A Strange Collection

Chapter 7: A Strange Tale of Those I've Met (Part 2)

The Ringmaster's POV

"How did he come up with that question? Why did he have to ask what happened to this place? I know that there are things that he doesn't know, but does it really matter for a traveler like him to figure the past? Why did I tell him much? I could've simply said that there was a fire," The Ringmaster pondered by himself as he made slow paces within the tent.

"It was a long time since then, decades perhaps. There were a lot I could think of, but the picture wasn't clear enough. The days passed here and there, but they were only like the breeze. The coolness is all I could remember, but the days and hours the winds themselves blew, I have forgotten. In a youthful body with eyes whose sockets make the eyeballs sink where the head is light like paper and my arms were as twigs but the soul's windows have the weight of stones, in the days where the tips of the fine feathers were jagged and they were akin to the brittle, withered leaves. It was the time of my pain until I was taken in by the embrace of love given by them: The Former Head, the performers, the crowd. 

What I could recall were few, but those little bits of memory were vivid...sort of. I once lived in an orphanage. I overheard that my mother and father couldn't take care of me anymore. My bodily conditions had worsened to the expense of all that they need; they probably waited for me to die but guilt won't let them, so they left me in there in hopes that someone would take me in. My experience there may have not been to joyful but certain sentimental things like the lapis, blue electrical fan could never get off my mind. I wouldn't say I was tormented by the children, because the staff and workers made them aware of my state; my memory of them however were hazy.

The day came where the orphanage decided to take the children outside because of the coming circus. I wasn't initially intrigued by the idea. I've never been used to the outdoors, but they didn't forget me and had pushed in a black and sturdy wheelchair. They placed me atop of it and gave it a push to the halls, and eventually the exit. 

There was cheering and laughter around me. Everyone was talking about seeing strange creatures and bizarre people as we pass by a shimmering lake and the gleaming sun. Everything shone and they startled my eyes. The fascination I had with the voices of enchanting birds with their magical songs was without equal at the time. I never felt so alive in my life. To see people other than the ones I always met was very tender to my heart. We weren't even at the circus, yet."

"Hey? Food's ready doink!" Iris shouted from the entrance of my tent while I was still thinking about the past.

"Huh? I must've gotten lost in thought again," I replied to her.

"Duh!" She then walked away.

I decided to go with her, after all, I thought that I needed more time outside.

Bubbles, Occulus, Iris, Jaleen, and Hilary were sitting on a log whilst holding their bowl of worms. They were busy with their meal, but Jaleen was looking straight at me.

"I saw something in your hand held mirror," she said.

"Don't worry. It's just my reflection," I replied.