In the realm of carnivals, theirs was a small one. While other carnivals boasted thrill rides, bounties of festive food and a multitude of games with fantastic prizes beneath multicolored tents, theirs had only a handful of these things, rides excluded. Where their carnival shined was in its mystique and the quality of the attractions within.
After a town had been prospected (Terminus sent a scouting party ahead of the troupe to determine the best location for their base and to map the best route through town to achieve maximum exposure), they would ready themselves for entry. Every stay commenced with a march through each targeted town. The preparation began when the town was in sight. Before passage was made, the players (those who performed) would dress in their glittered outfits while the rest would don their robes. One or two beasts were brought out, caged and lifted onto dazzled carts. The overall effect was magical; the pristine white of the orbs and the robed created a sheer background that further emphasized the already bright spectacle of the dancing, leaping players and the beasts alongside them.
Terminus always made sure their arrival came just after nightfall when the streetlights were lit and families were sitting back with full bellies bumping against their dinner tables, houses quiet; all conversation having already been spent between forkfuls of food and hearty swallows of drink. The lull, a perfect pause for a mystical appearance.
The magnificent luminosity of the orbs announced their arrival, their glow falling unfamiliar against windowpanes, which drew the people to the street. There, they would be enraptured by first the floating, glowing globes and then the glitz and song of Terminus and the players calling out to them, heralding their location and promises of more to come if only the townspeople would take a small portion out of their day-to-day lives to pay them a visit. A commitment that if they would willingly take a chance at elevating themselves, they could reach a level where they might question everything they’d come to know of their world. Loud promises of mystery and entertainment if only they would take the time to trade an afternoon of their pedestrian life for a temporary escape into an experience of more than they ever thought possible. A deluge of provocations so seductive, so enticing, the decision to visit the carnival was made within each spectator before they’d even verbalized it.
The march always enchanted and created a fervent buzz that enveloped the town, driving to them a ready audience.
Under their white tents, the group created wonder. From the smaller ones that housed the food and games, to the sideshow and the enormous performance tent, each one bestowed an allure that mesmerized its visitors. The goal of every worker was to impart a marked impression on each and every patron, whether it be with a friendly wink and a smile, a kind word or silly song. The workers made sure to connect in some small way with their customers.
Violet and her team of ladies known as The Sweets ran the food tent where the standard carnival fare was served: corn-battered hot dogs fried on sticks, deep-fried potatoes, pickles and dough. Fresh lemonade and iced tea ladled into mason jars served with red-and-white-striped straws. But the main focus of the food tent was not these basic items, it was the sweets. The sugary concoctions dominated the space, placed everywhere and in such an array that it was captivating to all who entered. Baskets of treats in rainbow colors in so many different shapes it was hard to find a duplicate. Every sort of animal and flower was represented. Cookies and cakes in the form of cars, boats, trees, houses. Some even in the shape of other foods! Candies that twisted like spilled spaghetti, pastel clouds of cotton candy, apples covered with caramel, fudge, candy and nuts. Lollipops in every shape and size, run like fence posts throughout the tables. Caramel popcorn shaped and colored decorated the booths like sculpture. Parents and children alike were in awe of the scope and variety. It was truly a wonderland.
The games tent was run by an older but spry gentleman by the name of Cornelius. With his salt-and-pepper hair slicked back against his head, donning a pair of overalls in a ridiculous shade of green, he would walk through the crowd repeating a singsong refrain; a bouncy tune that gave challenge to play the games and chorused a pledge of prizes and a good time. Having overseen the game tent for many years, Cornelius knew just the thing to say in order to goad the customers into buying tickets. From a father with a pleading child to a man with his best gal, he broke them all in such an unassuming way they were convinced they came to the decision of their own volition. The Young Man was enamored with Cornelius’s verbal charms. How, unbeknownst to each visitor, simply by using just a few choice, well-practiced phrases, he controlled them like a skillful puppeteer, lifting their strings until they were compelled to dig for their wallets. It was seamless. But no matter the prodding, Terminus never wanted the patrons to feel cheated, so the games, while tricky, were winnable, and the prizes reasonable and fair.
Every carnival had a sideshow. Most of them consisted of malformed things in jars usually claiming to be something they were not—humans in irregular sizes, very tall, very short, very fat, very thin, and every so often, a handful of preserved animals that featured extra appendages, heads, tails, legs. Some carnivals would advertise human “freaks,” but most were manipulated: a half-woman, half-man manufactured using clever makeup and dress, a lady bearded with an expert use of adhesive and barber shavings, etc. Rarely were there any true freaks, which was where their sideshow stood out. Their sideshow had only one thing. Their sideshow had the girls.
Morningside and Eveningside were accepting of their differences. Their stacked existence was all they had ever known. The Young Man had yet to be fully told of the girls’ origins—he sensed a mystery behind it—knowing their only family first and foremost was the carnival.
Despite the group’s acceptance, Terminus knew the rest of the world would see them through different eyes, ones not as gracious as their own. For this reason, the tent was constructed in such a way that the crowd could see and hear the girls, but the girls could not see the crowd, a one-way mirror. All visitors who paid for entry were told that only kind words would be tolerated, and any hurtful words or curses would result in immediate expulsion from the tent. They were at too young an age to be made to feel a spectacle. The girls were aware they were being viewed and knew the reasons why; they were made more special than any other and the world wanted to experience such a treasure. The girls, knowing everyone in the troupe must have a contribution, knew this was theirs, and that it was an important one, so they did not question. In fact, they felt a pride. His plan was, in time, to do away with the mirror, have the girls face the crowd directly. He did not want to shelter them from what he knew they would face until the end of their days, he just wanted them to develop a strength first, so when the time came, they wouldn’t be easily torn down.
Their viewings were always monitored. Usually by Terminus, whose exceptional frame and hairless white was itself a sideshow, added to the allure. Eventually, as the affection between the girls and the Young Man grew, he would fill in for Terminus, ready to ensure nothing unfavorable was inflicted on his young friends.
The girls’ performance was simply play. The space behind the mirror was a cross between a child’s bedroom and a playground. On one side there was a swing, a slide and a tricycle. On the other, a bed covered in stuffed animals and dolls, a toy box and a small table with two equally small chairs. These furnishings were only available to the girls while the carnival was in operation, so their enthusiasm for these playthings was abundant and genuine and when on display, they played until exhausted. The clear attraction of the girls was in their movements, how they used—or didn’t use—the length of their arms, and how and when they used their smaller ones. One of the activities that received the most enjoyment from viewers was when the girls pushed themselves on the swing. Eveningside’s smaller arms holding on to the chains while Morningside’s longer arms propelled them, her fists and excess joints braced against the ground; their span lengthening, extending and retracting in the girls’ to and fro. Also fascinating were their contrasting likenesses, dark against light housed in the same being, a human eclipse. As they went about their play the patrons were always mesmerized, not only because of the girls’ striking appearance and the deformity of their body, but in the beautiful harmony of their voices. When speaking, their tones layered and blended like a song, and when in song, they sounded like angels. The Young Man had observed the more tenderhearted guests, women and aged men, brought to tears when the girls serenaded themselves.
Morningside and Eveningside were the carnival’s second most popular attraction. Their leading attraction, by far, was the beasts.
Exotic animals were not typically a feature of carnivals; circuses, yes, but not carnivals. Having the beasts is what set them apart. While circuses usually displayed only lions and tigers, Terminus’s carnival had a variety: Bobcat, Ocelot, Lynx, Jaguarundi, Jaguar, Snow Leopard, Lion, Cheetah, Siberian Tiger, Cougar, Mountain Lion, Black Panther; twelve felines in all. All raised together, all trained together by Terminus himself. Tremendously fierce to everyone and everything except each other and their master. Kept individually in cages that circled the main performance ring, the big cats were a magnetic framing to the acts that came before. Their random growls and roars throughout the show built an incredible suspense. A further whetting of the crowd’s building appetite. When the time came for their performance, they were a sight to behold. Before their release, a steel cage was erected around the ring; then, when it was secure, the cats were let out one by one. The beautiful array of their divergent sizes and pelts coalesced as oils on canvas and rendered their exploits almost dreamlike. Their mixed breeds working together in harmony an aberration of nature manifested before the crowd’s very eyes. A primal power held in check by the command of the skeletal man at their helm. The beasts’ finale was a spectacular ending to a worthy show. No visitor ever left the carnival less than thrilled.
The Young Man loved all the players. The talented dancers, acrobats and thrill acts that paved the way to the finale impressed him to no end. Watching Terminus command such beautiful and dangerous beasts, creatures he never knew existed, continually took his breath away each time he witnessed it, which was many. In his sheltered life the Young Man had never seen such things, and to now be immersed in their world each day, a part of such wonder, it was dreamlike. But out of all the incredible acts, the one that chilled his marrow, the one that he could not comprehend, the one act that rattled him throughout was the magician.
In his entire life, he had never seen anyone else do what he could. This secret thing he locked away for fear its unleashing would bring a punishment against him demonstrated so flagrantly by this man! This man shouted it! To crowds! Whose response was not condemnation, but applause! The Young Man had never been more confused, conflicted, baffled. What was this magician?
He knew the man, of course. Every face in the troupe was a familiar one. Even if you did not speak to each member, there was no one that was a stranger. This man was quiet, hardworking, but in no way distinct among the members. So, when the Young Man first witnessed his performance as “magician” he was taken completely aback. How could this man stand before so many people and reveal his Otherness as if it were something that could be shared with the world? As his tricks progressed, the Young Man felt horrified and confused at the same time. The faces in the crowd were not of anger or fear, they were of delight and fascination. He searched the faces of the troupe members and not one of them seemed aghast or shocked. Everybody was treating his performance as a natural thing. How could this be? The Young Man was at a loss. He needed to know more. He needed to learn.
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From Magician by Tracy Lynne Oliver. Used with permission of the publisher, Roxane Gay Books. Copyright © 2026 by Tracy Lynne Oliver.
