A Strange Routine

         The voice on the intercom rang loud and clear: "we are arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 5 o'clock, on the dot."
         Melody tapped her sleeping brother, Elijah's shoulder.
         "Hey," she said as he was waking, "we're just about at Grand Central."
         "Oh, finally," he grumbled, "I can't wait to walk around a bit and stretch my legs."
         "Tell me about it," Melody agreed.
         Finally the train began to slow and then it came to a complete stop. Out the window, hundreds of people scurried by one another, intent on reaching their destinations.
         "OK, so we have about a half an hour to get to the next train," Melody explained. "It leaves at 5:30. Is there anything you want to do before then?"
         "I'm kind of hungry. Do you see any restaurants?" Elijah asked as he looked out the window. "Oh! There's a McDonalds. Can we eat there?"
         "Sure, I guess. It's not often we there so it'll be a nice change."
         "By now people were filing off the train, so Elijah and Melody scooped up their belongings and got into the line of people debarking the train.
         Melody and Elijah walked to McDonalds, ordered their food and walked out.
         "Why can't we eat inside?" asked Elijah. "We have plenty of time to eat and get to the train."
         "Do you want to miss the train? If we're sitting in it early, there's no chance we'll be late. Just eat on the train. I bet it's a lot cleaner than that mess you call a restaurant."
         "True," Elijah said.
         The duo walked for some time but was stopped by a large crowd. What were they doing?
         Elijah ran ahead and scooted his way into the crowd. Melody sighed loudly and ran after her brother.
         "You can't run off like that," Melody chastised when she finally found her brother. "There's hundreds of people in here and I need to get you to grams in one piece."
         "Well did you see what everyone else is looking at?" Elijah asked. "It's magical. Follow me."
         Elijah led Melody through the throng of people to the center. "Watch it," one lady yelled as the two of them made their way to the front.
         "You pushed into that lady," Melody yelled at Elijah.
         "Whatever," Elijah said.
         Elijah and Melody looked on. A man in a tight spandex was walking around, a creepy smile on his face. What was odd was he had a tail sprouting from his behind. It had to be fake.
         "For those of you just tuning in, welcome to Virchovsky's Circus of Wonders!"
         "They're all the way from Russia!" Elijah whispered into Melody's ears.
         "Shh."
         "...put your hands together for little Boleslava," the man with the tail said.
         He went behind a large velvet curtain and returned with a birdcage fit for a hawk. Everyone began to clap because inside the birdcage there sat a girl. What was so amazing about that?
         "Boleslava here is twenty-two years old, and yet she's the size of a small toddler," the man explained.
         "Oh, wow," Melody exclaimed.
         The man opened the door of the cage and the girl climbed out. "Boleslava, everyone!" The crowd clapped.
         Next a woman appeared from the curtain. "всем привет," she said.
         "She said hello. She doesn't speak a word of English, but she's a true performer!" the man with the tail said. "She's a contortionist."
         The woman did a front handspring and landed in front of the cage that the girl had been in. The woman bent down and bending her body into incomprehensible angles, fit into the the cage. She was scrunched up and looked extremely uncomfortable but nevertheless the man with the tail closed the door and brought behind the curtain. The crowd was boisterous now. Melody looked at her watch. 5:25!
         Melody pulled her brother's sleeve. "Show's over, bud!" she said, "It's already 5:25. Let's go."
         The two of them ran out of the crowd, past people, and just as the whistle blew on their train they made it to their seats.