Midnight Circus: Clown Circuit

Jynx's Return

    It’s been four long days since Poppy last seen Jynx. It wasn’t like the wooden boy to disappear so suddenly and that began to make Poppy worry even more. Whenever she had the opportunity, she would sneak by his tent and take a peek inside just to see if he was there, but he wasn’t.

     Who could she ask for his whereabouts? The only person who knew they hung around each other was muscle Joe, but even he didn’t know where Jynx was. And it’s not like she could ask the other performers about him without them dismissing her or saying they didn’t know who.she was talking about.

    Every night, Poppy would let Timon out to see if he could sniff out Jynx but with every attempt the trail ended up cold. “Where are you, Jynx?” Poppy whispered into the night as she laid in bed and began to angrily rub at the tears that fell from her eyes. The more she continued to worry the less sleep she got. How could you sleep when your friend had gone missing?

   “Bambina, you need to stop worrying and get some sleep. You look like hell, this isn’t healthy for you.” Joe replied as he stood inside Poppy’s tent and glared down at the girl who was sick in bed.

     “But he’s missing. He could be hurt or cold or scared …” Poppy replied slowly and softly as her red and swollen eyes gazed up at the man she saw as a father figure.

     Heaving a sigh, Joe ran a hand over his face before he tucked the blanket around Poppy and told her to get some rest while he took a look around. “I don’t understand why you like this kid, but I won’t question your decisions. Now sleep.” He ordered before leaving Poppy to rest in peace.

     “How is she?” Walking up to Poppy’s tent with a big bouquet of roses in his hand, Tyco the lion tamer asked when he saw Joe exiting the tent.

     “Asleep, you should come back some other time when she’s awake.” Joe replied sternly while standing in front of the entrance of the tent with his arms crossed. He wasn’t letting anyone in while Poppy finally fell asleep, especially not the obsessed and big headed ego filled, Tyco.

     “Come on Joe, I just wanted to see how she is and drop these lovely flowers off to her.” Tyco replied

    “And I want to see you drop dead.” Is what Joe wanted to say but instead he remained silent and continued to glare at the man that stood in front of him. Seeing that this was getting him nowhere, Tyco had gotten the message and turned to leave, but not before having the last say.  “You won’t be able to protect her all your life, Joe. So I’ll let you continue to play bodyguard for now.”

     Watching the arrogant asshole walk away, Joe then made a realization. He would rather have Poppy be friends with Jynx who passed off as a suspicious person rather than being under the control of a psychopath man whore.

     Taking a seat on the folding chair, Joe was finally able to relax but he also wanted to keep his word and search for the missing Jynx. Things were peaceful since everyone was busy at the other side of the circus, leaving no one to bother them. But Joe had thought too soon.

     A loud wailing started to sound as a child around the age of seven came bolting around the corner of one of the tents with their father in tow.

     “Benjamin, come back here! We just need to find the one in charge and see if we can find that clown from the last time we visited.” The father spoke to the child while grabbing the kid’s hand and stopping him from running away.

     “You promise?” The kid said with a light lisp while gazing up at his dad with hopeful eyes.

     “You have my word.” the man replied before noticing that they weren’t the only ones there. “Excuse me sir, where can I find the one that’s in charge? I need to ask him something.” The man spoke to Joe.