I Saw you Standing on the Other Side - By Murray

As the sun collapsed beyond the horizon, the fair’s crude eyes flickered on. Like cheap imitations of stars suspended above the site, they belittled the fair with their faint glow. Somehow their eerie yet ethereal presence invited me in. Without hesitation I willingly wandered into the twilight; my existence dazzled by the crude spectacle. As I hopelessly wondered through the entrance the sound of crunching, dead grass beneath my feet echoed through my bones, it was unbearable. Before long I had found myself in the centre of a bustling convergence of people; gathered between the various amusements. Beyond the dull yet seemingly popular attractions, the variety of stalls and large pavilions, my glance was focused on the various people surrounding me, specifically the young girl opposite me. But the longer I stared the more I realised what was peculiar about her. It was not her clothes, her stance or even the bright red balloon drifting just above her head. In fact, I must admit that there was nothing noticeably abnormal about her; except for no matter how long I stared at her, she would not stare back.

Yes I confess that she responded with a gaze, but she did not gaze at me, in fact she did not gaze at anything, like a pair of glass eyes they shone like the dark lights that besieged the fairgrounds. Similarly her smile, showing neither pleasure nor sadness, sat innocently on her young face. Yet what frightened me even more was that the bright red balloon that she carried seemed to show far more emotion then her blank, meaningless expression. In terror I inhaled a breath of stale, cold air and whilst turning to flee I came face to face with yet another blank faced clown. As the hollow clown gazed beyond my eyes I instantly became aware that everyone at the fair was alike. Subconsciously I built up speed in the opposite direction; deep into the fairgrounds where the crowds became more submissive, and that’s when I saw him, a young man with a face. He wore emotive strong eyes and an expressive smile showing a mixture of curiosity, relief and fear. Like a needle in a haystack he glistened in his lustrous brilliance. That was the moment I saw him, standing on the other side.

Perhaps this was the reason why I came here in the first place. The amount of knowledge that he must possess intrigues me, for he must hold the answers to the questions that I have been asking my entire life. I saw him at the most distinct, yet curiously enough the furthest away attraction, the hall of mirrors. The outside of the building looked tired, tried to make new by a bright coat of paint. The colourful outside was severely contrasted by the dirt path that lead into the maze, almost a made a trench by the immense amount of foot traffic that must have once passed through. Yet no matter how much I looked at him with admiration I couldn't help feel that the man at the mirror was judging me. As I edged closer to the entrance I was reflecting on the young girl. “Oh how I hated her, or should I say them”. I would repeat this phrase over and over in my head as I headed towards my salvation, and during that thought, he had vanished. Coinciding with my entrance into the attraction I felt as if I had to dive deeper into the maze in order to find him.

It was clear that I was growing desperate as I started to sprint. Sweat would flick off of my brow every time I turned a corner, as one second he was there, looking for me as urgently as I was looking for him, and then he was gone. This continued on until I finally came to a dead end in the maze, or should I say what I thought was a dead end. Yet he was there, metres away, staring at me like no one could, with a sense of relief. Calming down, we took slow steps towards each other as I tried to muster up in my mind what I was going to say. Before I knew it we were in reach of each other, and as I my finger finally reached and touched the mirror I felt it pass straight through. In that very second I was reminded of the young girl with no face, stylized in my head to have no mouth, nose or even eyes. As I came through the mirror I felt as though we had finally met, finally learned from each other and had finally become one, or so I thought. Rather it was quite the contrary, we had become further away than we had ever been, and it was doubtful that we would ever meet again.

As I carelessly walked out of the maze I purposefully gave no notice to the blank faced man that haunted the mirrors around me. Once out of the maze the people surrounding me that I once hated now hated me, and so did I. My body could not express the emotions I was feeling, for I didn't know. My mouth could neither smile nor frown and my eyes looked nowhere, but saw everything. I could now understand what the young girl was gazing it. She was searching for someone that could tell her that she has the strength to hold that balloon down to the earth without the string. She was searching for someone who could renew her faith in herself that she had once lost. So now, through the dimly lit fair I must also search for that which I lost. Although I know that I’ll never find him, I know he is out there. How do I know you may ask? Well, I know that he is out there, because I once saw him standing on the other side.