Dec. 7th, 2005 Carnival of Stars

The Carnival of Stars

Every year the circus would come to the city of Angels, the children of the city would be so excited and happy to see the wonderful show again. It was a circus that came at the end of summer, a week before all the schools were to start again, so all the children could come and visit. It was the perfect ending of the summer holiday. One of those children was Carry, she liked to go with her grandfather to see the clowns play tricks on each other and the elephants take a bow in front of the audience. And every year grandfather would say that he wanted to go home for supper and Carry would persuade him to eat French fries and drink sodas, so they could wait for the fireworks. Her father never told his granddaughter that he loved those dinners, waiting for the fireworks and talking about all the great things they would have seen in the big tent. They would play a game of cards, and then just before the fireworks started, they would settle on a woolen blanket that grandfather had with him and he would tell her the most beautiful stories about the fireworks. One of those stories was about the Carnival of Stars.

The Carnival of Stars was a great big firework that was lit over the lake near the city every year, back when grandfather was a little boy, by the name of Tommie. He was now grandpa, Tommie was far in the past, but the memories remained. He used to go with his parents and his two older brothers to watch and he would always wonder where all the beautiful lights and stars came from. Little Carry loved this story, she would ask him to tell it in all detail, telling her exactly what colors came up to the heavens. And then, grandfather would tell her about how he went to search for the source of these fireworks. He wanted so desperately to know where they came from that he went and built himself a boat. It took him all year, but then he had it. It was a small light wooden sailboat with a single light blue sail. A big star was embroidered on the sail, so that his family could see him from the shore. He would go out that evening and sail to the centre of the lake, only to find that there was nobody there. Then all of a sudden, the fireworks started, as if they appeared out of thin air. Tommie was so shocked he nearly fell over and he had to hold on to the boat, to not fall out. He had learnt to swim, but the lake was very deep and very broad, he could never have swam back. But the boat remained still on the lake and he watched the beautiful colors and heard the loud bangs from just over his head.

Carry loved the story and each year she waited for him to finish before she would ask the same question, “Grandfather, did Tommie ever find out where the fireworks came from?” and he would say: “No, I never did.” And she would smile, and lay her head to rest on his lap as they watched the fireworks together.

This year however, was different. Grandfather had fallen ill around Christmas and he had passed away in the first week of the new year. Carry had cried herself to sleep for many days until she had finally made peace with her loss. She loved her grandfather very much, but she knew that in a way he would always remain with her and look over her shoulder. Her mother, who had lost her father, saw how much Carry missed her grandfather and she decided to cheer her up. “This summer, we will go to the circus together and then we will eat French fries and drink sodas together, and then after we will watch the fireworks just like you and grandpa did,” Carry nodded. She knew even in her young age that her mother meant well, and she loved her for it, but her mother could not tell the tale that her grandfather told her every year. So that tradition would have died with him. Carry cried that night, she tried to hide the sobs as she did not want her mother to hear and then she wrote a note to her grandfather. In the note she asked him kindly to come back just for the last day of the circus, the day she would go and see the fireworks. She folded the note and put it in an envelope, then placed that under her pillow before she went to sleep. The next morning she dared not check for the envelope, but later that day when she did, it was gone.

Summer came and Carry felt hopeful, her grandfather was to return to her and she could share her fireworks with him, she was sure of it. They went to the circus, twice in fact as her aunt and cousins also wanted to go. But then the night of the fireworks came and as promised, Carry went with her mother. They watched the circus, laughed at the clowns and stared in awe at the flying acrobats that swung through the top of the tent. Then the circus ended and they went over the fair, had fries and sodas and won a teddy bear in one of the play tents. As the night fell, her mother placed the blanket on the grass and settled down on it, Carry was anxious to wait for grandfather, but then finally decided to sit down. If he came, he would find them, she had made sure that they sat on an open spot where he could not miss them. Her smile was hopeful but it faded as the first of the fireworks came, Carry tried to smile up at her mother but could not help but feel hurt and sad. She missed her grandfather and hoped that she would see him nonetheless. Then, her mother smiled and said, “Look over there,” and stared at the lake over which the fireworks were lit. A small wooden boat, the size of a grown man’s hand, with a light blue sail with a star embroidered in it sailed over the lake, just under the shore. Carry stared at it, then jumped to her feet and ran down to meet it. Her mother came behind her and called for her to hold on, Carry ran until she reached the lake and stared at the tiny boat. Had it been that small, the boat from her grandfather’s story? Carry smiled, no this was the sign. This was her grandfather sending her his love, just as she asked him in the note she wrote him. Carry gazed after the tiny boat as it sailed towards the center of the lake. “Mommy, where do the fireworks come from?” she finally asked as the last of the red arrows seared the sky. Her mother frowned and said, “I don’t know,” and at that Carry smiled and said, her eyes glinting with stars of joy, “But I do, grandfather is sending the fireworks so that we will never forget his stories, he sends us The Carnival of Stars.”