Life is so beautiful and so harsh all at the same time. The festival has been great but the festival with Sal has been a dream come true. When he found out that I’d never been to a festival before he made it his mission to show me everything, and what wonders the world has produced! I use to think that Eve and Madeline were special but here I have witnessed spectacularly impossible feats. I have seen a woman that can bend as if she had no bones. There is a man that can breathe fire like a dragon and another man that can walk in the air on just a tiny piece of string. Just when I thought I had seen it all Sal took my hand and pulled me into a tent that I hadn’t even noticed was there until Sal pulled back the flap and I was surrounded by dim light.
Did I say he took my hand?!! It wasn’t like the light friendly touches he had shown me the first time we met, it was different somehow. He did it so naturally and yet so intentionally. I can still remember how his long smooth fingers felt wrapped around my skin and the heat from his palm pressed against mine. Ah, I never wanted him to let go of me!
He pulled me into the tent, small lamps flickered around the sides and a few folding chairs were set up around a low stage. Sal guided me to the seats right in front. Once we had taken our seats he leaned over and whispered that he didn’t want me to miss a thing. I couldn’t breathe, having his face that close to mine, his lips that close to my skin. I could feel his breath on my neck. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see. But then the black-eyed man came onto the stage. Something about him scared me, scared me to my core. How my body can shift so quickly from feeling in love with Sal (yes I said in love!) to being scared to death I have no idea. I wanted to run but it was as though I was glued to my chair. The man on stage with the black eyes started his show. He made things disappear and then reappear. He made things float in the air, he made metal objects bend with his mind. But it was his last act that terrified me. It seemed off, it wasn’t right, and I know that after everything I’ve talked about it should all have seemed off but behind everything he did I had a feeling like there was an explanation to it, something I just didn’t understand. I knew I didn’t understand it but something in my gut told me there was a reasonable explanation, until the last act.
He brought out a potted plant and placed it on a wooden table in front of him. It was a single stem with soft delicate leaves at the base. The stem reached into the air and at the tip was a single white lily. I have never seen a flower that looked so delicate, so fragile before in my life. The man leaned forward and whispered to the flower. He then stood back up and his black eyes looked straight at me and he smiled. I couldn’t move. He then leaned forward and softly blew on the petals. As I watched I saw the flower wither and die, and the man with the black eyes chuckled to himself.
I got up and ran. I ran out of the tent as fast as I could. I didn’t know what I was doing I just needed to get away. Suddenly I found myself back at Sal’s tent. I don’t know why but I was terrified, I knew I was shaking. Sal found me there and when he saw me he instantly wrapped his arms around me and I could feel myself start to cry. He told me he was sorry, that he didn’t mean to scare me, that it was just a trick, an illusion. I wasn’t really listening to what he was saying though because over my sobs I could hear the wind pick up outside. I had to leave and now! I thought because we had been moving so much that I would be ok but clearly not. I pulled away from him and said I had to go. He looked really confused but instantly said he would come with me. There hadn’t been time to argue, I could hear the voices whispering. I ran out of the tent and he followed.