The Show Must Go On!
Jazlyn Deller
Start playing the music before reading
That smile; that smile I saw every morning. The smile that accompanied the ominous silence that trapped us in the ring. Yes, we could leave, but why would we want to? Our whole life was dedicated to circus tricks. I was the assistant and he was the performer. The man in those stupid striped pyjamas. Don’t even get me started on the fluffy, pink bunny ears he wore everywhere he went. He had an odd fashion style, that’s all. Now don’t get the wrong idea, I loved working with the guy... but it wasn’t all fun and games. He always had a knack for shows that were sure to get your blood pumping. The crowd loved it! The crowd always loved it! Our shows were almost always dangerous and thanks to his skills; they almost always ended in my death.
I shook my head; Now wasn’t the time to dwell on his antics. I’d gotten used to it by now. He stared down at me with the creepy smile he always wore, gesturing to a blackboard off to the side. He led me over to the board and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his thick and calloused hand gripping my shoulder. I looked around at our loving and supporting crowd, however, today their faces were as blank as canvases. I sighed and turned back to the board, looking over it with a grim expression. We needed to paint smiles on their wonderful faces!! We owed it to them for being so loyal!
The board portrayed a gruesome circus trick and all the actions needed to perform it. It was some off-brand Ring of Fire, with smaller rings… and human participants. Obviously, none of it was safe, but he wanted me to do it and I had to oblige. Hopefully the crowd would approve of such a dangerous and adrenaline pumping stunt. I could feel the glare of his eyes on the side of my face and did my best to ignore him. I looked over the plan one more time before shrugging his arm off my shoulders and heading over to the other side of the ring to set up.
We had set up the ring in no time, it didn’t take much effort honestly. All we needed was the ring, matches, and the gasoline the ring was soaked in. He gave me one of his iconic, insane grins and a thumbs up before moving off to the side. He looked at the crowd happily and gestured to me. I shook my nerves out and prepared myself. This was fine. I could do this. I took a final breath and ran for the ring, nothing else crossed my mind in that moment. All I wanted to do was get through the ring. Closer and closer the burning ring got; closer, closer and…
I died.
Yeah. You read that right. I died. Burnt to a crisp. I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming. The ring was miniscule, after all. I wasn’t large, but I wasn’t the smallest guy ever; At least 6 ft tall. And the tiny ring I was meant to be jumping through was only about a foot in diameter. Ah well. At least it was somewhat interesting. Usually I die by decapitation or being cut in half. Burning up was something I haven’t experienced in a good year or so.
I just laid there for a few minutes, completely dead. My heart had stopped and everything, but I didn’t mind. Eventually I felt my skin reforming and my blood starting to flow again. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to go through, but it beat being permanently dead. A few more minutes passed and I was fine. I blinked a couple times and sat up. Of course, he wasn’t impressed. He had no reason to be. I had failed the trick; failed him. He glared over at me with the sourest expression I’d seen in a long time. It was okay though; he would calm down soon enough. And I’m sure; I’m sure I heard the crowd cheering as I burnt up. At least I had entertained someone.
As I stood up, I noticed he was gone from where he previously stood. I looked around for a moment before hearing the familiar ‘pat pat pat’ of his padded shoes hitting the dirt floor as he charged for me. I jumped in surprise and ran in the opposite direction. I ran around the inner circle of the ring in fright. I passed by the sleeping trailers and the boxes of props; no doubt we’d be using those later.
As he got closer to me, I started panicking more. Suddenly I didn’t appreciate the bright colours of our circus ring. They blinded and distracted me more than that of a silent, black space would do. The bright sky suffocated me; I could hardly focus on where I was running. The crowds cheer only got louder, which I found slightly odd. I turned back to see where he was, only to see his grinning face a few steps back. I had turned. I hadn’t seen where I was running… then... I ran straight into the crowd.
The faceless man I’d run into was on the floor. It only took a moment for the rest of the crowd to fall over. The sound of cardboard hitting the concrete drove me insane. It must’ve only been a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I exhaled and looked at all the bodies laid out before me. It would take ages to get them back to where they were before and I pinched the bridge of my nose, annoyed.
He tapped my shoulder and I jumped away in fear, thinking he was going to murder me for failing. Whilst I was in the air, I felt a sharp jab of pain on my face. I shrieked in pain and waited for the black to come; I thought he’d shot me, for heaven’s sake. But the darkness never came, and I opened my eyes slowly. He was right up in my face, but the smile he wore wasn’t grim or creepy this time. It was a happy smile. He smiled happily and offered me a big plate of chicken wings, my favourite food! He helped me up and handed me the plate. Then he just walked back over to his blackboard, planning his next trick with a satisfied smile.