Tickets to Get Out!

Cleo Lee spots a ticket boy at the haunted circus, though other visitors walk right past him. His tickets seem to be printed backward, and the circus doors will not stay where Cleo last saw them. When the tent begins to close around them, Cleo must figure out what the tickets are really for.

Cleo Lee stopped outside the haunted circus tent. She rolled back her orange coat cuff so it wouldn't cover her hand. Somewhere inside, music played one thin note and stopped. Cleo reached for an opening.

A pale boy stood just inside. Other visitors walked past him without a glance. "I'm Toby," he said. "I'm ten. I've been ten for so long nobody knows when I first turned ten." Cleo Lee edged closer. "Can they see you?"

"Not everyone," Toby said. "I'm a ghost." He offered Cleo Lee a ticket with backward printing. "You'll need this." She took it and turned to leave, but the opening slid along the canvas. A cold draft tugged at her cuff.

Cleo Lee ran after the opening, though her heart thumped with fear. Toby was close behind. Their footsteps thudded, but the shadow ahead had no feet at all. "Wait!" Cleo called, grabbing the edge of the canvas.

The canvas slipped from Cleo Lee's fingers. She turned the ticket over and held it to the moonlight. "Exit!" she read. Toby nodded. "I've been handing out exits. I want to get out too." But the doorway was already sliding away.

The tent folded inward. The last doorway vanished in darkness, and canvas brushed Cleo Lee's cheek from both sides. She gripped the ticket. Beside her, Toby reached for her hand.

Cleo Lee pressed the ticket against the canvas. An opening appeared, but its edge folded shut again. She rolled the edge back, just like her cuff. "Go, Toby!" she called, holding it while he scrambled outside.

Cleo Lee stepped outside after Toby. Behind them, the opening slid quietly onto another stripe. Cleo tugged her cuff down over her hand. Then she took Toby's hand and walked away.