"Rottingham Mayor cancels Halloween attraction" by Kayleigh Kitt

Rottingham Mayor cancels Halloween attraction

CW – Cultural bias, entitlement and superstition – (based on a writing prompt creepy carnival

v freak show)

Bellina Tranche (Miss)

13 Raven Lane

Rottingham

11th October

Dear Mr Mayor

Having read in the local press the Council resolved to cancel Halloween, I entreat you for the

matter to be urgently revisited at the next Full Council, allowing the Freak Show to exhibit.

Voters are being denied the liberty of gazing upon a human skeleton or watching the strongest

man. It would be a missed opportunity not to be able to converse with the bearded lady or

wonder at the unnatural contortionist bowing her body into shapes that defy human

physiology.

Notwithstanding, after Joshua Lacey fell into the river, in the year past, rescued by the

mermaid predicting his death the following day, you will recall it reached the front page of

the press, with eyewitnesses reporting he stepped into the road without checking for traffic,

for which I’m sure you’ll agree is a danger of our times.

Furthermore, when Mr & Mrs Ernest Ratherham were kidnapped and forced to work with the

show at the next town, Mr Ratherham’s webbed feet were exposed, attracting much attention,

and I am sure compensation.  It was, I concede, unfortunate that Mrs only presented for a

short while in one of those scandalously delicious sequinned costumes, falling to her death

during her first tightrope performance.

Of course, it is public knowledge that doctors are still unable to diagnose why Robina

Falstead’s blood became black following a revelation with the all-seeing eye. Her screaming

on receiving that information was said to be heard at the Church. I assert that it was

coincidental she panicked running in circles, colliding with a caravan, resulting in a short

period of unconsciousness, and a nasal fracture.

And I pose the question; after young Alex Foster volunteered to assist the serpent woman and

was never seen again, could he not simply have absconded? There were rumours that his

father liked the demon drink.

Moreover, you may remember Mick Morris’ delusive rouse, proclaiming he was able to

locate his cat after dark due to its bizarre luminous coat appearing after the Freak Show

departed.

I also posture it is coincidental that Ada Taylor’s tale of sleeping out in Blackpole Forest

when the Freak Show was in residence, was the beginning of a period of insanity. My sources

have revealed she reported finding a box of strange items, only to be shot at when she opened it. Her insistence something struck her, trapping her in a pod inside a tree is a fallacy which of course earned her a long-term residency at the local asylum, which in my opinion speaks for itself.  I am led to believe Ada still maintains she met an evil doll called Alice during the incident.

In conclusion, I am sure you will agree that excluding even the poorest Rottingham electorate

from their right to visit the Freak Show would be depriving voters and their offspring of this

educational spectacle and urge the Council to reconsider their decision.

Yours

Bellina Tranche (Miss)

Bio:  Kayleigh Kitt lives in Shropshire, UK with her husband and an ageing cat who thinks it’s a dog. She’s had work published in Bangor Literary Journal, Hooghly Review, Witcraft, Scifansat, Bakuanawa Press, Suddenly & Without Warning, Dark Winter Lit, Mr Bull, R U Joking & CNF in Across the Margin & Entrails.