Camp Happy Fun Time!

John Smith was a camp counselor at camp Happy Fun Time!  The kids in his cabin were hyperactive bunch.  They all enjoyed playing games outside and getting into playful mischief.  The summer was winding down and John was particularly excited to get home to see his friends and family and finally start spending his well-earned money. 

As part of the celebration of the end of the season management had arranged for a carnival to be set up in the large field outside the cafeteria two days before the kids had to go home.  All the children were eager to play the carnival games and ride the rides.  John knew he was probably too old to be interested in those things but he was excited too.  He had not gotten to do anything really fun and spontaneous in months and he was eager to allow the kids to run wild and finally cut loose. 

On the day of the carnival the children were kept busy in the morning by various classes or activities under the supervision of management while the counselors helped the carnies set up the stands and various other attractions.  When everything was set up all the counselors made sure to get out of the way as the kids ran towards the carnival.  They enjoyed the house of mirrors, the ferris wheel, the swing chairs, mini golf and various inflatable bounce houses.  There were clowns, fortune tellers, and even men on stilts.  It was the perfect final bash of the summer.

The next day, after the carnival had been set up the counselors told the kids to start getting their things together after their activities because they would be leaving on the next day.  John was enjoying his lunch at the counselors table with his co-counselor Chuck when there was a large ruckus.  Children were by the windows shouting and pointing.  Chuck went over to see what all the noise was about.  When he returned he told John that one of the clowns must have stayed behind.   John moved to look out the window and sure enough, there was a clown standing still in the empty field looking at them.  John told the kids to go finish their lunch and started to go outside to see what was going on with the clown.  The clown was only out of his sight for about a minute but by the time John got outside the clown was nowhere to be found.  John decided to go and tell management since they were in charge of the carnival.

            Management called the carnival service and demanded to know if a clown had stayed behind for some reason.  The carnival service replied that they don’t have clowns because they are a little too creepy for the kids.  Management told all the counselors that if they saw the clown again they should call security and not interact with him.  Luckily the clown was not seen again that day and security was not called.  Everyone just figured it was some sort of end of the season prank.

            The next morning John woke up and looked around.  There were no children in his cabin.  He jumped up with a start and called out for them but heard nothing.  He ran to Chuck’s cabin but it was empty of children as well.  The camp called the police and arranged for a manhunt.  The parents joined.  John returned to the cabin to look for any clues and only then did he realize that on every single bunk bed was a balloon animal dripping with blood.