They moved in during the night. On thursday, it was a drab and dusty empty storefront. On Friday morning, it was freshly painted red and yellow with white letters on the one big window that said, “Madame Mysterio’s Dime Museum.” And in smaller letters. “See The Wonders of the World.”

The front of the store smelled like fresh paint and sawdust, which curiously, was sprinkled on the sidewalk right under the window through which I peered into a gloomy indistinct interior, hoping to catch a glimpse of a monster or a freak. I left two perfect footprints behind me there when a man in a bowler hat and a striped shirt came out to shoo me away.

After school I went back again. This time there was a midget standing on the sidewalk talking to a crowd of men, telling them all about what they would find inside. Every time I got close though, someone pushed me away.

Try as I might I could not get through that door. The last time, the midget told me, “Come back when you’re grown, sonny.”

You bet I will.