The Carousel

The carousel comes from a unique, and tiny period of history (1870 - 1920). It was an age when people were falling in love with technology and mechanical devices, but still respected the beauty and craftsmanship of hand-crafted items.

To many, a carousel is pure magic. For some, it is a nostalgic thing. For others, it is a search for memories that never were. And for some, it is about imagination.

But to me, the carousel is about horses. Really wonderful carvings of horses. Horses with flowing manes and long, long tails. Rippling muscles, raised veins like maps of rivers, delicate sensitive ears, long fine bones, . . . but I get carried away.

Anyway, following is a short story about a girl, a carousel, and the power of fantasy. It is illustrated with photographs from a carousel near San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

The Carousel

Becky stood on the porch of the modest summer cottage and gazed out at the ocean. The water was grey, so was the sky. The beach and saw grass on the dunes looked grey too. Becky felt grey; she picked at the peeling white paint on the handrail. Inside the house, she could hear Mummy yelling at Daddy. She couldn't hear the words, but that didn't seem to matter. Sometimes Daddy yelled back, but more often lately, he would just get in the car and drive away fast, spraying gravel against the cottage and the spiny bushes that grew on the other side of the house. Some vacation this was.

Becky walked down the wooden steps to the beach. She wasn't supposed to wander away, but nothing seemed to matter any more. Sometimes Mummy got mad even when she was good. She picked through the big logs that made a maze at the top of the beach. She found her favorite, with its little hidey hole, the sides worn smooth by wind and sand. She sat in it for a while, but the sand was cold. The sun hadn't shone for two days now. There was just the endless grey. She watched a gull effortlessly ride the wind, never flapping, just sailing up the beach, until he was out of sight. She sighed. Sometimes, she wished she was a gull, and could just fly away, to some happy place where they was no yelling or long silences either. She got up, and poked along in the driftwood till she found a good stick. She liked to take a good stick when she walked along the beach. This was a fine one, with all the bark worn away, and a smooth white wood underneath. It was a little taller than her.

"This must have been a wizard's stick," she declared out loud. "Maybe if I return it, the wizard will grant me a wish." She turned and took another look at the beach cottage. She couldn't hear anything, but she knew that it would be better to not be there for a while. Taking the stick firmly in her right hand, and using it like a staff, she set off down the beach.

Becky strode along the edge of the waves, far enough up to avoid the little rollers as they came in, but close enough to be on the hard sand for easy walking. Sometimes she walked in a rhythm with her staff thunking in the hard sand. Sometimes she drew a squiggly line behind her by dragging it. She even walked backwards to watch the squiggles as they formed. She made up stories in her head as she walked. She made up a powerful sea wizard who rode a white sea horse who would be so grateful for the return of his magical staff, that he would give her a magic ring. When she put the ring onto her finger and turned three times to the left, she turned into a gull, and could soar away into the sky. When she was finished being a gull, she could land and turn three times to the right, she would turn back into a little girl.

Becky had just finished working out the details of the magic ring, when she came around the tip of the headland of the bay. She had never been so far, and she was a little scared. She looked back. She could still see where the grey cottage stood.

"I'll just go to that next rock," she thought, and turned away from the cottage. When she got to the next rock, then maybe that big boulder with the flat top would be where she found the wizard. And so, from one big boulder to the next, she made her way around the point, until she was in a whole new bay. It looked disappointingly like the stretch of beach she came from. But as she looked, she noticed something different. There was some lights down on the beach, and a dark bulk, like a building. It was quite a distance, right at the center of the long, curved beach. At first she was angry that there were other people on the beach. The lights were all different colors and seemed to move around. Maybe, she thought, that is the wizard's magic boat, and those lights are the sea fairies who go everywhere with him.

Becky started to walk around the long curve of the beach. She had a real purpose now. She watched the lights and the dark structure intently.

After a while, she could hear music. It drifted toward her, first in little snatches at the wind caught it and lifted it to her, then more steadily as she got closer. It seemed familiar, somehow. A grey mist rolled off the sea. Her lips tasted salty in the heavy, moist air.

The building got more solid. She could see that it was round, with a roof, but no sides. There was a little boxy building to one side, small and upright like a toilet at a campground or a park. There was movement under the roof. Around her, the mist came off the ocean, and hung silver droplets on her fine blond hair, and dampened her skin and her jacket. Her bangs stuck to her face, but she didn't notice the mist at all, she was drawn to the colored lights and the now stronger music.

She was close now, close enough to run. She ran, dragging the stick with her still. Somehow, she remembered her mother's advice, "Never run with stick in your hand," but she kept her head down and just ran on anyway. She was near the little building now. She stopped and looked up. It was a carousel! The round building with no sides was the carousel, and there were all the colored lights and the horses and other fantastic creatures all going around and around to the music. The little building was ticket booth. There were no people, no one anywhere to be seen. She marveled that there would be a carousel right here on the very next beach to hers. She thought it was very mean of Mummy and Daddy not to tell her. They probably would be mad that she had discovered it for herself.

The ticket booth had a sign. "Ten cents a ride." Becky put the staff down, and carefully searched in her pockets. She didn't have a dime, but she had a hard candy mint, wrapped in cellophane, leftover from when Mummy and Daddy had gone out to dinner, and had brought it back. She had been saving it for a special occasion. She looked at it for a second or two, and decided that this was a pretty special occasion. She stepped up to the ticket booth. She stretched up and balanced it on the ledge where the window to the booth was. "I hope it's enough" she said out loud, in case anyone could hear. "It's all I have." she added. Then she noticed the stick that she had dragged with her from home. If this is the wizard's carousel, she thought, then I should return his staff too. She retrieved it and propped it up against the ticket booth. She patted it lovingly. Here's your staff back too, she thought, but she didn't say it out loud. She walked around the booth to the carousel proper. It was just slowing down. As she watched, it came to a halt. There didn't seem to be any gate or barrier, like the ones in the amusement parks. The animals looked different too. There was more than just horses, and they had a look in their eyes that made them seem more real.

Becky slowly walked around the carousel, trying to pick the best horse.

There was a fine white horse with black spots. He must belong to an Indian chief she decided. The lights glittered off his polished nose.

Behind him was a tiger, with a fierce snarl and yellow eyes. Becky decided he was a little too scary. Behind the tiger was a huge pair of rabbits. They were brown, and had long, long ears, sticking straight up. Becky had never seen rabbits on a carousel, and she climbed up on the platform for a better look. She walked between the double row of carved beasts, her fingers trailing along their flanks. Some moved up and down, and had stopped so high that she couldn't climb onto them.

There was a pair of ferocious looking cats, with their paws outstretched, and each one with a dead bird in its mouth. She hurried past them, careful not to brush against them as she went by.

There was a pair of pigs, fat and jolly and pink, and then a giraffe. His back looked so slippery, she didn't think anyone could ride him. Then there were more horses.

There was a gentle looking white mare with a short mane. She looked very tame and gentle. Becky couldn't help feeling that she must belong to a princess, who wore long gowns and rode very slowly.

Then there was another white horse. His mane flowed down his neck like waves on the beach, and his harness was blue. His eyes were dark and kindly, and even his nose was a pale blue. This, she decided, must be the wizard's horse. He looked wild, yet kind, wise and strong. She patted him on the shoulder, and wondered if this was the one she should ride. Then, she looked behind him and saw him.

He was the color of butterscotch, with a chocolate mane and forelock that hung down over his eyes. His harness had diamonds and emeralds in it, and there was flowers hanging from his bridle. She reached up to pat his nose, and she could see the twinkle in his eye. She knew that this was the horse for her. She somehow managed to scramble up onto his back, and looked outside the carousel. For the first time, she noticed that the fog had rolled in, and how dark it had grown. She looked out, and saw that the ticket booth was right there. She had walked all the way around the carousel, back to the horse that had stopped right in front of her. "You are mine," she whispered, and patted his neck. "I shall call you `Skydancer'." She traced a line of his mane with her finger. "Let's go." she said under her breath. "Let's fly away."

Slowly, the carousel started to turn. The music got louder, and soon, the ticket booth whirled by so fast that it was just a blur. At first, Becky hung on tight, and wished for Skydancer to take her to a happy place. Gradually, as she got more used to the up and down and round and round, she relaxed. She relaxed her grip on the golden pole, and looked at all the other animals around her. Slowly, it seemed, the lights and sound faded away, and it was just her and Skydancer, leading all the other creatures, slowly rocking through the endless sky. She could feel his powerful muscles as they rippled under his glossy hide. His long mane whipped in her face, and she could smell his warm horse smell. His hooves drummed a rhythmic beat, even though she could see nothing below her except grey fog. She hung onto his mane, and lost herself in the rhythm of his movement.

Eventually, Skydancer brought her back down to earth, just as the carousel was stopping. He pranced a little, and arched his neck, and then froze in place, just a fantastic wooden carving of a horse. She sat on his back for a moment, running her hands up and down his intricately carved mane. Then, knowing the ride was over, she slid down from his back. She looked up at him, he was still so beautiful she could hardly believe he was real. He towered above her, stopped in mid-jump, and she touched his hoof. She then looked out off the carousel. She saw with horror that it was nearly dark. She had never stayed away so long. Frightened at what her mother and father would say, she scampered around behind Skydancer, rushing through his genuine flowing horse hair tail in her rush. She jumped to the sand, stumbled and then stopped and turned to look once more. The carousel still stood, the animals motionless, waiting. Becky turned and ran for home. She ran past the booth. The staff was gone. The wizard must have gotten his staff back, she thought, and then she thought again about how much trouble she would be in. She ran down the beach, headed for home.

It was a long run home, and she couldn't run all the way, but she ran as much as she could. When she couldn't catch her breath, she would walk, but soon she would be off running again. She was getting close to home, when she saw a light bobbing up and down on the beach, like a flashlight. She ran for the light. It was her father and mother. Her father carried the flashlight, occasionally sweeping it out to sea as he scanned the waves. Her mother clutched at her sweater, drawing it tightly around her to keep out the chill breeze. Becky ran and ran. Her breath came in gasps. She ran right up to them, no breath left to call out to them. She launched herself at her mother, who gasped in surprise, and swung her up in a hug. Her father came and wrapped his long arms around them both, and for the longest time they just swayed and rocked in a three way hug.

"Oh Mummy, Daddy, I've had such an adventure. I found a wizards' staff and returned it and he gave me a ride on a magical horse to a happier place."

Becky's mother smoothed Becky's windblown hair. Becky's father reached out with one hand and rumpled it up again. Their hands touched, and their fingers locked, and they hugged again around Becky.

"I'm tired." Becky mumbled into her mother's neck. She grabbed at her father's coat and caught it and hung on to both her mother and father. Somehow, they didn't seem as mad as she thought they would be. And it had been a long time since they all hugged like this. Maybe Skydancer had taken her someplace happier. Maybe, a happier place could be found right at home.