I took the right path and kept walking until the end of the tunnel. It was still dark around me, but I managed to make my way until I reached a massive iron gate. It had a sign on top that read "Welcome to Sleeping Hollow".
How is it that someplace I've never been to, or even heard of before seem so familiar to me? What lies beyond that door?
I hesitantly took a few steps forward until I was standing directly in front of the towering gate. I ran my hands across its intricately designed metallic rails. That feeling, the same feeling I get in my dreams, it washed over me again. The same longing and slight ache I always feel deep in my bones. With all the courage I could muster, I pushed the gate and it creaked open, making a clear path for me to enter into Sleeping Hollow.
I walked ahead on the path in front of me, which eventually led me to what I think must have been the town square. I could finally take in my surroundings underneath the pale moonlight. The sight that greeted me shocked me to the core.
In the middle of the town square, there was a colossal fountain of some cherry red liquid, which I really hope is not made of what I think it is. I saw a whole bunch of people around the town square going about their businesses, only they weren't ordinary looking at all. For lack of a better word, they were peculiarities, each with their own specific oddity.
I saw a girl with four legs walking into a tavern, but when I made eye contact with her, she immediately looked away and scurried off. Then, I saw him. The uncanny resemblance to the guy in my dreams, the heavily tattooed man. He must've been 99.99% tattooed, right down to his eyeballs, which were a haunting shade of purple. My heartbeat sped up and I felt overwhelmed because I couldn't believe he was real. He was actually right there in front of me. Unlike the girl, he stared at me intensely for a few minutes before ultimately walking away with a cigarette in his hand.
"Come one, come all. Witness the blazing fury of Kyle De Leon for yourself. The hottest and brightest freak of all!" I turned to the direction where the sound was coming from.
A blue fireball flew right in front of me and hit the middle layer of the fountain, scorching the marble a little bit before being extinguished by the cherry red liquid.
"Half price for freaks under 10. Come now, and be amazed for one night only"
Fire. Could it be? The glimpse of fire that haunts me when I sleep? Could it be him? I wondered out loud. I decided to head to the tent, where the show must be taking place inside.
"Ciao bella donna, non ti ho mai visto prima" a guy giving out tickets at the front of a tent said to me, while bowing down slightly to gently kiss my hand.
"W-what? I'm sorry, I don't speak Latin, or whatever it is you just said. C-can I go in? I would really like to see the fire show. P-please?" I asked.
"By all means, divertiti!" he said, while holding the front of the tent open for me to enter.
God, this night has just been getting weirder and weirder.
The minute I entered the tent, I started to sweat because the surroundings were stuffy as it was crowded with so many people. I pushed my way past a small guy, who looked too mature for the size of his body, and past a rather large bearded lady. I managed to squish my way to the very front of a stage, where a guy around my age was taking center stage. His hair was a dark fire ombre, which reminded me of the feathers of a phoenix. He had on a leather jacket ripped at the sleeves, exposing his well-defined arms, which were covered in scars.
After an exploding round of cheers from the audience, a gypsy girl wearing a bandana came out and handed him two enflamed daggers, signalling the start of his performance. He took the first dagger and began swallowing it, followed by the other, before quite literally breathing out a stream of fire, which was returned with a collective gasp from the audience. Then, his assistant brought out two gigantic hoops set ablaze, which he then proceeded to juggle and dance around with. It was a coruscating display of flames, which surrounded the entire tent with incandescence.
There, in the midst of the spectacularity, I realised I had seen parts of his performance before countless of times in my dreams. After the end of his performance, I stayed behind because I honestly had no idea where I was, or why I have been dreaming of his performance since I was 14. I needed to get some answers.
