We The Shadow: Origins

White Sand Beach: Abel van der Horn

"Come one! Come all! Gather round for the show is starting soon!"

As the presenter spoke through a megaphone, she readjusted her top hat with a smile. She pulled the latex gloves on her hands even tighter in an exaggerated manner, brushing off the shoulder of her suit, winking to a young child in the crowd.

The lights of the big top dimmed down as the spotlight focused on the presenter as she walked back and forth around the sand pit. With eyes filled with curiosity, the crowd watched intently, holding their breaths as the show officially started.

With a quick movement of his hand, the presenter threw down a smoke bomb and as the cobalt blue cloud faded, she was nowhere to be found.

Gasps of awe and excitement filled the big top arena but they were quickly cut short as a blur flew across the sandpit. Eyes turned and chins lifted to see the high flying trapeze artist, Mevr Zweven, hanging from a suspended beam no more than a few centimetres wide.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look!" Pointed upward with a huge smile, a young girl turned to her mother with pure excitement in her eyes.

Standing to her feet, Mevr Zweven held a graceful pose before falling off of the beam before transitioning to a mid air somersault, catching herself on another beam that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Wow... She is- very brave!" Trying not to encourage such death-defying behaviour in her daughter, the mother stifled her own excitement.

Mevr Zweven continued her act, performing tricks and stunts that almost felt like they were destined to go wrong. But each time, the amazing trapeze artist landed with grace, receiving praise and applause from the crowd.

The mother and her daughter watched on in awe, both letting their inner child to take over for the moment. After all, when else could a working woman experience such a spectacle.

Sat behind them on the back row, a middle aged man adjusted his shades. The intercom in his ear hadn't given him the signal yet so he could enjoy the show while it lasted.

All eyes were on the fantastic high flyer as she opened up from a mid air somersault. But just as she reached for the beam, her hand missed the mark.

The crowd held their breaths in fear as the talented trapeze artist fell through the air, somehow still maintaining her graceful pose.

Then at the last second, Mevr Zweven fell into the arms of a freakishly tall man. The crowd erupted into applause as the strongman threw the trapeze artist up to a beam and soon enough the spotlight was on Atlas the Strongman.

Lying at his feet was a comically large barbell, each side reading '10000 lbs' in large white lettering. The strongman grabbed hold of the bar but was unable to raise it from the sand.

The crowd's smiles faded slightly, raising their eyebrows with a pause. But their suspicions were instantly erased when Atlas threw the barbell into the air, catching it above his head with both hands and a cheeky smile.

Laughter and cheers echoed around the big top. Even the suspicious man in the back row couldn't help but smirk, hearing a voice over his intercom to hide the smile, reminding him that he had a job to do.

As the attention returned to Atlas, he let one of his hands go from the bell, supporting it only with his right arm. Still showing no sign of fatigue, looked up, waiting for something.

In a flash, Mevr Zweven descended from the heavens, dropping another actress onto the other side of the barbell. Both the trapeze artist and the contortionist, Draai the Twister, were balancing on the bell as Atlas continued supporting them with one arm.