Laura's Time to Shine

Prologue

Prologue

What do you think of when someone says the word ‘circus’? Some think of clowns, elephants, talented people doing amazing things and candyfloss. But others think of bad treatment of animals and stupid people doing idiotic things.

I think of home, family and good times.

I was born in a circus. My dad, Brian, was raised in the circus too. He was otherwise known as Mr. Blimper, was the owner of Mr. Blimper’s Travelling Circus and, of course, was the ringmaster. It was his great-great-great-great-grandfather who started up the circus over 150 years ago. I was the next generation. My mum Abigail performed tricks as she rode horses wearing elegant dresses.

I am a trapeze artist and so proud to be one, as it is second-nature to me. My earliest childhood memory was learning how to use a trapeze. I think I was only five. Mum and Dad didn’t force me to do it. I watched a group of people flipping off trapezes and grabbing on to one another in mid-air. It was spectacular, and I decided I wanted to be able to do that too.

When I wasn’t rehearsing for the night’s show or helping set up the tent during the day, I just relaxed in our caravan. There was a small bunk at the back of it, which was my bed. I never went on the top bunk as it was too close to the roof, so my space was on the bottom. I loved it.

I had many things to do in the van while I was waiting for my performance. For example, I wrote music. Dad bought me a guitar for my seventh birthday and one of the clowns, Oisín, taught me how to play. I also bought myself manuscripts and I wrote heaps of songs in them. I spent half the day thinking up new melodies and strumming my guitar. If I thought of a new song before the show, I would play and sing it for my parents if they weren’t too busy.

I also made ankle-bracelets. Mum bought me tons of beads for my eighth birthday, and ever since I got them, I was experimenting with new designs every day. I found that necklaces and bracelets were too dull and normal, so I thought making ankle-bracelets would be much more interesting. Sometimes I wore them while performing in the ring.

At times, Mum told me to feed all the animals except the tiger and lions. Oscar, who was their owner, fed them, because it was too dangerous for me to do it. As I went out to feed the horses and elephants, I always listened to the birds sing a tune. It helped me to think of a song to write when I got back to the van.

Every night, we had a show. My trapeze act was straight after the interval and I loved it when Dad introduced it. I would skip alongside my trapeze teachers, Gary and Linda, into the ring, in time with the music. At the age of eleven, I was the youngest in the entire circus - except for some of the animals, of course. So, we would walk up the ladder and I got on to my trapeze first. I’d keep swinging until Gary got onto his, and then the show would properly begin again...

Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Laura. I’m a vegan and I have sea green eyes and my hair is jet-black, and in the summer of 2011, I wanted my side fringe to be a bit colourful, for the circus, so now it is multi-coloured. Dad says it reflects my personality.

This is my story.