IIce Challenge #2 - Spinning Brains

[rayheinrich]

The Carnival Bar


Her Grandiloquence was impressed with your attempts to fulfill Her first challenge.
"These peasants have outdone themselves. Our literacy rate does indeed belie the rude
opinions expressed by our sister Queendoms."

Our wonderful Queen, what a pleasure it is to bask in Her Radiance.
(And I couldn't help but notice the Chancellor of the Exchequer had been summoned;
perhaps the education budget needs a bit of trimming.)

Just a reminder to any who may be tuning in late: In an Ideal World -- where
cars don't break down and winter storms don't coat trees with specular ice
whose weight bends and breaks them across the power lines -- we would
have two challenges per week. But those hopes, unlike the ice, have melted
away and the challenges will appear when the fates allow.

So there really aren't any sort of deadlines; post them according to your abilities,
wants, and needs. Take your time, write something that pleases you.

Prose is just as welcome as poetry (and anything in between and on both sides).
You can post as many as you want. Comments are encouraged and should be posted
in this same thread. The goal is to mix them in with the writing and create a happy jumble.

"Fear distorts the space you inhabit, it distracts your gaze, it directly connects
you to an ancient brain. Thoughts you cannot utter, words only a muse could find,
appear before you." - Louise Glück (from "Literal Writing")

So on to the 2nd challenge:

First off, you should prepare yourself by reading the article that can be found here .
This might be optional; but it has spinning brains, who can resist spinning brains?


I'm probably going to get in trouble with the Queen for showing less-than-flattering
images of IIcelandia. But, in the service of art, I feel compelled to.

So... It's after 2:00 a.m. and you've just walked out of the Carnival Bar.
It's called the Carnival Bar as it was located next to the once popular
Karneval Sønbyen.

But that was years ago, before the depression, before the city lost its industry,
its workers, its tax base. The carnival went bankrupt, but the bar survived;
kept afloat by the profits from the owner's small, quasilegal import business.
Yep, history, stuff you already know. So you come out of the bar and start looking
for your car, but something catches your attention, it's the old carnival. Yep,
it's still there. The bank repossessed it, but, because of the economy, they could
never find a buyer. So there it sits, most of its fanciful facades still standing, even
the old carousel, its horses stolen long ago. But, except for a few security lights,
it's usually dark, but tonight some of its windows are lit. Intrigued, you start
walking towards a side entrance and come up to a broken-down fence.

Now, considering this is private property, any responsible, sober person wouldn't
take another step. But tonight, you're neither responsible nor sober; so in you go.

You walk a little ways in and stop. As you stand there, this is what you see:



You look at the red door on the right, the yellow ones after it, and the
dim path to your left that leads deeper into the carnival.
It's quiet, you hear someone speaking; speaking, but not to you.
Then you hear footsteps, short ones, a dog? No, it's a damn monkey!
A monkey, a bit unkempt, he's holding a basket. He holds it out and you take it,
without really intending to. You look in the basket and it's filled with small cloth
sacks, their necks tied shut with string. You look up, the monkey's gone, and
that little path seems darker now. In fact, the whole place seems darker.
Okay, this has gotten a bit creepy; you decide to turn around and head back
towards the bar. About halfway back you find your car; you must have walked
right past it. You unlock it, set the basket on the back seat, and drive home.


So, finally! Here's your task:
There are seven sacks in the basket. You need to open up each one, see
what items are inside, and write a poem (or prose) that alludes to at least
four of the items. Below your entry, be sure to include a list of the seven items.

And here's another article, related to the first article above. You can find it here

What's in the sacks? How would I know? The monkey gave them to you, not me.
But, just guessing, probably items that relate to the town, the bar, but mostly to
the carnival.