides blend to form one strange droning song over a thumping back beat. Lively and fast, the bass vibrates through your body.

On each ride there is a woman in a booth. She uses a microphone to try and entice you to her ride. She sounds bored. She sits with her cold coffee, smoking her twentieth cigarette, hunched over in a beaten up chair. She repeats the same words over and over, but never stops. Her face is old and tired. Her eyes show the strain of years of late nights working the fair. She never smiles.

The smell of meat chokes the air. Hot dogs and burgers are every where you turn. The intense smell of food mixes with the smell of the fuel from the rides and the numerous trucks that transport the fairground from town to town. Children burn their little mouths on chips that are freshly cooked. They are served in plastic cones, which get littered for miles around. Nothing can quite compare with the wondrous smell of doughnuts. It makes your mouth water in anticipation and causes your nostrils flare. Each bite warms you through.

Everyone seems happy at the fair. Laughter can be heard from all generations, young and old. There is something for everyone, even the big wimps like me who prefer to just watch and take it all in.