Where's Casper?

One eye, three hands

I wonder if the circus performers are scared to go on stage. They probably aren't, giving the fact that they do their whole representation at least once in the course of three days.

It's the second time I heard Dante say the greetings, but the first time, I heard it from the public,  and now I hear it from behind the curtains. I feel more excited than the actual performers. Now, it's Sophie's turn.

I look at Aric; he smiles. It's his turn, too. His amethyst eyes sparkle as he bends his legs a little bit and does a flip. I know it's not impressive for them anymore, but seeing how he turns into a lion amazes me.

He purrs for a short amount of time until Sophie comes next to him, waiting to go on stage together. His mane shines a shade of beautiful golden-brown in the light. If I were him, I'd bite her head off in the first second. He's way too calm.

I want to get my role as soon as possible. Maybe I can be a magician, like in my dream. It seems easy if you learn the appropriate tricks and manage to make them look believable. I can't wait to see their number, and it is, like I expected, better than the first time.

The girl flicks her whip, and Aric roars. I already know he's contemplating his whole life right now. A chestnut headed girl dressed in a purple dress passes me. I hadn't seen her before. To be honest, I haven't talked about most of the circus.

I tap the girl's shoulder. She won't know it was me. She turns around, confused. Now I get why I hadn't seen her before. She has only one eye, so she's part of the freaks.

The freaks don't have a specific role; they are just there, and, after the show, people pay extra money to see them. Smart way of making more. In the house of freaks, I have seen a girl with three hands, an ambidextrous boy who paints and writes at the same time, using both his hands, and, if I don't get it wrong, another boy who walks on all four of his limbs. I wouldn't classify any of them as freaks, but the people find it funny. If someone called me a freak, I'd be embarrassed. It's not like it has never happened before.

The lion comes here on its own. It doesn't need people to take it here. Wait. I forgot. He is capable of doing it himself.

After the curtains are drawn again, it slowly turns into Aric again. Two more girls bring a gigant chair for him, and he collapses on it, sweat dripping down his perfect face.

"You were amazing!" I yell, even though I haven't seen half of what he'd done. He smiles and wipes his forehead with a towel brought by a short boy. It isn't his last role of the night.

The chestnut headed girl brings him his red and white suit. He makes a sign with his hand, which means thank you. He actually taught me some signs, like this one, good morning, good night, goodbye, hello, nice to meet you, and fuck you.

We don't talk about the last one, ok? I was just curious. I back away a bit, waiting for him to stand up and leave. He doesn't. He puts one hand on his wet shirt and takes it off in front of me.

I know, he's supposed to be my best friend, but I think his muscles are a bit attractive. No, not a bit. Very. I bite my lip, close my eyes, and turn around. What was I thinking? Of course they aren't! But boys will be boys and girls will be girls. My opinion won't hurt anyone. And nobody will know about it. He snaps his fingers to signal he's done. He looks even better than he did the first time I saw him. It's strange a contortionist wears a clown suit and clown make-up. And the suit isn't even his size, but it stretches enough to fit him. If you allow me to say it, he looks like an above-average clown. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. Won't take it back.

And here comes the real clown. He's a pretty big guy, too, so they may share suits. He's a tall redhead, but he isn't nearly as handsome as Aric, even though he isn't as unappealing as the snake tamer. He looks at me and smirks. Wait, he's... He enters on stage. He's the one I stole the rose from. Why does every time I don't pay for something, it has an immediate price? I sigh. His name is Heros. I heard Dante saying it. I just wonder if he knows what I did.

It was for a good cause, or I think so. I gave it to Aric when I came back, and that made him very happy. It's weird, but I wanted it to be nice. He felt better than I did, anyways. I couldn't stop thinking about Japeth and his missing girl poster, and, this time, we both agreed he'd sleep in the bathtub and I'd sleep in the bed. Yes, I wanted to sleep in the bathtub, but Aric is Aric. He rushed to the bathroom and refused to move from there. I tried to move him, but he's at lest two times heavier and stronger than me, so you can guess the outcome.

"And, for the last representation of the night, coming all the way from Bloodbrook, the one and only man without bones, Aric Lesso!"

I still think "man without bones" is a little bit to much, but he might be missing some of them, otherwise he wouldn't sleep like being in the position of a ragdoll is the most normal thing ever. I smile, remembering how he slept on the floor last night for me, how he'd slept during our little trip, and how I found him in the bathtub this morning. Yes, this man is missing some bones.

Dante gets down from a tall staircase. I've actually wondered what it was for. I throw him a bottle of water and he struggles to catch it. As soon as he does, he drinks half of it in the first sip, and the other half in the second. I do not think he did a hard job presenting, but talking so much makes you thirsty. Right now, while I narrate this, I feel a little bit thirsty, too.

"I think this night might be the best one in the last 100 years!" He says, collapsing on Aric's chair. The chair is visibly too big.

"The last 100 years? I thought you just bought the circus!"

"Don't be a fool, Caspar. I founded Tetral."