The little red Fokker plane circled once above the abandoned carnival before Buck Rogers eased it down into a grassy field nearly a quarter mile away. The engine sputtered to silence, leaving only the rustle of summer weeds and the distant creak of an idle Ferris wheel turning lazily in the breeze.
Buck climbed from the cockpit and stood quietly.
It looked as though the carnival workers had simply walked away in the middle of the season.
Bright paint had faded beneath years of weather. Canvas signs fluttered in ribbons. The Tilt-A-Whirl sat frozen with its cars pointed in every direction. Bumper cars rested beneath their roof waiting for children who would never come. The miniature train remained on its tracks as though ready for its next trip around the midway.
Buck smiled to himself.
"It'll all run again."
He had only taken a few steps when he noticed someone walking toward the airplane.
The man stopped several feet away.
"What are you doing looking at my carnival?"
Buck folded his arms with a grin.
"What are you doing looking at my airplane?"
The stranger chuckled.
"I guess we're even."
Buck held out his hand.
"I'm Buck Rogers."
The man shook it firmly.
"Mike."
"What do you do here, Mike?"
"I'm a Gazoony."
Buck laughed.
"I've met farmers, machinists, and blacksmiths..."
"...but you're my first Gazoony."
Mike grinned.
"I set up carnivals."
"I tear them down."
"I move them to the next town."
Buck looked across the silent midway.
"Looks like there aren't many next towns anymore."
Mike nodded.
"Not anymore."
Buck spent the next hour walking the carnival with Mike.
Every ride had a story.
Every trailer had its place.
Every bolt, cable, and support beam belonged somewhere.
By the time they returned to the airplane, Buck knew one thing.
This carnival wasn't junk.
It was waiting.
Buck looked toward Mike.
"Would you like to meet the people I work with?"
Mike shrugged.
"I suppose."
"We'll feed you a good meal."
Mike smiled.
"Now you're talking."
Buck pointed toward the airplane.
"You afraid of flying?"
Mike laughed.
"I've climbed Ferris wheels all my life."
"I guess I can climb into one little airplane."
Before climbing aboard, Buck looked back at the carnival.
"We're coming back."
Mike quietly answered.
"I hoped you'd say that."
The little Fokker climbed into the blue sky.
Mike gripped both sides of the cockpit until his knuckles turned white.
Buck laughed.
"You can let go."
Mike looked over.
"I know."
"My hands don't."
Soon the carnival disappeared beneath them.
Fields rolled past.
Forests stretched to the horizon.
Finally Buck banked gently.
"There."
Mike looked down.
His eyes widened.
An entire community lay beneath them.
Hundreds of acres of tomatoes.
Freshly built barns.
The great Community Pantry.
Rebecca's Kitchen.
The glassworks.
The sawmill.
The bottling station.
Worker cabins.
Smoke curling from chimneys.
Wagons moving between buildings.
Children running toward the schoolhouse.
Milk cows grazing quietly.
Mike stared without speaking.
"What is this place?"
Buck smiled.
"It started as a refuge."
"It became a workplace."
"I think it's becoming a future."
Buck landed on the runway beside the artesian spring.
The engine stopped.
Mike climbed out slowly.
He looked around.
"That..."
He smiled.
"...was fun."
Buck laughed.
"I thought it might be."
Just then Rebecca swung the hammer against the great iron dinner bell with enough conviction that, had Saturn been listening, even its rings might have quivered.
People streamed toward the great dining barn from every direction.
Samuel Yoder stepped forward and welcomed Buck home.
Buck introduced the newcomer.
"This is Mike."
Samuel extended his hand.
"Welcome."
Mike smiled.
"My name's Mike."
"I'm a Gazoony."
Samuel chuckled.
"Do Gazoonies enjoy good food?"
"They surely do."
"Then you've come to the right place."
Inside the great dining barn Mike found himself seated beside Samuel, Buck Rogers, Jacob Yoder, Galileo Maestro, Elias Hawking, and Nord.
Rebecca filled his plate until scarcely another bite would fit.
Roast beef.
Mashed potatoes swimming in gravy.
Fresh corn.
Green beans.
Slices of ripe tomatoes.
Homemade bread.
Butter.
Apple pie waiting afterward.
Mike stared at the plate.
"If this is how you folks recruit new workers..."
"...I'm afraid you've just hired yourselves a Gazoony."
Laughter rolled around the table.
Nord smiled.
"Do you enjoy flying?"
Mike laughed.
"Not nearly as much as I enjoy eating."
Even Rebecca laughed from the serving line.
Galileo leaned forward.
"What exactly is a Gazoony?"
Mike swallowed another bite.
"I set up carnivals."
"I tear them down."
"I move them."
"My uncle taught me tool and die making."
Buck looked surprised.
"You were a machinist?"
Mike nodded.
"I learned lathes."
"Milling machines."
"Surface grinders."
"Gear cutting."
"My uncle always said..."
'If you can make the tool, you can make almost anything.'
"One day carnival workers brought in a stripped Tilt-A-Whirl gear."
"I made another."
"They offered me a job."
"I figured I'd see the country."
He laughed.
"They never kidnapped me..."
"...I just never went home."
Jacob Yoder smiled.
"A man ought to enjoy his work."
"I surely did."
Jacob puffed thoughtfully on his corncob pipe.
"Tell me."
"How many helpers would it take to move your carnival?"
Mike leaned back.
"The Ferris wheel takes six."
"The carousel four."
"Tilt-A-Whirl four."
"Scrambler three."
"Bumper cars three."
"The train two."
"A few more for loading."
"Twenty-five experienced workers could do it."
"Three days taking it apart."
"Three days hauling."
"Three days putting it back together."
Buck raised his eyebrows.
"Only nine days?"
Mike grinned.
"Carnival people don't get paid for standing around."
Everyone laughed.
Samuel asked,
"What if we had fifty helpers?"
Mike chuckled.
"I'd spend the first day teaching half of them which end of the wrench to hold."
Even Jacob laughed.
"After that..."
"...five days."
Jacob nodded thoughtfully.
"I believe we can find fifty."
Mike smiled.
"I don't need fifty."
"I need twenty-five who'll stay with me until the last bolt is tightened."
Samuel nodded.
"We have a word for that."
"What word?"
"Neighbors."
Mike smiled.
"I think..."
"...I've already found them."
Samuel folded his hands.
"We don't pay wages here."
Mike looked puzzled.
"You don't?"
"What makes us strong is that we're a community."
"Everyone helps everyone else."
"We have skilled craftsmen."
"We build one another's homes."
"We eat three good meals every day."
"And there isn't anywhere left to spend money."
Buck smiled.
"We collected some gold once."
"We even divided it among everyone."
Mike looked surprised.
"What happened?"
"They all brought it back."
Samuel nodded.
"It rests in the community safe."
"If we ever truly need it..."
"...it will still be there."
Mike sat quietly for a moment.
"The carnival doesn't belong to me."
"I wouldn't think of selling it."
"It was abandoned when the world turned upside down."
"I just stayed."
Jacob asked quietly,
"Why?"
Mike looked down.
"To look after the elephants."
"E...elephants?" Elias exclaimed.
Mike smiled.
"There are three."
"When the old elephant caretaker died..."
"...they gave the job to me."
"I'd already been helping him."
"When everyone disappeared..."
"I couldn't leave."
"They would've waited."
"And waited."
"They wouldn't have understood."
"So I stayed."
"We lived off the land together."
He smiled softly.
"Besides being a Gazoony..."
"...I became a Kwan-chaang."
Galileo asked,
"What's that?"
"An elephant trainer and rider."
Mike's expression softened.
"They're such kind-hearted souls."
"You don't order an elephant."
"You earn its trust."
"When an elephant decides you're family..."
"...you've got a friend for life."
Nord smiled.
"That sounds very familiar."
"How so?" Mike asked.
"I believe that's how the Amish train people."
The table erupted in laughter.
Even Samuel laughed.
"We don't use chains either."
Rebecca walked by carrying a fresh pot of coffee.
"What are you all laughing about?"
Buck grinned.
"Apparently we're about to adopt three elephants."
Rebecca never missed a beat.
"I suppose I'd better plant more cabbage."
For the first time since the world had turned upside down, Mike realized he was no longer watching over the carnival alone.
He had found a community.
And the community had just found its Gazoony.