Damaged Resilience

Prologue ~ The Beginning

The brightly colored tent screamed life and entertainment.
The night sky sprinkled with stars.
The spotlights roaming and traveling around the space inside the tent.

The aroma of popcorn and cotton candy wafting through the air as the anticipation for the magic of the night captivated every soul present inside the tent, and even onlookers outside the tent.

The slight overstimulation of the senses as each sense individually was captured and held at attention at the amazement of what it was experiencing.

Performing in front of crowds that would cheer with widened eyes and point at their favorite acts with large smiles on their faces.
The energy traveled through the stands, giving encouragement to the performers to continue doing their passion for the sake of the audience's entertainment and approval.

Knowing that you are helping create memorable memories that attendees can take with them and retell or think back on with a smile on their face.

Performing with your best friend every single night that the circus performs and having it never grow old; each performance feels like a new experience even though it is the same routine.

The circus was magical. The circus was home.
And Alexandra Cretu loved it.

She was shaken gently awake by hands that were very familiar to her. She peeked an eye open to look at the mess of short black hair on a young boy her age, and a smile found its way onto her face.

A quiet giggle escaped the boy when he saw he had successfully wakened his friend up, "Alex! Mami said we arrived in Gotham today!" his voice laced with excitement.
(t/n - mommy)

Alex felt her own excitement bubble up faster than a shaken bottle of soda as she quickly sat up, now sitting next to the one and only Richard Grayson, who was kneeling by her bed mat.

Both sets of parents always had them sleep while they traveled so that they would not be travel-worn and would not baggage the tiredness that often came with long journeys.
It was quite smart on the parent's part, and it especially left the two children waking up in excitement every single time, happy that the next town or city was already here for them to perform at and experience.

The two small forms of their bodies huddled together on Alex's bed mat, which had already been set up along with the rest of the tent that would be housing the performers.
Through a slip in the tent's entre flaps, the much larger performing tent could also be seen already set up; along with booths outside the area that was just now getting the finishing touches set on them before they are deemed presentable.

The children sat close to each other, excitedly and hurriedly whispered what magical adventures they thought this city of Gotham would bring them.
They whispered about what experiences they wondered would happen while in this city before they moved with the circus to the next.

Their minds full of wonder and optimism, with the innocence only a young child could possess.
Their eyes twinkling with hope and excitement.
Their hearts open to each other as they shared and exchanged their dreams and imagines.

But little did these poor souls know that they would never leave this city.

The tent flap opened enough for a couple to walk through and into the housing tent. While the flap was open, it could be seen by the sky that it was late afternoon, almost early evening.
For the children had slept the day away and were energized for the performances tonight.

But the two were not worried about not having time to experience the city before the performance like they usually did with nearly every other they traveled to.
Their parents had warned them that this city was different and that the crime rates were much higher than any other city they had been to.