Awkwardly standing by the mini funfair ride, Joe could not help but fidget with his fingers and wring his wrists. A perfectly formed translucent bead of sweat slowly trickled down from his greasy, matted brown hair past his left temple then taking the unusual route of rolling unto his cheekbone then gradually making its way to his inner cheek. He was right near the baby blue and white spiralled poles attached to mechanical multi-coloured horses on an unusually, cloudy and rainy New York's summer’s day. The young adolescent could not conceal his emotions as his lips trembled and his face whitened. Passersby could see that he was clearly disturbed.

“You okay, sir?” boomed a tall and hefty carousel supervisor with a wide, friendly gleaming grin across his face. His countenance was that of a jolly Santa Claus and his round beer belly made this more apparent. Joe continued wringing his wrists then a tear emerged from within his eyes then down his anaemic looking cheeks then another and another. Preoccupied by his thoughts, he completely ignored the man (who he believed was better suited working as a nightclub bouncer than a ‘My Little Pony’ carousel worker). The man shrugged and returned to the ever increasing queue of parents holding unto their toddlers' hands.

Joe knew that he was out of his depths this time around and no amount of reflection could rescue him from the trouble he was in. Never again would he touch a spell book, tarot card or any other accursed item or at least that is what his marvelled mind and state of shock lead him to believe. Broken and exhausted, Joe made a solemn promise to himself in the middle of Coney Island Funfair hoping that his spirit would bring his little sister, Rosie back.

He had never like boys- they were more like competition for him. When he was eight years old, his cousin Lloyd had come over for his birthday party, which was fine in the beginning until he received a telling off by both his mum and dad for tackling a school friend during a five-aside match. Therefore, when his cousin Lloyd preceded to blow out his own candles he could not help but give him a good punch in the face. His female friends on the other hand, always celebrated his company and praised his piano playing, drawing, speech delivering, carpentry, and boxing skills, so the day his mum  brought her newborn baby home he was filled with adoration for his sister. How he missed her.

He pressed his tensed body unto the cold metal railings oblivious to the indents they were causing his forehead and arms. Round and round he went in his mind on the pursuit of an answer to his conundrum. Nobody could help him, nobody even knew what was wrong nor would they believe him if he reported it to them.  Eventually, he surrendered to the wicked forces that had abducted his sister as their reward for him using their power to perform dark miracles that he had learnt from reading 'Wonderbook: Book of Spells'. He came to terms with the fact that Rosie would never return but he wondered if one last incantation could bring her back.

Locked away in a toilet there was  silence except for the melodic dripping of a faulty cold water tap, Joe decided that the best thing to do, the only thing to do at this point in time was to hide. He could not contemplate facing his parents. How could he tell them that he was unable to take his baby sister out and bring her home safe and sound? If his sister was as good as dead he was better off joining her he reasoned. Suddenly, a burst of gushing water came forth spilling onto the ground. The mens' toilets were completely empty. No-one was there to stop him, so he took a blade from his black duffle coat pocket and violently slit his right wrist then his left before aiming for his neck. By this time, crimson droplets had covered the grey tiles and concrete floor in fact the entire toilet cubicle had been splattered in his blood. Unable to bear the pain and the sudden loss of blood, Joe fell to the ground.

"These things always happen out of the blue" the ambulance woman concluded, "still waters run deep" retorted her colleague as they wheeled the boy in the black bag out of the toilets and into the van parked in the middle of the fairground. Mums with their infants and cliques of teenagers alike crowded around the vehicle and multiple police cars, curious about what incident had occurred. As the ambulance woman and her colleague drew nearer, there was a unanimous gasp before a reverential silence. The mums quickly dragged their children away from the crowd. That day, was the last Joe's parents saw of their children.