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“Ever wonder why we spend money at carnivals when they’re plenty of people who will take us for a ride for free?”

She stopped mid bite to look back at her friend.  Her friend often spoke in analogies, but this one was particularly interesting.  Especially since she couldn’t even recall the last time she’d been to a proper carnival beyond that of her community garden fundraiser and that only consisted of cornhole and face painting.

She finished chewing her bite of carrot hummus and pita before asking, “What do you mean?”

Her friend snorted and rolled her eyes as if she’d just asked why we breathe.

“Seriously? You are literally the queen of carnivals!  If there was a CEO for the Tilt-O-Whirl, a ferris wheel president… you’d be it!”

She put down her pita.  “What are you talking about?!”

“Please don’t take this as an insult– it’s not– you just believe what everyone says because you mean everything that you say.  And well, sadly, most people have zero intention behind their words, as beautiful as those words sound at the time.  It’s almost as if they say what they say for their own benefit– to feel as if they have any intimate connection to another person. And you entertain it– just like the bearded woman entertains the world’s tallest twins…”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t. That’s the the irony of it all. If you understood, you’d be just like the rest.  And you, my sweet friend, are not like any of them.”

“You’re looking at the world through a fun house mirror.  It’s all distorted.”

“Hmm…” she said, “maybe I should just go and run away with the circus.”