THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW.

Copyright 2012 Teel

Roughdraft of a novel in progress.

Please do not reprint or repost without permission.

-18-

It was feeling very sick. The stuff it ate out of the metal box made it sick.

All it's joints hurt and it's eyes were becoming watery. It could hardly see.

It stood up from behind the trash bin and started to walk.

It hurt but it knew it had leave it's hiding place.

It had to find help somewhere from someone.

Cathy Johnson was getting ready to take her dog for a walk. She put on the tightest pair of shorts she had and a small shirt to show off her cleavage. Every day when she walked the dog they would run into a handsome tall man who would pet the dog on the head and tell them to have a good day.

Cathy wanted him to pay attention to her this time. She wanted him to pet her head and tell the dog to have a good day.

Frank the dog sat down by the door and was waiting for Cathy to take him for a walk. The shaggy dog always look forward to these walks. He was too big a dog for living in an apartment and liked walking in the park near the apartment.

It was standing near the opening of the alley way. It wanted to leave the alley and try to find someone to help it.

But it was afraid to walk out into the open. It could see the cars driving back and fore and people walking here and there along the sidewalk.

It wondered if it should just walk up to someone and try to get help.

Cathy was half way to the park with Frank when Frank started to bark. She had to hang on tight to his collar to keep him from trying to run off.

It saw the woman and her animal. It held it's arms up so that she could see that he was carrying no weapon. It walked toward her.

Cathy scream and let go of Frank's leash. The barking dog up to the green creature and attacked it.

It howled in pain as the animal attacked it. In blind fear it stuck out. It lifted the animal by the neck and threw it against a wall.

It stagger around for a few moments. It was in total pain and blood was flowing out of the wounds the animal made.

People were screaming on the street.

It fell to the sidewalk.

It tried to get up but could not do it.

A group of people surrounded the dying monster. They had their camera phones out and were taking pictures.

The first few times the creature tried to get up the crowd back off. But now it was obvious that the strange beast could not get up.

After a few minutes it stop trying. A by stander with a stick poked at the creature to see if he could make it move some more.

“Leave him a lone!” Yelled Kaligari to the man with the stick. He walked to the man and pushed him away from the creature.

“Who the hell do you...” The man's words were cut off when Kaligari punched him in the face so hard that the man almost fell backwards. Blood flowed out of his nose.

“Anyone else got a problem with me!” Yelled Kaligari to the crowd. People back away but no one left and the people with the camera still kept taking pictures.

Alan joined Kaligari. Kaligari got down on one knee next to the creature.

“He's badly hurt.” Stated Alan. “What can we do for him?”

“I don't know. I have no idea how to help him.”

The creature moved it's head slightly and looked up at Kaligari.

It looked up at the hairy being kneeing down by it. It was saying something. It seem to know the voice but did not know from where.

It wondered if this being would help it. The hairy being seem to be the only one there that seem to care.

It's vision became blurry.

All became dark and it could not see anymore.

The eyes of the monster turned pale. It stopped all attempt to move.

“Help me move him into the truck.”

Kaligari and Alan dragged the creature to the truck. As they dragged it away there was a trail of a greenish slime left behind from the wounds of the the dead monster. It had started to smell worst.

As they dragged it to the truck people fallowed behind them watching and some were still taking photos with their camera phones and some with small digital cameras.

They lifted the creature into the back of Kaligari's truck with the help of a husky young man who walked up and helped them lift the heavy monster.

The husky man got green slime on his white tee shirt and later on sold the shirt on Ebay for twenty five dollars.

-19-

“Where are we going to go?” Asked Alan.

“I want to get some ice. I don't want the poor thing to rot away like an old piece of meat.'

They drove to the Wal Mart and got two carts filled with ice cubes.

Once they got back to the truck they piled the bags of ice over the body of the creature.

Then Alan's cell phone rang.

It was Fred.

“Alan you and Kaligari are all over the web.”

“How can that be... Oh yeah there was a lot of people snapping pictures of us.”

“Are you guys sure it's dead? Kaligari was fooled before.”

“It seems dead. We're packing the body in ice right now.”

As Alan talked on the phone Kaligari was finishing the job of packing bags of ice over the creature. He then sat down next to it and looked very sad.

“Fred I'll get back to you later. I have to get off the phone right now.”

Kaligari looked down on the dead creature and spoke to Alan.

“That poor monster. I wished I had known it was alive. I would have treated him...it better. It's awful that it died like that. All alone with a bunch of asses poking you with a stick.”

“What are you going to do with it now?”

“I don't know. I guess I could go on showing him at sideshows like I have been doing. But I just don't have the heart to do it anymore.”

Kaligari stood up.

“Thanks for the help. I'll drop you off at home and I'm going to hit the road. I want to get far away from this city. I want to go away and to some thinking.”

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapter 17

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW.

Copyright 2012 By Teel.

This is a roughdraft of a novel in progress. 

Please do not reprint or repost without permission.                        

                         

                          -17-

The big beat up couch in Alan and Fred's apartment was covered over with a large off white sheet. They found the couch in a vacant lot. They bought the sheet from a yard sale for two dollars.

Kaligari was sitting in the middle of the couch drinking a beer. Alan was sitting at his left eating a slice of pizza that had been sitting in the icebox for a week and a half and Fred was sitting on the other end of the couch and wondering if it was a good idea to bring Kaligari over to their apartment.

An old sci fi B movie was playing on television in front of them.

“It's almost six o'clock.” Stated Alan. They were walking for the six o'clock news to come on so that they could see Kaligari's interview on the news.

At six o'clock the local news started. For about ten minutes they ran the usual sound bites of national and international news.

When they returned from the first commercial break they cut to newsman Tom Cellar standing in front of Kaligari's trunk. Kaligari was standing there with him.

Tom Cellar talked directly to the camera...

“For the last few days there have been rumors of a strange alien creature wandering around the south side of the downtown area. A witness to this strange being has claimed that this creature came from the sideshow of Don Kaligari. Mr Kaligari what can you tell us about this monster?”

“Well I would not call it a monster...”

That that moment a shot from an old black and white movie appeared. In the shot a young woman is screaming in terror.

“...I believe the creature came from outer space...”

Then a shot of flying saucers appeared. Fred who watched a lot of old sci fi movies knew it was footage from the movie TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE.

“...Thousands of people saw it in my sideshow...”

They then clipped in a shot of Japanese people running in terror from an old Godzilla movie.

The whole interview Kaligari did was re edited for laughs with footage from various old sci fi movies of the fifties.

When the interview was over the three of them just sat there for a minute.

“Well I guess the joke is on me.” Said Kaligari. “I have been trying for years to get someone to listen to me about the creature.”

“They're bound to find that thing soon. Where could it hide in this city? Then people will know you were telling the truth.” Said Fred.

Kaligari stood up.

“Well I'm not going to wait for someone else to find it. I'll getting into my truck and look around for it.”

“I'll go along with you.” Said Alan. “How about you Fred? You want to go along?”

“No I think I'll just stay here. Give me a call if you find the creature.”

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapters 15 and 16

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW.

Copyright 2012 By Teel

This is a roughdraft of a novel in progress.

Please do not reprint or repost without permission.

-15-

Tom Cellar had been giving the weather reports on the local news for the last year and a half. From time to time they him a small story to do.

Never real news.

It was always some silly filler story like this one about the sighting of a monster on this end of town.

Cellar looked up at the sign painted on the side of the truck and wondered if he could beef up the story some how.

Kaligari walked up to Cellar. Fred was behind him but stood back as Kaligari walked up to him.

“Hello sir. I just saw you on the news. That's my truck.”

“Hello. I'm Tom Cellar. I was told you were showing the monster to people here not too long ago.”

“I wouldn't call it a monster. It was a creature I found. I found it at the wreckage of a spaceship. I have been showing...”

“Just a minute. I want to interview you for the news tonight. You wouldn't mind being interviewed would you Mr...?”

“Kaligari. Yes I would like to be interviewed. I tried to get the government to look at it and no one would believe I had found this creature...”

“Yes Mr. Kaligari. Let me help get the cameraman set up and I'm going to let you tell our viewers all about it.”

Alan joined Fred who was standing close by listening to Cellar and Kaligari.

“I got the nachos. What's up?”

“They're going to interview Kaligari. It's going to be on the news tonight.”

They watched as the cameraman set up a tripod and a camera.

-16-

The creature spent the day hidden behind the trash bin. The light of daylight hurt it's eyes and it's limbs were all sore.

As it laid there it felt sick.

All the strange sounds around it kept it from relaxing.

The cars driving pass just beyond the opening of the alley. The sounds of children playing in the part a half a block away. The voices of people yelling back and fore at each other. All those sounds made it jumpy. It wished that it was back home.

After a while it felt hungry.

The feeling of hunger echo through it' body and made it feel worst.

It could smell things in the trash bin it was hiding behind.

It slowly moved out from behind the bin and looked into it.

It opened up some of the plastic bags and sniff them. Some of the things smelled like food but not like food he ever ate.

The creature tasted some of the things in the bin and spit them back out. Finally it force it self to eat some of the things it found there.

After wards it laid back down behind the bin and felt sicker.

Bill Burton had everything all set up.

On the coffee table in front of him there was a big bowl of popcorn that he had just made.

On the floor at his feet was a big plastic pail of beer bottles and ice cubes.

He sat down on his favorite easy chair and picked up the remote control.

He was now ready. The sport channel was going to show 3 hours of Women's Beach Volleyball and he was going to sit there and watch all three hours of it.

He thought about having a jar nearby so he not have to go to the bathroom. He decided against that idea. That just seem too lazy.

This was just as Bill pictured retirement. He hoped to be spending his last days watch women in small two piece bathing suits playing volleyball on TV.

The game started and Bill watched the young players jump up and down playing with the ball for 26 seconds.

Then his wife run into the apartment screaming...

“Billy!Billy! There's a monster hiding in the alley! Get the gun! Shoot it!”

She was screaming in that high tone that made him feel like a nail was being hammered into his head.

“Stop screaming Helen you're giving me a headache.” He was still trying to watch the women playing on the TV set.

“But there's monster in the alley! I saw it when I took out the trash! It stood up and growled at me!”

Bill was only half listening to her. He would rather watch the game.

“Are you talking about that poor bum? I tell you that guy is harmless.” He was talking about a homeless man that somethings slept in the alley. His wife was afraid of him.

“Bill get the gun! I tell you it's a monster! A big green monster.”

He was not longer listening to her.

“Yeah yeah. After my show is over.” He said as he picked up a bottle of beer from the pail. He was hoping she would leave him alone till the show was over.

She marched loudly into the bedroom and slammed the door.

Good he thought. I can watch my show in peace now.

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapter 14

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW.
Copyright 2012 By Teel.
This is a roughdraft of a novel in progress.
Please do not re post or re print without permission.

-14-

Behind the counter of the taco joint there was an old small television set. It was mounted on a wood shelf just above the large colorful menu food sold by the restaurant.

The TV was place there so the workers(Who were all cousins of the owner) could keep up with the latest sport events instead of calling in sick and staying home to watch them.

Right now the TV was showing the local news.

On the news a man who usually did the weather report was out live on location. He was at an apartment complex a couple a blocks away from the taco shop.

He was standing there talking to a couple of people while behind him in the background a bunch of dim wits were waving at the camera and making faces.

“So tell us about this monster you saw out...”

“Hey listen to what's on TV.” Said Alan to them. He pointed to the TV set behind the counter over the menu.

“...So I was walking my dog and I smelled something that made me feel kind of sick. My dog started barking and I saw this thing running away from the complex.”

“And what did this monster look like?” Asked the newsman.

“It was like a gorilla with green rubber skin...also it had large eyes.”

“And how about you young lady. Your mother said you saw something.”

“Yes...I look out my window because I heard a noise and I saw a big green monster. I was scared.”

“I bet you were young lady... and you sir. You said you saw something?”

“Yeah I did. I saw if for a few seconds when I was looking for a parking spot last night. Some jackass took my spot.”

“And you saw a creature that looked like the green creature they saw?”

“Yeah and I saw a creature like that before.”

“Really? When and where did you see that?”

“Just a couple of days ago. I took my niece to the carnival that was down the street and some guy was charging a dollar a piece to see this monster from space in a box in the back of his truck.”

The reporter was not quite sure if this man was pulling his leg.

“Monster from space?”

“Yeah. There was a sign on the side of the man's truck and it said it was from outer space. It sure was strange to see it walking around...”

The newsman got a signal from the camera man to sign off.

“Thank you sir for your story and now back to you Dave...”

The news was then replaced by a commercial for a pizza restaurant.

The three of them looked at each other at the table.

“Mr. Kaligari...Tell me the truth. Did you really find that thing in a wreck?”

“I swear I did...But it was dead... At least I thought it was dead.”

“Wow... I never thought I would meet an alien.” Said Alan. “Why do you thing it was just lying in there? You think it was faking. Playing dead?”

“I can't imagine why it would do that. I always treated it right even though I thought it was dead. I would wash the dust off of him and kept him cool so he would not rot.”

“Yes you always kept it cold. Maybe it was in a coma.” Said Fred. “The cold kept it in a death like state.”

“Yes you told me yesterday that the motor that kept the cooler going was not working.”

“I forgot.” Said Kaligari. “Last night I was going to get more ice but I got drunk instead. I forgot to get more ice...The ice in the box was all melted away this morning.”

Kaligari looked like he was going to be sick.

“All this time he was alive. I was pouring ice over him and keeping him from waking up... I didn't know he was alive... I would not have kept him from living.”

“Don't beat yourself up.” Said Fred. “How would you know? What would any of us know about creatures from outer space?”

For a while that sat there trying to decide what they should do next.

Kaligari found it hard to think because of the guilt he felt. He wished he had taken the alien to a doctor of some sort to check him out.

“Hey look.” Alan pointed out the window of the shop to the parking lot. A news van was driving up to Kaligari's truck.

The newsman they just saw on the TV got out of the van and walked up to the truck. He was looking at the sign on the side of the truck that told of the space alien inside.

“I guess I should talk to the news people.” Said Kaligari. He got up and went out to talk to them.

Fred fallowed him out.

Alan went to the counter and asked for a to go box so he could take the left over nachos with him.

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapters 12 and 13

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW

Copyright 2012 by Teel

This is a rough draft of a novel in progress.

Please do not re post or re print without permission.

                           -12-

Gloria was lying nude on the bed. She was half drunk and ready.

Larry quickly pulled off his underwear and climbed on top of her. He started to kiss her.

He had been thinking about doing this for the last three day while he was out of town on business.

Larry was just about to enter when their daughter Pan screamed.

Within 3 seconds Pan ran into the bedroom.

“Mom! Dad! There's a monster in the alley!”

They quickly threw the bed sheet over their selves.

Pan ran over to her mother's side of the bed.

“Mom I saw a monster! Really it's in the alley!”

“Calm down sweetheart. You had a dream.”

“Yeah go back to bed. You're ten you're acting like a baby.” Larry was a little annoyed that their daughter interrupted things.

“I really saw it. It's real.” She sobbed.

“It alright honey.” Said Gloria. “You can stay with mommy and daddy tonight and you'll feel better tomorrow. Come on you can lie down next to me.”

Pan climbed into bed next to her mother.

Larry rolled over to his side facing away from his wife and daughter and pretended to go to sleep. He was to annoyed to talk to them right now.

He would feel better in the morning after their daughter went off to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast and left them alone for awhile.

In an alley way a block over the creature was hiding behind a trash bin. The screams of the little girl scared it and it wanted to hide for awhile.

-13-

It was Monday morning and Fred and Alan were driving to the supermarket. There was a special on hot dogs and can goods. They needed to stock up for the week.

On the way to the store they were driving pass the strip mall when the carnival was.

Everyone with the carnival was gone expect for Kaligari. His truck was still there. Kaligari was sitting on the wood steps that led to the back of his truck.

“Look. Kaligari is still there.” Alan pointed out to Fred was not interested in the least. “He looks upset.”

“He must of just realized that he could have made more money in the carnival business selling deep fried candy bars.”

“I'm going to see what's up with him.”

“No. I don't want to talk to him I think he's crazy.”

“You don't have to talk to him.”

Alan drove his pick up into the parking lot of the strip mall. He drove up to Kaligari's truck.

“I'll be right back. I'll just talk to him a minute.” Said Alan as he got out of the pick up.

Fred decided to get out too. He knew Alan's minute would become 15 minutes and he did not want to be sitting in the car waiting for him.

Kaligari was sitting on the wood steps leading to the back of his truck. He was sitting there looking sad and did not at first seem to noticed them. He then looked up as they got closer.

He stood up and talked to Alan with a tone of great pain in his voice.

“Someone has stolen him. I woke up this morning and it was gone.”

“Someone stole the alien?” Alan was amazed at the news.

“Yes he's gone.”

As Alan and Kaligari talked Fred walked up the steps and looked into the back of the truck.

“Did you call the police?”
Asked Alan.

“No I don't want to talk to the police. Every time I talk to the police it ends up bad.”

“Okay what's the scam?” Stated Fred to him.

“What scam?”

“There's only one set of foot prints back there and the door was busted from the inside...Are you trying to get on the news?”

“One foot prints? It would take two men to carry him out. He's heavy and I don't try to talk to the news people anymore they don't care about him.”

“The footprints in there are not from shoes. They're not human. Are you trying to fool people into thinking it came to life?”

“How could it come to life? He's dead. He's been dead since I found him. Why are you talking about?”

Kaligari was very upset at that point. Fred looked into his eyes and saw that he was talking to a man who really believed that the thing he had in the back of the truck was real and now he believed that the creature was gone.

“I'm sorry Mr. Kalgari. I misunderstood what was happening here.”

Fred now believed for sure that Kaligari was a mentally ill man.

Kaligari, Fred and Alan were sitting together at the taco joint at the strip mall.

They were sharing a large nachos that was on special and debating on who and why would anyone steal the alien.

“I have not idea who would steal it. It's not like there's a black market for that sort of thing.” Said Karigari.

“Maybe someone wanted to set up his own sideshow with it.” Suggested Alan to him.

Fred was convinced that Karigari was a mentally ill man. He believed that kaligar himself removed the thing from his truck. He decided to ask Kaligari some questions and see what he was thinking.

“Kaligari when I looked into your truck I noticed that the plastic sheet that covered the box the alien was in was pulled in instead of being pulled off.”

“What do you mean?”

“It looks like someone pulled the plastic in from inside the box. Also there was the one set of foot prints.”

“That makes no sense. It would take two guys to carry him away. He is heavy.”

“Yes. Well the foot prints did not seem to be that of a human being...Are you sure that thing was dead?” Fred looked closely at Kaligari to see his reaction to that.

“Of course it was dead. It was dead when I found it. It has never moved. It doesn't breath. It stinks like a pile of dead fish.”

“Could it have been in a coma.” Said Alan. “Maybe the cold put it in a coma and when the temperature dropped it awoke.”

“No I tell you that thing was dead.”

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapters 10 and 11

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW.
Copyright 2012 by Teel
This is a rough draft of a nove in progress.
Please do not reprint or repost without permission.


                              -10-

Janet was surprised when her boyfriend Jack called her at 4 in the morning to give him a ride home.

She threw on some clothes quickly and got into her car to go pick him up.

Many times over the last two years that she knew him she told him to call her when he was drinking. She did not want him to be driving around drunk.

He always told her that no one needed to drive him after a night at the bars. That only drunks could not drive after drinking.

She always feared that someday she would have to go see him in the drunk tank or the morgue from drinking and driving.

She drove to Yellow Ave and found him sitting in his car which was parked by RED'S BAR AND BURGERS.

Jack got out of his car and got into her car.

“Thanks for picking me up Pet.”

He did not seem very drunk. She seen him drive home in much worst shape.

“It's okay. Anytime you need me.”

They drove away.

Janet could tell something was not right. He seem to be upset but was trying to hide it.

“I'm ...I'm giving drinking for awhile.” He stated.

“Why?” She asked. She really wanted to cheer. But she was wondering why he all of a sudden wanted to not drink.

“I'm starting to see things. I was driving along and I saw someone standing in the middle of the street.”

“What was he doing?”

“He...it was just standing there. It wasn't a man...It was a creature of some sort I saw. It couldn't have been real. It was some sort of a monster.”

“A monster? Really?” She was getting worried. He never talked like this before when he drank.

“As I drove up near it the thing ran away. It was a large green monster. It ran into the alley. After it ran away I parked the car and called you.”

“I'm glad you did.”

“I knew when I saw that I was too drunk to drive. I'm going to give up drinking for awhile.”

They drove home and went right to the bed room.

Before he fell asleep he asked Janet to not turn off the lights.

-11-

It stayed in the alley way for a long time. From time to time it would peek out for there to see if there was anymore of those weird things that it saw out there.

A little while earlier it had encountered a metal craft on wheels. It almost hit it. It saw some sort of creature into of the craft.

The creature looked around the dark alley that it was hiding in. It walked toward the other end of the alley to see if there was anything there that it should be aware of.

In the darkness the creature walked into some trashcans. The cans fell over and made a great deal of noise. Things fell out of the cans and the creature stood back. It did not know what to make of the cans or the things that had fell out.

The alley was filled with a dim light. They creature looked up and saw a window. The light was coming from that window. The small figure of a young girl open the window up and looked down into the alley at the creature.

She screamed in horror as the creature ran away down the alley leading to the next street over.

-12-

Gloria was lying nude on the bed. She was half drunk and ready.

Larry quickly pulled off his underwear and climbed on top of her. He started to kiss her.

He had been thinking about doing this for the last three day while he was out of town on business.

Larry was just about to enter when their daughter Pan screamed.

Within 3 seconds Pan ran into the bedroom.

“Mom! Dad! There's a monster in the alley!”

They quickly threw the bed sheet over their selves.

Pan ran over to her mother's side of the bed.

“Mom I saw a monster! Really it's in the alley!”

“Calm down sweetheart. You had a dream.”

“Yeah go back to bed. You're ten you're acting like a baby.” Larry was a little annoyed that their daughter interrupted things.

“I really saw it. It's real.” She sobbed.

“It alright honey.” Said Gloria. “You can stay with mommy and daddy tonight and you'll feel better tomorrow. Come on you can lie down next to me.”

Pan climbed into bed next to her mother.

Larry rolled over to his side facing away from his wife and daughter and pretended to go to sleep. He was to annoyed to talk to them right now.

He would feel better in the morning after their daughter went off to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast and left them alone for awhile.

In an alley way a block over the creature was hiding behind a trash bin. The screams of the little girl scared it and it wanted to hide for awhile.

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapter 9

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW

Copyright 2012 By Teel

This is a roughdraft of a novel in progress.

Please do not reprint for repost without permission.

-9-

     It was very cold.

     And it was dark.

     For a long time all it could feel was the coldness.

     The darkness seem to last forever.

     It remembered talking to a holy person once when it was young and the holy person told him that if someone led a bad life that when it died it would go to a world of never ending darkness and cold.

     Did it lead such a bad life that it would end up in a place like that?

     It felt tired and sick. It's body felt numb. It tried to move it's arms and legs but at first they would not move.

Finally it was able after much effort to slowly move it's arms and legs.

     when it started to move it realized that it was in a pool of cold water.

     How did it end up there? Did the craft land in a ocean? Was it at the bottom of some alien ocean?

     It rocked it's body slowly to the left and to the rightIt stretched out it's arms and reached around it self.

     It was in a box of some sort.

     It reached upward over it self and felt a covering of some sort.

     It pushed it's hands upward and pushed though the plastic cover. It ripped the cover apart and placed it's hands on the upper edges of the box and slowly pulled it self up into a sitting position.

     It felt better sitting up. It could breath better. The air smelled a little strange to it.

     The room was lite by a dim light. It's eyes at first had trouble focusing. But as the eyes got use to the dim light it could see that it was in a box and was surrounded by the walls of a bigger box.

     Was it in a tomb of some sort. The holy person told him that when the end times come the dead would raise and be judge according to how they acted in life.

     It slowly crawled out of the box. It was in a great deal of pain. It did not want to move but it made it self move. It did not was to stay in the small box or the tomb like bigger box.

     It placed it's feet on the floor. It's feet hurt. It hung on to the small box for support and it got use to standing up again.

     Once it got use to standing it slowly moved it's legs and walked toward the walks of the room it found it self in.

It moved it's arms over the side of the walls. It was looking for a doorway or an opening of some sort.

Finally it found the handle to the back door of the truck.

It looked the handle over in the dim light and moved it around. The door was lock and would not open.

     The creature pushed it's body against the door. It pushed with all it's might.

     The pad lock snapped and the door flew open. The creature was unprepared for the doors swinging open and it fell down the stairs that led to the back of the truck.

     It a about five minutes the thing laid there in total pain. Every part of it hurt.

     The first rush of pain faded and it looked around it self.

     It was dark like in the back of the truck.

     But there was strange building with light shining out of them.

     The creature realized that it was not on it's home planet or a planet that it knew of.

     In spite of the pain the creature made it self stand up and it staggered away.

     It wanted to find some where to hide for awhile till it could figure out what was going on.

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW Chapters 7 & 8

THE BEAST FROM THE SIDESHOW

Copyright 2012 By Teel

This is a roughdraft of a novel in progress.

Please do not reprint or repost without premission.

-7-

     The next morning when Alan woke up he felt sick. This was no real surprise. He always felt sick the next morning after eating the meatballs Fred made. Alan always ate too much of them and regretted it later.

     He sat up and read from an novel he started the night before. He thought he might feel better after a little while.

Twenty minutes later he was still feeling a bit sick. He decided that maybe a walk in the morning air would make him feel better.

     He put on the clothes that he took off the night before and went out.

     Alan walked away from the apartment house and toward the strip mall where the carnival was located.

     Walking in the morning air made him feel better and he started thinking about the Mexican food joint that he had nachos at the day before.

     He thought he could buy a couple of large burritos. One for breakfast and one for lunch later in the day.

     As he walked into the parking lot of the strip mall he saw Kaligari at his truck. The hood was up and Kaligari was working on the motor.

     It was still about 20 minutes before the taco joint was to open. Alan decided to say hello to Kaligari.

             “Hello Mr. Kaligari. Are you having motor trouble?”

             “How's it going? I'm not having motor trouble. The cooler isn't working.”

            “Has the alien body thawed out?”

            “Oh no. I covered it with plenty of ice last night. A matter of fact I want to go over to the store and get some more ice to pour over it. Do you mind keeping an eye on the truck?”

            “Sure.” Stated Alan who wondered why anyone would trust a stranger to watch their stuff.

            “Great. Can I bring you back anything from the store?”

            “A snicker bar would be nice.”

            “Sure I'll bring you a king size one. What's your name? I forgot it.”

            “Alan.” He was sure he did not give him his name the day before.

            “Okay Alan I'll be right back.”

Kaligari open the cab of his truck and pulled out a red child's wagon. He walked away pulling it with him.

Kaligari left the hood up over the motor. Alan looked down upon the motor for a minute like he knew something about car motors. He use to do that with his friends back before he realized that he was never going to be the kind of guy he could fix his own car.

     Alan got his first computer when he was 15. He worked on it and decided if he needed a car fixed his father could do it for him.

     Alan walked around to the side of the truck. He looked at the sign painted on the side of the alien. Alan wondered if Kaligari painted the sign himself. He seem like the kind of guy who would do it himself.

     He wondered if Kaligari made that thing in the crate or if someone made it for him. If it was a man made item it was a great one.

     But a rubber or plastic thing would not have to be buried in ice.

     With the ice in mind Alan was now sure that the thing was some sort of an animal that was butchered and sewn together to look like some sort of an alien being from beyond Earth.

             “Here's your candy bar.”

Kaligari handed it to Alan as he walked up to the truck. He was pulling the red wagon he left with and there was three large bags of ice cubes piled on it.

             “Thanks.” Alan was hungry for something at that point. It was a king size candy bar.

             “Come up and see the alien Alan. If you go now you can beat the crowds.” He laughed at his own little joke.

     The back of the truck was not as cold as it was yesterday when Alan was there with Fred.

     Kaligari pulled back the plastic cover over the crate after removing the tacks that held it down over the crate.

The truck was filled with an odd smell. Kaligari who was use to it had no reaction but Alan was surprised by it. The alien thing had a fishy look about it but the smell was nothing like fish. Or in fact any animal that Alan could thing of.

     Kaligari poured the new ice cubes into the crate over the creature and the half melted ice that was already in there.

             “There you are Jackson. Do you feel better now?” Kaligari asked the thing in the crate. He seem ready to hear an answer.

             “Jackson? You call it Jackson?”

             “Yes. He reminds me of my great uncle Jackson. He was my father's uncle. He ran a hot dogs stand in San Francisco for 42 years. He grew to hate hot dogs. He wouldn't eat one to save his life.”

     Alan looked at the face of the alien thing. He could not see how that inhuman face could remind anyone of someone. He wanted to get a look at this great uncle of Kaligari.

            “Well I got to get going. Good luck fixing the problem with your cooler.”

            “Thank you. I'm not too worried about it. At the next town I know someone who could fix it pretty cheap. I'll just use ice till then.”

           “Good bye.” Said Alan as he left the back of the truck.

The smell of fresh air hit him as he walked back into the parking lot. The smell of the thing in the truck had given him a strange feeling.

    As Alan walked back toward the apartment he thought about how he wished he had said to Kaligari: Okay enough bullshit. How the hell did you make that thing? Is it animals sewn together or some rubber thing?

     When Alan was in his late teens he had wanted to make sci fi movies. He would have liked to have shot a movie using a creature like the one Kaligari had in the back of his truck.

-8-

      It was a slow day for Kaligari and his sideshow. Only about a dozen people came by to stare that the creature he had on display.

      At nine o'clock he put out the closed sign.

      He walked over to the crate.

               “Sorry Jackson. Not too many people this stop. But that's alright the next stop is going to be better. Lots of people are going to come and see you and know that there's people like you out there.”

     Kaligari felt a little sad. He wished there was a way to let more people know about his discovery.

     He tried calling TV news and the papers but no one came to see the creature.

     One guy from a local news station did a short interview with Kaligari laughed openly at him and kept asking him if people really believed he had a space alien in his truck.

He looked at the melting ice surrounding his creature. He decided that he should get some more to cover up the thing before he went to bed.

     Kaligari locked the doors of the truck and once again got his red wagon and walked toward the store a couple blocks over where he could get a few bags of ice.

     His plan was to get the ice and go to sleep. He was planning on pulling out early in the morning and driving down to the next stop of the rundown little carnival.

     About halfway to the store he spotted a small beer joint. Kaligari decided to stop here and have a beer and then go to the store.

     Three hours later Kaligari left the bar. He walked back to the carnival. He forgot his red wagon which he left in the bar and he forgot to get more ice.

     Once he got back to the carnival he got into his truck and pulled his blanket over himself and quickly fell asleep.