Why Ghost Gondolas Glow — Behind the midway ropes, with sawdust sticking to his shoes, Bram dabbed silver paint on the last Ferris wheel sign. Read the full story →
Behind the midway ropes, with sawdust sticking to his shoes, Bram dabbed silver paint on the last Ferris wheel sign. He needed every gondola shining before the moon crowd arrived, but the lantern box was empty. Not one candle, not one spark. Above him, the wheel creaked in the chilly wind, and the little ghost faces on the cars looked as blank as unlit windows.
“Check where nobody checks,” whispered a voice from the ticket booth. Bram leaned over the counter. Nothing but three pumpkins, a paper bat garland, and the sweet-dust smell of old candy corn. Then one pumpkin hiccuped. Bram lifted its lid and found, packed inside like fireflies in jam jars, tiny white giggles.
Here is the secret: ghost giggles glow only when shared. Bram tipped the pumpkin toward the nearest gondola. One giggle hopped onto a ghost face, then another, then another, until the wheel brightened car by car and the whole midway burst into silvery laughter. Ever since, Halloween Ferris wheels keep ghost panels on their gondolas, ready to hold the giggles that make them glow. If you spot the pumpkin booth under the wheel, you may know exactly where the first giggle hid, with sawdust sticking to its shoes.
