The Circus of it's Time (On Hold)

Chapter 2

Kali’s body was starting to get stiff from being rocked by the boy constantly. Kali slowly stopped crying and her voice was hoarse and whispery.

“Are you okay now?” The boy asked; concern obvious in his question. Kali didn’t feel the need to speak so she replied with a curt nod. The boy let go of her, and Kali sat up and stretched as the boy went and stood with his parents.

“Would you like some water?” The woman asked her thin lips laced in a small smile. Kali nodded again in response and soon water was hitting her dry lips, making her feel a lot better.

“What are your names?” Kali croaked.

“Well we’re the Denvers. I’m Agatha, that’s my husband, Murray, and that’s our son, Peter.” The sudden silence was soon interrupted by a shrill phone ringing loudly. Mrs. Denver shot everyone an apologetic look as she went and answered the phone in a hushed voice.

“Why am I here though?” Kali asked Mr Denver.

“Well, you see, we were very good friends of your parents and because you have no more family, they said we can look after you until they find an appropriate family for you to live with.”

“So I’m going to have to live in a strangers home for the rest of my life?”

“Yes, well, not until your parent’s funeral, but after that, the adoption centre will send you to live with a nice family who want a child,” Mr. Denver explained. Kali didn’t really think that was fair at all. Living with a strange family for the rest of her life? Why couldn’t she choose the family? If she could, she would choose to live with her best friend, Marcy Allen, who just lived two streets away from her own house. Kali wondered whether or not any of her friends homes had been bombed, or if they knew about what happened to her. Surely they would know, wouldn’t they? 

Mrs. Denver came back to the kitchen with a sad look plastered on her ageing face. “Murray can I please speak to you for a moment?” 

Mr. and Mrs. Denver sat in the living room, far enough away so little Kali didn’t hear anything. They had left the young girl in the kitchen with Peter, who promised not to let her hear a word.

“What’s wrong, Agatha?” Mr. Denver asked his wife.

“They’ve found the bodies of the Helen and Bruno Dervish, well what was left of the bodies.”

“When have they decided to have the funeral?”

“On Friday,” Mrs. Denver replied, wiping away tears that slid down her face.

“But that’s three days away! Three days for them to find a suitable family! Why can’t they just let us keep her?” Mr. Denver raised his voice in anger.

“They said because we never originally wanted a child, we just can’t claim her,” Mrs. Denver cried.

“That’s bullshit, and we both know it.” 

Agatha and Murray just sat there, staring at the ground, both equally as angry. How could they take Kali away from them? Even though they had just met her, it didn’t mean that they didn’t want her.

Back in the kitchen, Kali was slowly eating a boiled egg while watching Peter read his book intently.

“What are you reading?” Kali asked just before she took a sip of her juice.

“They Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. It’s my favourite.”

“What’s it about?” Kali asked, quite interested.

“Well, it’s about a group of boys who one day meet a stranger called Satan. He tells them that he’s a fallen angel and that he can tell what bad events will occur. The boys don’t believe him until one of the events happen.”

“Is it good?” Kali asked.

“Very. I’ve read it 4 times.” After Peter replied, he once again shut himself away from Kali, kind of like he was in a bubble, and he continued reading the story. Kali began to think about the stranger, Satan. I’ve heard of him Kali thought and she suddenly remembered. She learned about him in religious studies. Kali remembered when her and her friend Rose got in trouble for talking to a boy, Tommy Lakers, so their teacher Miss Barker moved Kali to the front of the class, and Kali got very embarrassed. Kali then began to listen to what Miss Barker was talking:

“God had many angels, but there was one, Lucifer, who was god’s favourite angel, but Lucifer was very jealous of all the people who praised God because he wanted God’s affections all to himself. However, with all the anger, jealously and hate, he fell down to Hell and became a fallen angel and is now known as Satan.”

As Kali snapped out of her trance, she noticed Mr. and Mrs. Denver coming into the kitchen, silence entrancing them all. “Kali, your parent’s funeral is on Friday.”

Kali nodded as she slowly left the room, climbing the stairs and entering the room she would be using until Friday. Sleep took over Kali as she settled on the soft double bed and let out a long sigh. 

Today had been such a crazy day for Kali and the fact that she was only eight didn’t make it any better. 

I wish I could just fly away like a bird thought Kali as her eyes fluttered closed. Kali then dreamt, she dreamt of being a bird with long blue wings, that glided with the wind and she flew great distances all the way until she was above a circus? Yes. A beautiful red tent with a fire breather practicing outside and a lion tamer feeding a well groomed Lion and a beautiful lady who only looked to be 20 or so. The elephant was the most beautiful Kali had ever seen. Wow, if only Kali could run away with the circus.