what clues does Ray Bradbury provide?

The train stops in Rolfe's moon meadow, where the boys watch from under a bush. They watch the carnival eerily assemble itself, seeming to draw its materials from the clouds and the darkness with the help of a huge balloon. Terrified, Will gets up to run, but Jim stays under the bush for a second, mesmerized. Then they both run home. Charles is in the library and sees Jim and Will run by, though he does not call out to them. He looks out the window and over the town to the field where the carnival has been assembled. He is torn between wanting and not wanting to go to the carnival. On his way home, he passes the shop where the block of ice once lay. In its place is a pool of water, a few shards of ice, and some long strands of hair. He returns home, overheard by his son, and obsesses on the nature of time, parenthood, gender and aging.