Lovely, Lovely Freaks

Chapter 4

An alarm began going off. The sun was shining through Matt's bedroom window, and with a stretch and a yawn, Matt got up out of bed. "Huh, I guess that was all just a dream." He walked down the stairs and threw himself down onto the couch, turning on the tv, while eating his breakfast of scrambled eggs.
A show about the best and worst carnivals around came on, and Jethrow's Society of Freaks was on it. They were rated as one of the worst, for their gruesome acts and non-extravagant decorations. "That's not fair." Matt muttered to himself. Suddenly he felt something around his neck.
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He awoke with a start. Above him, stood Scar, holding a knife to Matt's throat. Matt began struggling around, whimpering, begging Scar not to hurt him.
"Ah, so you remember my name?" He chuckled as he twirled the knife before placing it back in his pocket. "Anyways, it's time to get up." Scar said as he opened the tent and left. Matt plopped back down onto his back and groaned. "Not a dream. Not a dream." He repeated over and over again.
Matt groggily left the tent, rubbing his eyes. Right as he stepped out of the tent, he felt somebody jump onto his back, squeaking with laughter. Liz. "Morning Matt-a-roni!" She giggled. "Matt-a-what?" He questioned, trying to set her down, yet she refused to get off. "Matt-a-Roni! That's your new nickname. But only I can call you that so don't tell anybody!" She said, finally jumping down, only to grab his hand immediately after. "Don't worry. I won't." He said under his breath.
"Follow me! Jethrow asked me to find a volunteer to help me do something this morning and I choose you!" She said, zig-zagging between all of the people getting ready for the show that day. "Volunteer? For what? And why didn't you just ask your sister?" He asked, rubbing his eyes once again. Suddenly, she came to a complete stop.
Matt looked up. "What the.." He trailed off. Liz, who was still bouncing with energy, proceeded to tell him that they had to clean Androcles,the lion, a bath. "Are you crazy?" Matt yelled. Liz smiled and held up her fingers, "Just a tad" she laughed. "Stay right here, I'll go get the soap and stuff" she said before running off around the corner.
Matt started rocking back and forth on his heels, trying to avoid eye contact with the animal in front of him. He began hearing low growls. "Liz! Could you..um.. Hurry up!" He yelled across the lot. A laugh came from behind him, and he quickly jumped around to see the scrawny strong man. "Ever been to a zoo?" The guy laughed, leaning against one of the trailers. "Duh" Matt said uncomfortably. "Who hasn't been to a zoo?" The guy rolled his eyes and started walking away.
"Wait." Matt yelled. "I.. I guess I kinda need to know your name, if I'm gunna be here for awhile.". The guy stopped, with another small laugh. "I'm Jumbo." Then he walked away again. "That's ironic." Matt chuckled under his breath.
Finally, Liz got back with all of the supplies. "Ready?" She asked. "Not really but I'll give it go" Matt said nervously. He reached for one of the sponges and put some of the shampoo on it. He started walking towards the lion, when it started growling. "He doesn't like that sponge." She laughed as she handed him a different one. He approached the lion once again and this time the lion began purring. "He likes you Matt-a-Roni!" Liz said excitedly. A few laughs erupted from behind the two at the sound of the nickname. "I'm never going to live that name down am I?" Matt chuckled. "Nope" he heard a voice behind him say. He turned to see Jethrow watching them. Matt quickly looked away and tried to think of something to talk about, but before a subject came to his mind, Liz had already started talking.
"Do you miss your home?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the lion. "Jethrow told us we weren't supposed to talk about your home, but I just thought I'd ask." She continued. Matt looked down. "A little, but I've realized that I really didn't do much. All I did was sit around, I got whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it." Surprisingly, she didn't say anything in reply. "Why aren't you supposed to ask me about my home?" Again, she didn't respond.
Matt started to notice a line of cars pulling up. "So, um, is there a show tonight?" Matt asked. "Yeah!" Liz said, jumping out of her silence. "You get to help too! Follow me!" She said before grabbing Matt's hand once again before running towards the big tent.