Contents

MEGAN

at

CARNIVAL

OWEN JONES

Contact me at:

DEDICATION

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CONTENTS

1 FEYTON LEISURE CENTRE

2 FEYTON ISLAND FAIRGROUND

3 FEYTON CARNIVAL

4 MEGAN’S DREAM

5 WACINHINSHA

GLOSSARY

THE DISALLOWED

The Psychic Megan Series

MEGAN

at

CARNIVAL

A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger and One Scary Mother!

by

OWEN JONES

Copyright © 22nd August 2023 Owen Jones

Megan at Carnival

By Owen Jones

Published by Megan Publishing Services

https://meganthemisconception.com

∞ ∞ ∞

The right of Owen Jones to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. The moral right of the author has been asserted.

In this work of fiction, the characters and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or they are used entirely fictitiously. Some places may exist, but the events are completely fictitious.

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http://twitter.com/lekwilliams

http://owencerijones.com

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Other books in:

The Psychic Megan Series

A Spirit Guide, A Ghost Tiger and One Scary Mother!

The Misconception

Megan’s Thirteenth

Megan’s School Trip

Megan’s School Exams

Megan’s Followers

Megan and The Lost Cat

Megan and The Mayoress

Megan Faces Derision

Megan’s Grandparents Visit

Megan’s Father Falls Ill

Megan Goes on Holiday

Megan and The Burglar

Megan and The Cyclist

Megan and The Old Lady

Megan’s Garden

Megan Goes To The Zoo

Megan Goes Hiking

Megan and The Cookery Competition

Megan Goes Riding

Megan and The Radio One Road Show

Megan Goes Yachting

Megan at Carnival

Megan’s Christmas

Megan Catches Covid-19

DEDICATION

This edition is dedicated to my wife, Pranom Jones, for making my life as easy as she can, she does a great job of it.

Karma will repay everyone in just kind.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

“I do not seek to walk in the paths of the wise men of old, I seek what they sought”.

Matsuo Bhutto

∞ ∞ ∞

Great Spirit, whose voice is on the wind, hear me. Let me grow in strength and knowledge.

Make me ever behold the red and purple sunset. May my hands respect the things you have given me.

Teach me the secrets hidden under every leaf and stone, as you have taught people for ages past.

Let me use my strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy, myself.

Let me always come before you with clean hands and an open heart, that as my Earthly span fades like the sunset, my Spirit shall return to you without shame.

(Based on a traditional Sioux prayer)

DEDICATION

This story is dedicated to my parents, Colin and Marion, for the wonderful upbringing they gave to me and my brothers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to the artist who did the cover for me,

Jacqueline Chavarria.

If you want her contact details, just let me know.

CONTENTS

1 Feyton Leisure Centre

2 Feyton Island Fairground

3 Feyton Carnival

4 Megan’s Dream

5 Wacinhinsha

Glossary

The Disallowed

1 FEYTON LEISURE CENTRE

It was Saturday morning and Megan and her mother were still sitting at the breakfast table in the garden of sweet-smelling flowers after her father had gone to work. It was unusual for him not be at home on the weekend.

“Will it make any difference to your plans that your Dad can’t give you a lift, Megan?”

“No, not really, Mam. Can I have that last piece of toast? I’ll just catch the train over to the island after work”.

“You know you shouldn’t eat too much if you’re going swimming, especially swimming club. They work you quite hard there, I’ve seen them. We don’t want you getting cramp and drowning, do we?”

“No, Mam… but you say that every week and nothing has ever happened and even if it did, there are thirty-odd strong swimmers, the instructor and a lifeguard there, so nothing’s going to happen, is it?”

“Maybe not in the leisure centre, but it’s best to learn good habits for when you go swimming somewhere else”.

“Yes, I understand, Mam, but I also need energy. I’ve got swimming club and work before lunch comes around”.

“Yes, all right, as long as you watch what you’re doing. That’s all I ask. So what’s the plan for the day then?”

“Well, swimming club, the office, lunch. Then Jane will come down and we’ll go over the island, by train now, and spend the day on the fairground and the beach. It’s the annual half-price fares day, so all the kids from school will be there and most of us haven’t seen each other since school split up for the summer holidays a month or so ago. It should be fun”.

“Yes, so you keep telling us. Just you be careful, my girl. You know what I think of that pal Jane of yours. She’s got all the makings of a right little tart and I don’t want you taking after her”.

“Oh, Mam! She’s not really like that, it’s just her way of hiding her shyness - her mother encourages her to be showy… that’s the way she is as well”.

“That’s as maybe, but I don’t think it’s becoming behaviour, especially for a young teenager, so just you remember that, when your father and I are not around to chaperone you”.

“Really, Mam! You make it sound like I’m going to pick up the first boy I meet as soon as your back’s turned”.

“You just dare! Look, Megan, I know that you’re not like that, but I’m not so sure about that Jane, and it worries me so”.

“I know, Mam, but there’s nothing I can do to stop you worrying, that’s just how you are. You need to have a bit more trust in me and others. I am glad you care though, I see kids at school whose parents don’t care, but that doesn’t include me or Jane. Can I go and get ready now, or do you want some help with the breakfast things?”

“May I’, not ‘can I’… you run along, I can manage, thank you. What time can we expect you home for tea?”

“I don’t know, but not late, say six o’clock, all right?”

“Yes, love, see you then. Have a lovely day with your friends… and Jane”.

Glad to be getting away, Megan tapped Grrr on the head and hurried to the stairs which she clattered up with her silent, friendly tiger in pursuit, not caring about the noise she was making. Her mother, still at the table, listened to the racket and shook her head in disapproval.

∞ ∞ ∞

Megan showered, put on the clothes she had chosen the night before, red shorts and a pink T-shirt and scrambled back down the stairs with Grrr looking set for a day of fun.

“Bye, Mam, I’m off now”.

Her mother stopped washing up, wiped her hands on her apron and put them on her daughter’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry I fuss so, but I’m only thinking of you. You have a lovely day with your friends. Have you got enough money?”

“Yes, Mam, thanks. I know…” They drew closer to each other and kissed on the cheek. “See you later”.

“Yes, dear, see you for tea,” she said with a tear in her eye, so she turned quickly to continue with the dishes.

Megan skipped down the street under the glorious August morning sun and touched Grrr’s head whenever she came close enough. These days, she was trying to be more aware that not everyone could see her friendly ghost tiger – partly out of deference to her mother, who said that she was ashamed that her thirteen-year-old daughter ‘was still playing with imaginary friends’. ‘People will think you’re not right in the head at your age!’ she had warned her, but Grrr was as real to her as anyone she knew and so were her other Spirit friends and relatives.

She only wished she could make her see that… and them. Her father could see Grrr sometimes, and so could his parents, but none of her friends could, except Jane. Jane could be aware of Grrr without actually seeing her, but no-one she knew could see her other friends, her Spirit Guide, Wacinhinsha, or her mother’s own father, whom she called Gramps.

She tried hard not to think of their names lest they thought she was calling them. It was not that she was not always happy to see them, but she didn’t like to ‘summon’ them by mistake, because she was certain that they had other things to be doing.

It was quite a feat to be thinking of someone without using their name, but Megan was becoming good at thinking of specific people, especially her two dead friends, in the abstract so as not to disturb them.

Little did she realise that they were capable of distinguishing between a call for assistance and a thought about their well-being and Gramps was not going to tell her because Wacinhinsha was her mentor, and he judged that the mental exercise of separating her thoughts was more important than telling her the truth at the moment, unless of course she asked as a direct question, in which case he would explain properly.

When they arrived at the leisure centre, Megan got changed and went into the pool area to join her friends, most of whom were in the water talking, waiting for the instructor. Megan dived in to join them and Grrr followed but swiftly disappeared. She had showed willing, but didn’t like chlorine and didn’t want to be a distraction to Megan. They would meet up again afterwards and both knew it.

Megan had to leave early as usual, in order to get to work in the mayor’s office across the car park by ten, but she was skilled at getting showered and changed in seven minutes and she was on time when she knocked the door before entering without waiting for a reply.

“Good morning, Mrs. Williams! It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it?”

“It most certainly is, Megan, but you always seem to bring that extra ray of sunshine with you wherever you go. You brighten people’s days. It is a rare gift… I wish more people had it. Just look at all these complaints!

“You know, I get more complaints in the summer than in the winter? And do you know why? When it’s cold people stay in, but when it’s hot, thy go out. When lots of people go walking, they leave more litter, and so more people complain to me about dirty beaches and dirty roadsides… I don’t know… Anyway, that’s my problem.

“What have you written for me this weekend?”

“I wrote about Feyton’s big football game on Wednesday. I emailed it to you, but I can print off another copy if you like”.

“Yes, please, child. It is easier on my eyes if I’m reading it in the back of the car. What do you intend writing about this week?”

“Well, I’m going over the island with Jane this afternoon, I could write on the state of the beaches, if you like…”

“Oh, yes, that would be topical. OK, Megan, I’ll let you get on with your weekly routine and I’ll get on with mine. Are you still on for lunch?”

“Oh, yes, Mrs. Williams, it’s one of the highlights of my week”.

“Mine too,” she smiled and meant it. “I’ll have some tea and biscuits sent in soon. See you later”.

Megan sat at the spare computer in the corner of the room under the window cill and fired it up. She had the week’s email correspondence to the youth section on the party’s blog to sort out, but most of it every week was made up of comments on her article the previous week. She always checked awkward responses with the mayor before sending them, but she was given a pretty free hand. She felt Grrr snuggle up to her feet under the desk, so leaned down to pat her before starting work.

Megan heard Mrs. Williams cough at her desk and so turned around, but she wasn’t trying to call Megan. She went back to her work and the time flew past until all of a sudden the morning was over and it was lunchtime. They took the lift down to the deserted canteen because Mrs. Williams hips would not allow her to use the stairs.

“Bon appétit,” said Mrs. Williams when their food had arrived and gave another cough aside.

“Bon appétit,” returned Megan glad of the opportunity to study her friend. “Are you all right? That cough, I mean”.

“Yes, I’m fine, dear. It’s just a little something I’ve picked up – one of those tiresome summer colds, you know?”

Megan was still looking.

“I can see a dark grey patch about the size of my palm on the top right-hand side of your chest, Mrs. Williams.”

“Go on, child, you know I believe you have the gift. What do you see?”

“Just what I told you. It’s like a pulsating, dark-grey circle the size of my fist”.

“Yes, but what does it mean?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I haven’t got anyone to teach me the finer points of diagnosis, but I have noticed over the years that the more incongruous the blob is with its surroundings, the more likely it is to be an illness, and the darker the blob the more serious or advanced it is. You have a sickness which is not far advanced in your upper chest”.

“Do you think it’s a cough or a cold? A virus?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I remember you told me that you used to smoke heavily until your hip problems started, so I suppose you are worried about cancer. However, I haven’t learned to tell how deep the blemish is yet, so, as far as I know, it could be on your skin, in your breast or your lung or even in your back.

“However, having heard you cough, my guess would be that it’s in your lung; probably an infection, like you said. I’m sorry I can’t be more precise, but I’m still only learning”.

“Don’t you worry about that. Anything you can tell me is helpful. I’ll get along to the doctor on Monday morning. Thanks, Megan”.

“My pleasure, I just wish I could be more helpful”.

“I’ll get Bert to stop off at the chemist on the way home and pick up an antiseptic gargle and a packet of lozenges, they ought to help. Oh, look! Isn’t that your friend Jane on the pavement over there?”

Megan looked at her watch and then out of the window.

“Yes, we’re going over the Island together”. She said something to Grrr just loud enough for the mayor to hear, and watched Grrr walk through the wall and rub up against Jane’s bare legs. She reacted by looking down and starting to brush the thing off. ‘So, she felt it,’ thought Megan but the tiger was already around the other side of her when she looked down to where she had been touched, so she obviously still couldn’t see Grrr.

“You asked your big cat to tell your friend you had seen her? Did she understand?”

“Jane or Grrr? Grrr did and Jane will. She can feel Grrr’s presence but not see her yet, although I think she will one day. I think she thought it was a fly of some kind at first, but I’m sure she knows it was Grrr now… see? She’s looking around for me”. Megan waved through the window and caught Jane’s eye.

“I wish I could see her as well. Anyway, you two, you three, had better run along. I don’t want to hold you up. Have a nice time”.

“Thanks, Mrs. Williams, and you take care of your chest”.

She watched Megan join her friend, then the two girls turn and wave at her. She waved back and they left for the station.

On the Island fifteen minutes later, Megan left her bag of damp swimming gear in a locker at the station and they skipped, full of anticipation, onto the fairground across the road.

They both stopped to take in the wonder of the fairground: the noises, the screams of excitement, the howls of laughter; the smells of candy floss and hamburgers and the flashing lights. They looked at each other for a moment and big grins spread across their faces. They didn’t get to go to the fairground often because it was expensive.

“Where to first?” they both asked together and laughed.

“The Carousel!” they both replied at once and ran towards it with Grrr bounding invisibly alongside.

2 FEYTON ISLAND FAIRGROUND

They arrived at the carousel, but there was already a ride in progress, so after watching for a few moments they entered an amusement arcade nearby. Megan put a coin in the Laughing Policeman and they both roared as the puppet did its act. Jane put another coin in the slot when the three minutes were up.

“You don’t get much for your money, do you?” she remarked.

“You sound like an old woman!” said Megan, “but I suppose it’s the rides that are half price, not the slots. Come on I fancy the roundabout is slowing down”.

They clambered up the steps to the ride and then on to the ‘animals’ that were ‘tethered’ to poles. Megan chose a piebald horse and Jane mounted a zebra.

They hooted with delight as the bell rang to signify that the ride was about to start. They had two consecutive rides on two different mounts each and then went to talk to some of their friends who were standing in the crowd watching them.

“That was great, wasn’t it, Jane?”

“I loved it. I prefer it to riding a real horse - you don’t have to look after them,” she joked.

“You guys looked as if you were having a fantastic time up there,” said John, one of the boys they knew from school. Jane was certain that he was head-over-heels in love with her, but Megan hadn’t seen any evidence of it in his Aura, although she had never said anything. Jane was sure that most of the handsome boys were attracted to her and, in a way, thought Megan, she was probably right, because they were all at that age when boys and girls start to become curious about one another.

“Let’s me and you, Megan and Ralph have a go on the ‘Dodge ‘Ems’, Jane. It’ll be a scream!’

She looked at Megan, who simply smiled and nodded. However, Megan was even less impressed when the boys assumed that they were driving, although they were all paying half the cost of the cars. Jane snuggled up to John and he put his arm around her, but when Ralph tried to do the same, Megan shrugged him off. Jane stayed for a second ride, but Megan got into another car by herself. It was her first time driving, because you had to be over thirteen, but she thought it was much more fun to drive than be driven. She bashed her car into Jane’s causing her to squeal and hold on to John even tighter, but it got her a reprimand from the boss too on the grounds of health and safety.

“The Ghost Ride’ next,” suggested John wanting to strike while the iron was hot, but Megan wanted to break up the partnerships the boys thought they had formed.

“Maybe later,” she said pouring cold water on the new relationships. “I want to go for a big ice cream. What do you say, Jane, to two big Peach Melbas?”

Jane wasn’t sure, but she realized what her friend was doing and agreed. The boys looked crestfallen, but John went along. Ralph knew that he was out of luck with Megan, and so decided to look elsewhere. He wanted a kiss and a cuddle, not an ice cream.

As they were entering the Ice Cream Parlour, their friend Sarah was just about to leave, but she was alone and so joined their group.

“Isn’t the fairground exhilarating!” she asked no-one in particular. “I’m not sure whether I like the fairground or the circus better, but I love them both. How about you guys?”

Megan was sitting opposite her and next to John. They both looked at Jane and John then back at each other and smiled.

“I don’t think we’ll get much out of them for a while,” suggested Megan, “but in answer to your question, nor do I. I like them both too”.

“What are you doing for the Carnival this year?” asked Sarah trying to pretend that the other two didn’t exist because she found their behaviour embarrassing.

“I don’t know I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve only taken part twice and both times some group only roped me in to collect money in a bucket, but no-one has asked me to help this year. Why, are you getting involved?”

“Yes, I’ll be on the Leisure Centre Float. We’ve been discussing it for months, but all the real work needs to be done in the next two weeks. Do you want to join our team?”

Megan looked at her friend and could see the passion and enthusiasm for the event in her Aura.

“Come on! You’ll love it, you know you will,” Megan could hear the emotion in her voice as well.

“All right,” she agreed with a big smile. “You’re on. Thanks for asking me. You’ve got my email address and phone number, haven’t you, so perhaps you could send me some details tomorrow or whenever you have time”.

“Yes, tomorrow, probably. Are you ready to carry on with our day out? I haven’t been on a ride yet, I came straight in here for something to eat. Do you mind if I tag along with you?” she said looking at Megan and then the other two who were still engrossed in each other.

“No, not at all, I feel like a third wheel on a bicycle. Come on, Love Birds,” she said, “we’ve had enough of watching you two staring at each other, we want to go. Jane, are you coming with us?”

“Yes, sure, Megan, but you don’t mind if John tags along too, do you?”

“No, of course not, the more the merrier, are we still going to the Ghost Ride next?” People seemed to want to so they left the shop and headed there.

Jane and John led the way and so when the cars came in, they got in front and Megan and Sarah sat behind them. Megan watched Jane overreact to every event that befell them on the journey through the ‘haunted house’. A ‘ghost’ jumped out at them as they went around one corner and Jane threw her arms around John, then screamed and John ‘protected’ her. She was surprised when Sarah grabbed her arm, but allowed her the comfort.

The only thing in the whole ride that she found disconcerting was the pretend cobwebs hanging from the ceiling at head-height at one dark spot. She knew they would be fake, like all the ghosts, but they were probably dusty and may have attracted real spiders and the idea of spiders crawling in her hair or on her made her flesh go goose-pimply.

When the ride was over the three others had enjoyed the ride.

“Wow! That was scary wasn’t it, Megs?” asked Jane, holding John’s hand.

“Hardly,” she replied a little coldly. “I see real ghosts every day and have Grrr constantly at my side and you expect me to believe that the dummies in there are real? And if they were, why would I be frightened of them? People don’t turn into serial-killing ghosts when they die! I’m surprised at you, Jane, I thought you knew me better than that! It was a childish, silly little ride designed to play on people’s ignorance.

“Well, I am not ignorant in these matters”.

Megan knew she had gone too far; she could tell by the surprised reaction of her friends. She wondered whether she might be jealous; whether she regretted having spurned Ralph deep down, but she didn’t think so. She checked the time. It was three o’clock and at this rate, it looked as if it were going to be a long afternoon.

“What time is it?” asked Sarah.

“Three. It’s just that I said I’d be home by six at the latest and I also promised to have a look at the state of the beach for Mrs. Williams”.

“OK, so where are we off to next?” asked John, trying to raise the mood. “Let’s walk down through the fairground and see what we see. We haven’t even got around half of it yet”.

The friends agreed and John and Jane led the way. Sarah and Megan followed on behind, a little at a loss for words.

“Sorry, for that little outburst, Sarah, but I’m not playing their silly little games so they can justify hanging on to each other. In fact, I’m beginning to find it pretty annoying”.

“It doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to you, but I don’t like it either. You don’t see everyone else all over each other like them, do you?”

They both looked around. There was a lot of laughing and touching, but basically Sarah was right, there weren’t many other couples behaving like Jane and John. It was annoying her that she had been defending Jane only that very morning, but it was beginning to look as if her mother had been right.

It took them more than half an hour to get to the bottom of the fairground because