Walking along a path along the edge of some woods on your way home during a very brisk and chilly winter afternoon, trees bare and icy, cupping your hands together, blowing on them for a bit of warmth. Some leaves are on the trees despite it being the middle of winter. Something catches your eyes, a bit of white and red a bit of distance, maybe a hundred meters or so. What could it be? There’s nothing else that it could be but a massive canvas tent. What in the world it could be in a rather isolated area? Nothing else is out here and would be too far away from town to be able to get people to come over. Whatever is pulling your curiosity, just too strong. You may come to regret this, and may not even come back if this is as sketchy as your intuition is telling you it is.

Of course, against your better judgment, the tent and the carnival that comes with it beckons you to come over and see what could be fun for the whole family…or a hellish experience. Crunches from the snow under your bare paws amplify in the frigid void. Heart in your chest is thumping and throbbing in your eardrums. You start to pick up the sounds of organ music, chilling your skin before being interrupted by the sounds of a muscle car, revving its engine and whole lot of noise in a nearby desolate highway. Someone seems to be there ready to talk to passers by, if there were any. If it’s any consolation, you might enjoy yourself a bit for the time being. Once you reach the tent, nothing, no stands look to be open, mostly what looks like an old tent that looks forgotten.

“Hello?” You call rather fruitlessly, of course had to be abandoned. There are no animals or people present. Right as you start to walk away to a nice warm cup of cocoa, you hear someone come out of the entrance of the tent.

“Howdy stranger, how’s about you take a little detour to this here carnival and three-ring circus?” A white mouse dressed in a white and red stripped suit red bowtie and top hat said, resting most of his body weight on a wooden cane.

“Oh, I guessed I missed whatever went on here. Guess I might as well head home then.” You, looking at some of the holes in the canvas, most likely caused by years of being eaten away by moths.

“Nonsense, you’re always right on time!” The mouse smiled, offsetting you for some strange reason. Something seems off by the way he’s smiling. “We don’t get many guests, around these parts.”

I can see why.” You look again at the old, moth eaten canvas. Luckily there were no elephant droppings.

“So what do you think, you want to have a bit of fun before splitting.” He backed up to a podium, and grabbed his cane and rapped it several times “Thrills, chills spills, and that’s just from the rides! Step right up, no need to be shy, here, and have some fun! See Cirque du Sadism! The Flying Peppercinis, all the way from Fresno!” The best there is! Come on down and see a bunny fly past Leap Year in a cannon into a tub of itching powder! The amazing trapeze artists, the Flying Peppercinis flying high while they hang on for dear life from feather covered swings!” The mouse rapped the cane against the podium again, urging you to come and see what the fuss is all about.

Everything about this says no, but you can’t help but feel compelled to go anyway, even when your try your best to resist. Something is pulling you, and try to shake it off. “Okay,” You give in, entering to the carnival circus. On one side, some side show attractions, one of which a fish hybrid, in a tank for people to gawk and be shocked at. Rides look normal, but something was off about them.

“Well, stranger? What’ll it be? The rides of the circus first?” He smiled slyly, with the carnival rides and the circus right next to each other.

“The rides, they actually look fun.” Looking at the sign, your mind is instantly changed, and right away you regret your decision. “TICKLE-O-WHIRL” That may not be such a smart decision. But then the same sensation keeps pulling your toward it and fighting does nothing. “Uh, no thank you!” The cups are striped red and yellow, on a platform that rotates, simple enough, right? Where your paws go, and rested your paws, a bunch of feathers. You sigh, might as well humor the mouse and get on with it so you can get to the circus and get out.

The white mouse has other plans when he put his arm around your shoulder, disarming your anxiety with a smile. “This is all perfectly safe, why would we even think about put you in any harm?” he winked at you, leading you up to the station and putting you into the cups. Now you really start to get scared and worried that this mouse may be a bit unhinged or just plain nuts to put you in a ride like that. He fastens a seatbelt before locking your ankles in place with restraints

“HEY! WHAT GIVES!” Anger boils up within, as your demands fall on deaf ears.

“Safety first!” He gives a big old lever a crank with a huge smile and off you go, spinning. Right away, feathers rotate as you are also sent into a spin, tickling and teasing your paws, making you giggle loudly, even among the whirring of the Tickle-O-Whirl.

“NYAHAHAHA! STOP THIS THIHIHIHIHIHNG! UNCLEEEE!” Your cries only encourage the dastardly mouse to crank it up a notch and employ some tentacles, slithering and wriggling their way into your jacket, going for your armpits and sides, very vulnerable areas. You lose it when they’re all scratching those areas and making you lose all form of composure.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP!” Nothing can stop that crazy mouse now from making you go nuts and lose your cool.

“Another satisfied customer!” the mouse guffaws, while it keeps spinning and the feather tentacle combo causes you to lose grip of the bar, slipping off and sliding to the right. Now unbearable, you think this couldn’t go on any longer and a minute and a half later (which would feel like an eternity) it does slow.

Glad that’s over. The mouse now goes up to you, unbuckling the seatbelt and still reeling from being spun around so crazily and tickled. Now wanting to get out, the urge inside your mind is stronger than ever to go to the Ferris wheel. You walk along to the entrance, spinning the rotating bars to make yet another entrance. Once again, with a menacing grin the white mouse in the striped suit brings down the bar to your lap and finishes off by strapping your ankles down with some metal cuffs. Right under and a little behind, a platform full of feathers start to rotate wildly.

“Happy trails!” The mouse cranks the lever with a great big lurch, and off you go, flying up, up, up, and way seeing a vantage point of the whole carnival, the big top, even being at eye level with the top of the wooden roller coaster, also equipped with feathers all long it’s beams. Right as you’re on your way down, you see the platform of feathers, wincing and curling your toes, whimpering of the anticipation of the feathers gliding over very sensitive paws.

“No! Stop this! I don’t like this!” Your cries fall on deaf ears as the grin of malice grows on the sadistic rodent, who is enjoying your fear of being tickled and having your weaknesses exploited to the fullest degree. Nothing can stop you now from coming down, meeting those feathers paws first and impending brief but unbearable tickle torture.
“NOHOHOHO! Mercy!” Just for a fleeting quick moment did your paws touch the spinning feathers and brush up against your very sensitive paws.

“Okay, you had your fun, you oversized rat!” The rodent really didn’t take too kindly to mislabeling him, tisking, and leaving you to go a few more times until you’re ready to speak politely. Not a very good idea to speak nasty to the only one who could let you out of this compromising situation. After a few more spins to make you behave the mouse finally cranks the wheel to make it stop and come to a halt, not without brushing your poor tootsies against the spinning feathers. “Ahahaha!” the last time was the most excruciating one, as it was much slower, while the Ferris wheel was inching toward the bottom.

Had fun?” The white mouse flashed you a menacing grin, hoping you say yes. It looked like a trap. If you say no, he’ll make you go for some more spins.

“Y-yes.” You try to mutter but the words barely spill out of your mouth. He undoes the straps and you follow him to the next attraction, the big tent. It’s on the other side of the carnival.

Nobody seems to be home, a great big disappointment. No clowns no poodles, no trapeze artists, elephants, no lions. What a rip! “Uh, I hate to be rude but this is not much of a circus.” You sigh, walking out until the mouse puts a hand on your shoulder and looks at you differently. Now it’s very different, almost threateningly, and you start to get scared now, quaking and fearing for your safety.

“Next up is the Cirque du Sadism! We will have you as the star!” The mouse is now grinning evilly, planning this the whole time to have you as the main attraction. What did he want to do with you? Put you in a clown costume, or dress you as a frilly performing poodle, whatever he has in mind, it can’t be good. “Come on in, we have excitement to look forward to!” he pulled the rather tattered canvas flap. You see some hoops that are obviously charred black from multiple uses, a platform and large inflatable ball and nothing else.

Uh, what’s going on?” You start to get scared and want to get out of there as soon as possible but the mouse is already got you ringed in by some type of aura pulling you in with whatever he’s got up his sleeve. Now he’s roping you in to perform in the circus tent. “You’ll love this.” He says, again, smiling to put you at ease. That aura you can’t shake off and eventually pulls you in into the old big top. All cages are empty, pointing to you being the main attraction. Question is how many dangerous situations will he put you through before you tap out?

“Okay! I want out!” Finally that instinct to pull away must be breaking through that sort of spell or hypnosis you must be under. “I no longer want to be part of this, I’m going home!” But not before it pulled you back into the grips of wanting to get back to being a performing poodle or clown. But before anything the mouse swipes the cane right in front of your face with the long wooden cane that he’s been toting all along. You have no choice now, gulping loudly.

“We don’t accept no for an answer. We have been waiting a long time for someone to be the main attraction in Cirque du Sadism.” The mouse lifted up his cane to let you make the decision. “Right this way.” He lures you to a very tall pole, a ladder attached to the pole holding up on section of the tent, something you would never in a million years. Smiling toothily once more he’s going to give you a false promise that nothing bad will happen to you while in the big top.

That sensation pulling you, egging you on, encouraging you to take that massive risk, despite the fact that underneath there was a very large net in case you topple down. Climbing up, you’re asking yourself why this is even happening. You don’t look dare to look down because you might end up having a heart attack, even through you aren’t that fearful of heights. At the very top, there is a tightrope, but something seems odd about it, not that it’s brand new, but the whole length of the rope has been doused in some kind of orangish powder. Anyway, trying to be brave you try to climb on the tightrope, instantly falling over and clutching a pole to keep yourself steady to not succumb to vertigo.

“Gah!” You cry out in discomfort. Your toes (being barefoot) are starting to tingle, how odd. Nothing like this has ever happened. Not even when you came over. very soon that tingling started to morph into slight itching and an irritation as you try soldiering on and walking the tightrope. Your big toes and your soles to the heels are really starting to itch, making it nearly impossible to take your mind off the unbearable itch that’s starting to intensify by the second. NYA! What have you done to this tightrope!?”

“Like it?” The ringmaster likes to make the challenges pretty tough.” The mouse smirked sneakily, giggling at how well he duped you. “It’s special formula of naturally occurring itching powder.”

You raaaaaaaaat!” Your attention lapse causes you to fall and hit a net, thankfully. “Please! This itches like a bastard” You’re scratching vigorously at your poor paws because the sneaky ringmaster, who loves messing with people in the cruelest way somehow managed to coat the tightrope somewhat and still have a very strong effect. Whatever formula he had, it was plenty powerful and could drive even the strongest willed person barking mad. It’s tickling a bit but mostly it’s itching like crazy, unrelenting and strong. Whatever it is he’s doing a good job of driving you nuts.

“HEEELP!” You yell form the net up above, still scratching at your paws, burning somewhat to add to the already intense itching.

“You want down?” The mouse asks, finding it humorous that he is not even getting started on the torment waiting for him in the Cirque du Sadism. He finds such amusement in your torment that he keeps you hanging (literally) for a few more seconds before letting you down by lowering the net to a height that you can gat back to terra firma.

“Okay, this is enough!” Finally, you work up the courage to walk out, not before being forced by a cane, tugging at your collar, pulling you in the opposite direction. in the direction of a large silvery cannon, something that he probably had earnestly though of using it, given the right sucker walks by and falls for the trap set, ironically, by the a mouse, no less. The cannon is prepped and had been set for some time to stuff someone in it. You’re getting in it, grumbling and not too happy climbing in. whatever. All the better to just get it over with. “Wait, what are you doing?!” The cannon is pointing up. Is he going to shoot you out or up and over?

“Any last words before your departure?”

“This carnival sucks! I didn’t have any FUUUUUUUUUNNN!!” Of course, sneakily, that rodent had the last laugh by firing before you could even finish a single quip. The cannon caused you to bounce off the canvas, and now going downward, looking at the two poles, the cannon, and the hoops for only a fleeting moment before gravity takes over. Falling, you cover your eyes right before hitting the ground and everything goes totally black. For a second, you think you’re dead until the sound of a truck passing by on the interstate is the sign that you’re alright. The rides, the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, the whole carnival and the tent is gone. This can’t be real. Then what did you just experience? Cant be something so vivid and be a dream or a hallucination.



Weeeeel lookie here! Something for a special pal. An intentionally belated birthday gift for Could be a couple of months overdue, could be a couple of weeks...only a select few really know when the bunny completes a turn around the sun >:3