The Sinking Fair

The Sinking Fair.
By AmyLilu for the Bell Tree Fair Story Contest.

For weeks children and adults alike stared at their calendars with glee and delight, ‘the Fair oh boy the Fair is finally on its way’ mothers would warn their children to behave, Then came the day the Fair was to set up in town, the people of Rosewood gathered around, little old ladies to big strong men, they all wanted to see the Fair again, first came the rides, big wheels and bumper cars, then came the animals waiting to perform and lastly the clowns, we all know they are the real stars.
The towns people cheered as the Fair was set up, everyone lended a hand and soon a bare park was full of fun, ‘Roll up, roll up’ the Fair master cried, he ushered the town folk to try all the rides. But no sooner had the big wheel made its first loop, one of the workers gave a great cry ‘The big wheel is sinking, right into the ground, there must have been rain for the mud is not sound!’. The riders began to notice their seats were at a slant, the big wheel gave a little groan and that was that.
Without as much as a scream, a bang or a crash, the big wheel disappeared into the soft muddy grass, the workers were puzzled, how could a whole ride sink away, the Fair master carefully patted the ground with his hand, it was quite solid, he could even stand! The townsfolk all started talking and testing the ground but despite muddy shoes the ground was quite sound.
‘Don’t fret and don’t worry, your family’s will be safe’ the big Fair master promised but had a confused look on his face. The police were called and the ambulance too, but no sign of the big wheel or the riders could be found, not even a shoe! The local reported showed up in a van, he took pictures of nothing but the empty ground, ‘Well they can’t have just disappeared’ he said sensibly, he scratched his head and an idea came to him ‘we will just have to dig down, they must have fallen into a cave, don’t worry we will find them’ he said feeling brave.
The townsfolk started digging, deeper into the ground, down and down they went, and the deeper they dug the bigger their frowns. ‘Wait, where did the fair go?’ one lady asked, she had stuck her head out the hole and noticed the loss. The townsfolk all looked up to see the park stripped bare, not even a candy apple left there, ‘The robbers, the tricksters’ a whisper was the start, pretty soon the whole town was angry and people’s faces were dark.
A meeting was held, the mayor called to speak, ‘What will you, its justice we seek?’ a man stood and asked with a picture in his hand ‘my wife was on that ride, you must find her quickly’ the other townsfolk murmured and all agreed, the mayor was to find the fair and save the townsfolk.
The mayor was a round little man with no bravery to speak, he put an ad in the paper for a reward to whoever solved this mystery. The next day a hero was found in the street ‘I will find you’re missing people and get you the justice you need’ he looked quite familiar, his voice sounded like someone they knew but the townsfolk all cheered and the mayor was happy too, he gave the hero some money, to find the missing folk.
The hero was victorious, after only a day he brought back all the people, ‘Here they all are’ he bowed and he smiled, ‘Where did you find them’, the town asked him with glee, the man gave a little smile and answered ‘they were all the time with me’ he took off at a run, before the mayor could even think, the hero grabbed up the reward money and off he sped. The townsfolk so stunned suddenly knew who the hero had been, he was the fair master, oh they had been swindled, they cried and they yelled, the mayor was so embarrassed he stood down as well.
A few months later the town had calmed down, but they were not the same, they trusted no clowns, no fairs were allowed to visit, no carnivals too, the town became quiet, there was not much to do. The townsfolk were bored, they had nothing on their calendars to look forward to. One day a small travelling fair, stopped in the park ground, they rested there.
The townsfolk all gathered and started to yell when a small boy stood up and shook his head ‘I know we were tricked and swindled too, but this town is boring, we need something to do, the fair master who looked like a very friendly man, he listened to their story and could not stand, he sat down with a frown and stared at the town ‘I’m sorry that happened, but maybe we can help, we will let you ride for free along with everything else’.
The townsfolk all smiled and nodded with cheer, it was the best day they had experienced in many a year. When the sun was setting the people hugged the workers and thanked them for making their bad fair dealings disappear.

(I’m not much of a story writer, my spelling is horrible but I hope this is as enjoyable to read as it was to write!)