Little Circus Monkey.

The animal circus was all colored paper and balloons the day they arrived in Simian Village. Here on the outskirts of the big jungle, the residents rarely saw the vibrant colors from inside the trees and vines of the interior jungle. Instead, they had the circus with its brilliant reds, deep blues, and shocking greens.

Marvin the Monkey felt the pride welling up again inside his chest. He could not help but feel this way. This circus was loved by all everywhere they traveled. In face, most towns completely closed up shop on opening night so that the children could go and the parents could pretend that they were also young and innocent again.

Marvin was one of the main attractions in the show. He would swing out on a trapeze, land on a tiny platform and then ride a bicycle on a tight wire while holding a miniature parasol over his head. When he was on his way, a clown car shot out onto the main circle and played music for him to finish his ride underneath the big top. Finally, when he was done, he stood on the big platform and took a bow to the audience as they rose to their feet.

He thought these things while riding in the opening night parade there in Simian Village.

Once the troupe had unloaded and finished setting up, Marvin had a few minutes to spend with his family. He had a lovely young wife and a brand new son named Termius. Though he was now two weeks old, he had been born prematurely and because of this he was very, very small. So tiny in fact that he could swim around inside a thimble full of his mother’s rich, buttery milk. Inside the metal lips he bathed, swam, and drank as much of the goodness that he could hold.

After two weeks his belly was swollen full so he mostly floated on his back and slept. Despite all of his eating, however, the baby monkey had not increased much in size. His father had begun to worry a little bit but he had said nothing of it to his wife. Her happiness was important to him. He did not want to her to worry about the baby, she loved it so.

It would shatter her heart if she knew what he was thinking, the questions that rattled his brain every waking moment, ; “Why is it so small? It’s not normal. Do I hate it?” So he smiled and lied through his teeth.

The hate was what had him so confused, he’d been happy with their life up to now and he just supposed that his feelings would straighten out soon enough. The monkey father would grow to love his son and things would be perfect once again. He would probably even help to train his son to be part of the act under the big top. What excitement! Surely they would come from all over to see his act then. Yes, good times were here now, there was no doubt about it.

As he walked towards his family’s wagon he saw the ringmaster standing at their door. What was he doing here? Monkey daddy saw the door open and now the ringmaster was talking to his wife. Did the ringmaster think he was home? Perhaps the was ringmaster was foolish, perhaps he was getting soft.

As the ringmaster stood there at the door to Mrs. Monkey’s trailer, his cock was as hard as cold polished steel and it formed a tent covered with shiny rhinestones from his jacket. He took his ostrich feather hat and covered his erection as best he could. The ringmaster had never seen a woman as fine and desirable as Mrs. Monkey. There was some unknown quality, something unseen and powerful. The attraction was so intense that it made the sides of his head cave in and strangle him. To make his erections fade he’d had to put his cock inside a machine vise and use a jackhammer on it.

The knocks were answered and Mrs. Monkey looked out at the balding orangutan ringmaster. There was something pointy under his suit and she just supposed that it was his baton. But then she saw cream gravy pouring out from the end and thought that maybe it wasn’t a baton at all, maybe it was a trick like when clowns make water squirt from a flower. She reached down and squeezed it and that’s when the ringmaster passed out cold, face first into the ground. Marvin walked up and feigned surprise at the unconscious simian’s hips thrusting hard into the dirt.

“What the hell is going on here? I’ve just arrived home to find that the ringmaster is shooting chicken fried steak gravy at my wife? Well, sir? What have you to say for yourself?”

The ringmaster gave a slight grunt and then fell sideways. For a moment he lay there, immobile but then he sprang to life and jumped from the dirt. His top hat and fancy jacket were now flattened out and covered with leaves, sand, and sprigs of grass. The front of his pants were soaking wet and stank of earthy jism.

There was no denying what had happened and yet none of them could bring themselves to bring it up in immediate conversation. Instead they exchanged pleasantries for a moment, until Ringmaster said, “Ah, yes, Marvin. I must speak with you about…ahem…the act. I came by and asked to speak to you. I don’t know what came over me then. I do remember that your wife said that you were not at home and then I passed out. Where were you? Lollygagging with that bearded dwarf woman again?”

Marvin felt a sting of anger at this. There was nothing going on between he and the woman, it was only friendship. He’d helped her with her résumé and had given her notes about her modern dance piece that she performed at the freak’s talent show. And that was all. But the ringmaster knew just how to play his hand and he played it well. The question he posed was designed to raise a hundred suspicions with his wife. She knew that he had spent some time helping the woman and despite her definite human parentage, the dwarf woman resembled nothing more or less than a sexy chimp. Many of the other carnival freaks were openly infatuated with her.

“Ringmaster, I must ask what is the true purpose of your visit? I had a discussion with you today at lunch in which you asked me what time I was leaving. Did you want to know because you were in reality attempting to speak with my wife without me being here?” With this he removed one of his white, silken gloves and laid it across his folded hands. “And I do require an answer, sir.”

Monkey Daddy felt swollen with righteous certainty. It felt very good to be right but he would not stop with just an apology. No. He knew that he would like to see the ringmaster dead. And by his own hands!

Just then Mrs. Monkey spoke up, “I know that my husband is only helping the bearded woman. I know that he loves me and our child.”

It was so patently sickly sweet and, even further, such an outright parody, that the ringmaster vomited at the sounds the words made.

Then Marvin stepped forward and slapped him across the face with his glove. “Touche, ringmaster. Touche. You have insulted my wife and my family. Tomorrow afternoon at 3pm I will meet you in the town square and I will right the wrongs you have done this day. I challenge you to a duel on the field of honor.”

The ringmaster was stunned but not totally unsurprised. Over the past few months, Marvin had grown in popularity amongst the jungle people. There was no doubt that he was the main attraction in the circus. If he was well liked amongst the people, he was absolutely adored by the other performers. They all loved him and his wife, and their new baby monkey. Ringmaster was jealous of this. He was, after all, the ringmaster and all that word entailed. Lord of the circus. But his rule was eroding, he was in danger of becoming only a figurehead if he didn’t act soon.

His lust for Mrs. Monkey had only caused him more trouble, he couldn’t focus on matters with her dangling in front of him. And now this son of a bitch half ass ape was challenging him to a fucking duel. As ridiculous as it was, he had no choice but to accept and agree to meet at the town square at the appointed hour. Anything less would have been a complete surrender of his authority.

On his way back to his tent, he hatched a devious plan. He would kill Marvin during tomorrow afternoon’s performance. Right in the middle of his most dangerous stunt, hovercraft monkey. He would swing on the high trapeze down to a lower one and then swing down to another, lower rope that would take him safely to a tower near the bottom of the ring. It all happened so quickly and with such grace that during the performance, Marvin looked almost as if he were gliding down under his own power. He was a natural acrobat and with the years of practice….it was a real crowd pleaser.

Marvin entered his house and immediately grabbed his wife and held her close. “ I do love you so…but why was the ringmaster here? What did he say to you?”

Mrs. Monkey could tell that he was jealous though he tried to dress it in anger. With her this trick did not work because over the years she had learned to see right through him.

“He came by he said to speak with you. I think he was going to give you a chicken fried steak or something because he asked if you were here and then as soon as he looked at me, gravy started pouring out of his baton. I reached out to touch it and he passed out. Just then you came up. So, that’s all that happened. Honey, the ringmaster disgusts me. “ She patted his arm.

Marvin grew even angrier when he recalled the gravy. One whiff of it had revealed to him that it was anything but chicken fried. He’d smelled it plenty back during his stint in the merchant marine when the entire ship reeked of seawater and stale jism. He’d managed to escape the boat one day and then he’d started working for the circus. That was all 3 years ago and now here he stood, the most popular act in the most popular circus in the jungle. He leaned down to look at his tiny son floating in a small cup of mother’s milk. A cup!

“Darling, my son has grown large! Look at him!”

It was true, the little tyke had just in the past couple of days put on a sudden growth spurt. He’d quickly graduated from the regular thimble to the extra large and now to a small cup. Quite a change. The little baby monkey was feeling a little clumsy what with all of the changes to his body. Several times he’d tried to scamper out of the thimble and then to realize that he was now in a cup. This threw his equilibrium off and several times he’d fallen over and spilled the milk everywhere. For now his mother was laughing it off but Little Monkey thought he could detect that she didn’t like him very much. He was a little afraid of her.

Meanwhile the ringmaster stood just outside the juggling bear cage waiting for contact with some devious mole rats. He would employ them to bring down Marvin the Monkey. Kill him right in the middle of his all mighty trapeze act. The tension he felt had become sexual and as he stood there he found that he’d fallen into a dream and was gnawing his teeth together and stroking his cock. The bear was taking a shit in its cage and the stench is what brought him back around to consciousness. Finally he saw a scurry in the bushes and then there they were; the mole rats.

“So what’s the job?, asked the larger of the two. “

He laid it down for the assassins, told them what they needed to know and no more. This made it even more exciting, that he was plotting Marvin’s murder with the aide of accomplices. Not only that but the act itself was going to take place underneath the big top at a time when the circus tent would be full to capacity. Yes, they would file into the place expecting an evening of light song and verse yet ultimately they would be greeted with an affront to their nice suburban lifestyles. This was all quite a turn on. Caught up in a small seizure of sexual frenzy, he whipped around and killed both rats by stomping on their heads. This was followed by the most intense orgasm he’d ever had, even more powerful than the “gravy” incident earlier today.

“They are dead. I killed them. They knew the secret and I killed them now I’m the only one with the secret. Oh, god! I think I’m going to fuck off my fingernails!”

Indeed, the eruption had been so powerful that several of his fingernails had spontaneously shot out of his fingers. Then reality set in that he had murdered his only two accomplices and the only ones capable of doing the deed. His thoughts turned then to new avenues, trying to imagine someone so without morals that they would agree to be an accomplice.

He knew that there was an aardvark that had crossed ways with the monkey. Perhaps he would like vengeance. Later that evening he finally located Arthur the Aardvark just outside a local watering hole. He himself was about to be killed but the Ringmaster saved him but paying off his poker debt to a large mandrill. So, the aardvark was filled in on what needed to be done. He was able to get it done by using some filthy pack rats that owed him a favor. It was actually not that difficult, killing someone, but arranging it to be done so tasty was an art.

That evening Marvin spent time with his family. He watched his son pushing around a tiny cart made of thread and matchsticks while his wife made them their favorite meal; Coconut au gratin with pan seared piper fish.

“Termius, come here and sit down on my lap”.

The tiny monkey scampered over to his father and climbed up on his knee.

“How would you like to be in the circus?”

“Very much, father”, he squeaked. “I want to be famous like you!”

The monkey daddy chuckled and rubbed his son’s head.

“Not quite yet, my son, but one day you will join me under the big top. We will be the first father/son act in this circus. The best act anyone will ever have seen. Yes, son, one day this will come to pass. But first you have to grow big and strong. And you must begin your training so that when the time comes you will be ready. Starting next week I will take you with me during our rehearsals so that you can see the camaraderie and the dedication that it takes to be a circus performer.”

The tiny creature quivered with excitement and leapt down to the floor. He did a couple of back flips and cartwheels so that his father could see that he was already getting in shape for the act. He tried just a little too hard, though. On one of his flips he didn’t quite make it all the way around and came down on his head. He addled his brain on this one and awkwardly stumbled around the floor for a moment. If not for his father’s intervention, he would have fallen right into the oven. Strangely, his mother made not one move to help him, instead she stared through him as she stirred the coconut meat.


“Ok, little guy, that’s enough for today. Let’s eat now and then I must go to work. We’ll talk later about when you can come down and see for yourself the most popular acrobatic routine in the entire jungle.”

Meanwhile, the ringmaster, the aardvark, and the pack rats were already there in the big tent, altering the ropes and taking some crucial parts out of the bicycle. They were trying to remove just enough to cause the bike to fall apart just when he was at his highest point above the floor. High enough so that his head would be completely bashed in when he hit. They finished the job and exited stage left.

During all of this the ringmaster never lost sight of his true objective; to have Mrs. Monkey. Holy Christ, he wanted her so. It was all he could do to stay away from the fat lady’s tent. Getting a sloppy piece of ass was no longer an option for him. He knew that it would ultimately be unsatisfying and worthless. His goal was complete and total ownership of the monkey wife.

That night just before he was to leave for the show, Marvin bid farewell to his wife and child.

“Wife, I will be home after the show. Termius, help your mother and keep practicing. That back flip needs a little work.” He stepped out of the trailer and walked towards the path. Suddenly he found something pulling on his coattails. It was his son, he’d run after him and had just now caught up. The little tyke was out of breath and his almost transparent rib cage was heaving.

“I want to go with you daddy,”he gasped.

“Not tonight son, I will perform solo tonight but maybe you could tell me how exactly to operate a handgun?."

"I'm sorry daddy but I don't know how to do that, maybe we can build paper airplanes instead?"

The elder monkey only half smiled at his tiny son.

As their conversation unfurled, neither of them noticed an aardvark’s nose poking out of the shrubbery just in front of their trailer. And neither then did they notice that his eyes were trained directly on Mrs. Monkey. A slim film of aardvark spittle was leaking from the tip of his snout and his tongue was covered with ants. He gobbled them down and retreated into the greenery, a plan hatched in his brain.

Marvin arrived at the big top and said hello to his comrades. He greeted the clowns, the juggling bear, the fat lady, the walking stick man, the talking hippo, and, finally, the ringmaster. Marvin knew he would settle his hash tomorrow at the duel. Maybe when the man was dead he himself could be ringmaster! Yes, what adulation would be his! It was only natural, really, his ascension into the circus upper echelon. His was by far the most popular act in the entire circus so he knew what crowds liked to see. Maybe he could be ringmaster and star performer! Of course, it all made sense now! He’d take over the circus, write himself into other acts…he was a proud monkey, that’s for sure. The Monkey Daddy’s chest swelled with self satisfied glee. He reached his staging area and put on his funny fez hat, his bright red vest with yellow buttons, and some fresh, white gloves.

The evening grew and soon the tent was filled to capacity with folk from as far away as the east watering hole. First came the clown car and the strong men. Then the counting seal and the dwarf sharpshooter until, finally, it was time for his performance. He quickly jogged underneath the spotlight, tipped his hat to the crowd then vaulted up the ladder to the highest platform.
Now the light was trained on him, standing atop the highest point and with his bicycle already in place. The pack rats had done their job, the bike was ready to fall apart at the first pedal stroke and you would never know it to look at it. It seemed flawless.

Drum roll and he was sitting on the bike, ready to release. One last time he removed his hat but this time he waved it with a flourish, very slowly twice over his head. Then he pushed forward on the pedals. It happened then but even tastier than the ringmaster had hoped it would.

The wheels fell completely off and went hurtling down to floor. The crowd gasped as he fell forward with his hands tangled up in the handlebars. He fell at such an awkward angle that his neck fell just across the rope and as he slid down towards the next platform, the rope was colored red with his blood. A slow, slime trail formed and he could not get a grip back onto the rope. Slowly, inexorably, he was being decapitated but could do nothing to help himself. Marvin screamed then, a sound completely rooted in total horror.

“AM I TO DIE LIKE THIS!” what really came out of his mouth sounded more like gurgling mixed with a loud whistle.

One of the fool clowns was still playing the accordion music that accompanied the act. It was truly a surreal scene that was playing out in his dying moments. Try as he might, the monkey could not free his hands and save his neck. He picked up speed as he reached the halfway point of the rope and Monkey Daddy knew then that there was absolutely no hope for him. Animal instincts took over and he sprayed the circus tent with frothy, liquid shit. Some of the crowd left then but not one of them made a move to help him. Finally he was able to swing himself over the edge of the rope.

For a moment he felt exhilarated until he quickly realized that he was headed straight for the hard ground. To his surprise he did not see his life flashing before his eyes, only the image of how he would look crumpled in a heap. With this thought he screamed one last time and crunched into the dirt, breaking every bone. Before them now lay the shattered remains of the most popular monkey in the circus, now crushed under the fixed will of cruel fate. Walking into the spotlight, the ringmaster worked the audience.

“Ladies and Gentlemen. I direct your attention to the monkey now lying on the floor. As you can plainly see, he was a quitter and was not dedicated to his job. It is because he was lazy. This happened because of the monkey’s utter inattention to detail, his slacking off at the job. And he was having an affair with the dwarf woman!”

The crowd did not react at the revelation but the other circus folk did. It hit them hard. They’d all believed that Marvin was a fine, upstanding monkey. Dedicated to his wife and son. But hearing this now it was all too easy to move them the other way. In only a few words, the ringmaster had manipulated them into believing that the only way to make things right was to execute the dwarf. She was brought out into the ring by an angry zebra and a puffin. Despite her attempts to wow them with modern dance or flat out begging for her life, the crowd would not be moved to help her.

They took a bloodthirsty swordfish out of his tank and used him to stab her to death. It didn’t take long but it lit a sexual fever in the audience. They had moved past the point of frenzy, now they were rendered immobile by the lust they now felt. Quickly her throat was slit but the swordfish kept at her until all that was left was a lump the size of a tomato.

Some of the more curious children edged out and then away from their parents. Dressed in Shirley temple style hats and clothing, the little girls were more timid than the boys but that was just because the boys were already starting to carry their giant lollipops as weapons.

The children all gathered in a wide circle around the body. It shuddered one last time and a girl began to cry when it seemed that the monkey was looking at her through its lifeless pupils. One little boy monkey threw his lollipop down at the head then the others quickly followed his lead.

Finally someone did it, one of the little girl monkeys knelt in front of the alpha male, unzipped his buster brown pants and aimed his stiffening penis at the body. Immediately a stream of hot, brown, sour smelling monkey piss came pouring down on the corpse. The little girl monkey opened her mouth to get her tonsils soaked by the foul liquid.

Her mother, bursting with pride, stood up in the crowd and screamed, “That’s my baby girl down there!! That’s my baby girl drinking’ that monkey piss!!!” the crowd applauded.

Then another voice, male, spoke out. “She’s drinking’ my little Edward’s PEE. You tell her she’d better suck him off while she’s down there! See, look at how she done made him hard…an’ shit..!!”

It was true, the little ape had a boner. His piss was shooting up so high now that it was arcing over the female’s face and then back onto her head like a dark yellow rain shower.

Just then, the youngest child of Celia Swan and Peter the Pelican came waddling up to the circle. He briefly appraised the situation and then became obviously excited. The animals could tell by his behavior. When pelican males are sexually aroused, they reach down to gobble their own balls.

As he did so, the ugly pelican bad ass turned and looked at the face of the man who had once helped him explain to his parents why he had to have 49 hard core sex channels in his hotel room. The face was a bit smashed in, some of his teeth were jutting out underneath the skin below his eyes, and the tongue was already covered with ants and honey wasps. Looking down he saw the flaccid, broken penis with an unmistakable trickle of jism coming out and down into the dirt. This sight and the dead fish in his stomach combined to create an unbearable sickness inside his beak. He turned and vomited all over the monkey’s body. Then they all turned and pissed on the corpse.

The ringmaster beat a hasty retreat. He knew that now he could have Mrs. Monkey to himself. Of course, he would have to be the bearer of bad tidings. It was part of his job to inform grieving relatives of their loved ones’ demise. That is how it would start anyway, with his comfort and understanding. After a minute or two of that he was certain that he would be laying some pipe in a major way. Away he scurried to her trailer, pausing along the way to slick back his hair and straighten out his jacket collar. The overweight orangutan made it to the door and thrice knocked upon it. There was no answer. The lights were off and he opened the door.
He could hear something happening in the dark but could not quite make it out. “Hello? Mrs. Monkey? I have some terrible news.”

All he could make out was a squishing sound, sometimes hard and fast and sometimes slow and slurping. He found a lamp and lit it. In the light he could now make out what was happening. Mrs. Monkey was lying on the bed and there was something moving around underneath her dress. After a moment’s pause, Arthur the Aardvark revealed himself under the covers of the bed. He hunched out from beneath her dress and back onto a pillow. He was out of breath and covered in slime.

The ringmaster was shocked to his very core. To his utter surprise, the feelings he had right now where of the same caliber as love. What was this? Had he fallen in love with this woman? For the past two days he’d assumed that it was only lust that had overcome him. Now he wasn’t so sure. The one thing that he was certain of was that the aardvark must die.

He said nothing as he pulled out his bullwhip and cracked it above his head. The aardvark knew what was coming and leapt to his feet, ready to defend his property. For that is why they were here, to battle for the ownership of a sweet, sweet piece of monkey ass.

Baby monkey was not there. He had remained outside and followed his father to his performance and right now he was beside himself with fear and terror. He hadn’t actually witnessed the grim spectacle but he knew something terrible had happened. One of the female hippos had tried to comfort him, they’d taken him to their water pit but the smell was so overpowering that the little guy couldn’t take it. So he had gone home to be with his mother. When he arrived, she was laying on the bed, completely silent and immobile.

“Mother, mother! Something’s happened to daddy!” he broke into tears but there was no response from her. Finally she spoke, “I know, the aardvark told me.”

Baby monkey then saw that Arthur was sitting in his father’s favorite chair, very calm as he smoked a large cigar.

“Hello, son. I’ve come to comfort your mother in her time of need. You can stay and watch if you’d like, that’s cool with me. But you can’t join in, I don’t swing that way.” He put out the cigar and stood up.

Baby monkey was terrified and washed over with confusion. The aardvark walked over to the bed and crawled underneath the covers. All he could think to do was run and so he ran as fast as he could away from the trailer and into the underbrush. When finally he looked back he could recognize another silhouette, one that looked like the ringmaster. Afraid to move, he hid there amongst the leaves and dead twigs and watched.

The ringmaster cracked his whip and spun it around at Arthur. The tail end of the rope cracked right in his face and knocked him over against the wall.

“Aha! You have tasted my anger! I will drive you from this place, aardvark, back into your den of iniquity! Taste once more my fury!” He again slung the whip back and forward but this time the aardvark was quicker and grabbed it.

They struggled for control for a few moments until Arthur lost his balance and fell onto the floor. The ringmaster was on him then, clubbing him with the butt end of the whip and trying desperately to choke him to death with the braided rope. The aardvark was stronger than he looked and he bit down hard, his jaws with the strength of a werewolf, his teeth with the bite of a vampire. Screams filled the room as they battled nearly to the death. Each was gasping blood bubbles in their teeth when at last they fell back and away from each other.

They paused for a moment, each knew the end was near; the next assault would probably be their last. Just then they both heard a scratching at the window, a tap tap tapping at the door. A crowd of children had gathered there in front of the house and they had been watching for a quite some time now. They were still seething full of chemicals from the monkey’s murder and were hungry for more. It was the pelican again, the first one to make an attempt at opening the door. It succeeded.

The animals came rushing in and trampled the aardvark and the ringmaster. They formed a semi circle around the bed and meditated their next move. A youngish monkey hopped up on the bed and started jerking off on her face. Slowly the others joined him, each one trying to be unique in their sexual depravity. They had their fun and then some more. An exhausted chimp noticed that the ringmaster and the aardvark had pulled themselves up from the floor and were moving towards the bed.

He warned his friends and so they were ready just in the nick of time. Several small apes leapt onto them while the younger children had hold of the whip that they then used to strangle the older creatures to death. When they were done they celebrated by throwing things at Monkey Mother and laughed and laughed when she made not one move to defend herself.

“Stupid bitch!” they screamed.

Little baby monkey had moved back to the window and could see exactly what was happening now, he saw the animals raping his mother, he saw the celebration. His entire world had ended tonight and the shock was unbearable. Suddenly his body shook and gyrated as he grew larger in a matter of moments. Two inches then four! Another three! The pain was making him cry like a baby and it drew the attention of the other creatures in the trailer. They came over to the window and looked through at the tiny baby monkey writhing on the ground in agony. Some of them went out to get a closer look and the ugly pelican bad ass was the first in line.

When he got out there he stepped ever closer to the baby monkey and was finally standing right over him as he screamed and crawled from the pain. In a matter of about thirty seconds he’d grown from a teacup to almost the size of a small coconut. His body looked almost naked now, hardly any hair had grown on his new skin. It made him look sort of like a foetus. To the pelican, however, he looked like a fish, good enough to eat. The fact that the little guy was shaking so made him look like he was flopping around, literally acting like a fish out of water. With no further delay the bird flung open his mouth and scooped up the baby monkey in his giant, open beak.

The other animals could see him continuing to struggle inside the pelican’s skin, like he was wrapped up in a sack. Peter was holding him down with all of his strength, trying to keep his meal. There was no way this catch was going to get away now. After a minute or so, the fighting stopped and the monkey was still. His chums all had a good laugh and prepared to go home. Their fathers were going to be waiting for them in their tool sheds.

The pelican bad ass was feeling a bit sick now. All of the excitement was making him lose his appetite and making him wish he’d not eaten in the first place. It is exceedingly easy for pelicans to vomit. He turned and hacked out the little monkey, now half digested and steaming in the humid night. A moment’s pause and they all laughed until they fell down and had strokes. The next day the news of his death reached the circus folk, the hippos had to stifle a grin.

The local school’s principal just smiled.