Clowns, Airplanes, Performers, Oh My!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. Welcome to the Harold & Spinks Worldwide Circus; I am your Ringmaster for this evening. We've got tigers, monkeys, horses, and elephants performing for you. Daring trapeze artists without a net will make your heart stop. Our newest act, straight from Hawaii, are the Flaming Kaleidoscope Dancers. Enjoy the show folks."

Johnny and Brian could hardly sit still waiting for the show to begin. The flamboyant Ringmaster with his high-top hat and extravagant costume could be heard from outside the big top. His booming voice geared to entice everyone into buying a ticket.

Clowns of every type were mingling throughout the crowd, inside and outside the big top. Happy clowns, sad clowns, clowns on stilts, organ grinder clowns with monkeys on their shoulders, and scary clowns who made the little ones hide in their mother's skirts. Long-necked giraffes were stationed at the entrance, designed to get parents to buy food so the children could feed them.

Outside, employees with sticks were poking behinds; little boys who had no money and were on all fours trying to peek inside the big top. "Off with you," they would yell. "Want to see the show? Buy a ticket?" The unsupervised boys would laugh and run off, getting into trouble elsewhere. A man who recognized himself as a young boy took sympathy on a couple of them and gave them money to go watch the freak show. Elated, the boys wasted no time heading to the mysterious tent.

Each exhibit was behind a satin curtain, making the display seem even more exaggerated than it already was. First was the bearded lady which made the boys laugh.

A high pitched wail assaulted their ears at the next exhibit which was simply labeled 'Aliens, Enter if you Dare'. Jeff and Tom looked at each other, shrugged, and opened the curtain. Sitting on a shelf were jars with pale bodies, limp limbs floating in some type of liquid. The forms had huge black eye sockets. Around the perimeter of the jars were green growing things that appeared to glow.

Continuing on they saw a Giant Strongman with bulging arms and tight britches lifting huge weights. He had a long dark moustache. For the optimum effect, a Tiny Lady about 3' tall sat on a huge rocking chair next to him. She was all dressed in pink, her hair tied up in pigtails. A tattooed man did not impress the boys that much as it was not unusual to see tattooed people on the streets in town.

They watched a mermaid in a tank of water for quite some time. She was pretty and splashed her tail in the water sending out little drops that landed on their arms. "Wow," laughed Jeff. "That's the first time I've ever seen a mermaid."

The most frightening thing they saw was a fat man with two heads. Awed and scared at the same time they couldn't take their eyes off of him. If only they had known what a fraud it was; the man put on a fat suit and had a very lifelike wax head with moving eyes and lips that he attached. All in all, Jeff and Tom enjoyed the exhibits and were sorry it was the end of something they would likely not see again for a long time, if ever.

Exiting the exhibit, they heard screaming from the big top and people, animals, performers, and clowns, were running toward them. "What's going on? yelled Tom. "Oh look, the big top is on fire."

Jeff ducked and shouted, "Get down! Yikes, did you see the airplane passing over me?"

"It wasn't that close, silly," said Tom. "See, it's dropping water on the tent."

Chaos was everywhere. A tense moment took place when the tigers raced past everyone and ran toward the river. Eventually they were captured before anyone got hurt. The giraffes and elephants were herded back into pens. Horses were on the run, luckily the tigers didn't get them. It made good reading, and the local newspaper printed more copies than they ever had before.

Alexandria Local News

Yesterday, the Harold and Spinks Worldwide Circus introduced a new act: Hawaiian Kaleidoscope Dancers.
The grass skirted dancers lit their multicolored torches. It was a brilliant aura of fast twirling torches; a vision that reminded one of a kaleidoscope on fire. In a move that brought the crowd to their feet, they threw those torches skyward and caught them. Next, the men created a pyramid, standing on each other's shoulders.They proceeded to twirl, and twirl the torches faster and faster. The crowd exploded with oohs and aahs. Once more throwing the torches skyward, one man slipped off the shoulders and fell, catching the grass skirt on fire. The man would have been embarrassed as he ripped off the skirt but by then the frightened crowd had stampeded to the exit. We are happy to report that no one was seriously hurt except the feelings of one Kaleidoscope Dancer.

834 Words

Author's Note ▼

Prompts: kaleidoscope on fire, airplane passing over me, the end of something, green growing things
Writer's Cramp
Submitted 3.29.23