Carnival; bright colors and high laughter, palpable life.

It is nighttime; the sun is setting and the birds are silent, yet activity continues. The brightly lit area is bustling with activity as more and more people arrived, faces alit with excitement and strained from exhaustion. Trailers draped with red-and-white covers are caught in the scents of grease and fat, alongside makeshift tents, displaying dark coverings and advertising mystery and allue through fake smoke and masked occupants. Cheaply made dolls placed prominently in front of stands tempt passerbys to gamble away any money that may have escaped the sharp, swift eyes at the front gate.

Noise; loud, piercing, an unchained melody of shrieks and snaps.

The air mingles with the sounds of childish laughter, sharp and high-pitched as it coarses alongside the loud, noxious laughter of the card-playing elders. From the brightly lit amusement rides, screams of enthusiasm infect the air as the rides spin and twirl with alacrity, the wind whooshing past the sharp corners of the metal cars attached. Loud laughter bellows. Derisive shouts shriek. Both are heard from adolescents as they run by, shouting out to their own pleasure. Mother and father, exhausted from excitement, hold the hand of a bouncing, giggling youth, whose tangled hair is dirty and streaked with sticky goo; a shrewd, casually beaming worker, voice tinted with a false, conniving air of mystery and chance, who is heard by those gullible enough to fall for his slimy, sugary tricks. A group of old men and women, sitting lazily in cheap wooden chairs as a nasally, cracking voice calls out the next number for �Bingo.� Elsewhere, a loud, obnoxious music drones. It drapes over the rest of the clamor: a heavy dark blanket which stifles the individual noises, only to create a more intensified sound. As if it was nothing more than a constant drumming, it continues, infiltrating the minds of all and infecting them with the dull, numb sensation of tightly-wound bondage.

Grease; thick, slimy, heavily sugared and scented.

Heavy odors of corn dogs and nachos drench the air. Sticky, sugary scents of cotton candy and Coca-cola layer over offers of syrupy slushies and thin ice cream. The smell of nature ceases under the pressure of the aroma. Heat and perspiration thicken in the air, even over the bubbling, crackling aroma of cooking meat. Parents chatter, children squeal, teenagers chirp; they are all walking, running, sitting, filling the air with the slippery, dripping odor of overheated flesh.

Flashes; sparkling and dazzling, brilliantly shining.

Bright lights flicker incessantly from the whirling, spinning rides that zoom past a standing group of children, who �ooh� and �ahh� in enrapturement. Neon lights shine brightly and allure passerbys, like a bug zapper would to a mosquito. The food stands scream with shouts of popcorn and milkshakes through blinking red lights, laced together to form words upon a black backdrop. Lights flash brilliantly from the makeshift disco. Sweaty, awe-struck viewers come closer to enjoy the wonders of jerking and twitching in time with the blaring music. All around, people walk, run, and trot to the places they wish to be, eyes wide in wonder; their faces are flushed with heat and excitement. They are tight from weariness, yet adrenaline alone keeps them going as they dash from stand to stand, from ride to ride. Adults, children, teenagers: none are safe from the glimmering, brightly flashing rides or the flickering lights on the dance floor.

Carnival; noise, grease, flashes; loud, thick, bright.

Carnival.