The Show Must Go On

*Chapter Two*

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The show went as smoothly as possible. All the acts performed spectacularly. Our carnival was slowly but surely rising in fame. As usual the only people who attended were those who had the money to. The rich. While gazing upon the crowd, all you could see were the womens richly colored petticoats, bonnets, and fans lazily swaying in their hands. The men always wore very crisp suits, breastcoats neatly buttoned up, pocket watches neatly tucked away but ready to be showed off at a seconds notice, and usually there was a spectacle or two.

Oh the life of the rich. Little did they know that as they drove off in their fancy horse drawn carriages, that there was still much work left to be done, especially for those with the janitorial duties, who I deeply sympathized with.

~

After the show, after all the cleanup was over and done with, was my favorite part of the day. It was always the quitest. The usual hustle and bustle of the carnival was gone. Only the peace and quiet remained.

Now it was time to go have a chat with Mr. James and Simon. Our meetings had always been something that had just happened, Mr. James had never specifically asked to talk with me.

I sighed, running my hand through my hair. I had to admit I was nervous.

It was so quiet as I was walking that I could hear the crisp grass crunch underneath my shoes.

I passed tent after tent. Most of them already closed. The bright fabric which covered the tents frames, moved in the light summers breeze. I could feel the sun caressing the back of my neck, making the hair that lay across it stick to sweat that was beginning to perspire.

I continued walking and I slowly I began to see the edge of Mr. James' trailer. Mr. James was the only one who had his own trailer, the rest of us slept in tents we had to set up ourselves.

I slowly climbed the steps up to Mr. James' metallic gray trailer and composed myself for one second before I knocked on the door.

A very eager and wide-eyed Simon opened the door. His curly blonde hair stuck up in disarray as if he had just been combing his fingers through it.

"Come on in, come on in!" He said to me with a smile, one that seemed almost too forced.

I entered the small trailer and saw Mr. James waiting for us, sitting cross legged on his velvet arm chair. He was smoking on his "special" wooden pipe. I watched as he took an exceedingly long drag and lazily let it roll it's way out of his mouth.

"My dear Charles, how are you my boy?" Mr. James' deep and scratchy voice drawled.

I took off my hat and bowed in a show of respect. Mr. James motioned for me to take a seat across from him. I quickly sat and sank into one of his ancient couches. Simon moved to stand behind Mr. James.

"We have something we want to show you Charles. We promise you it's something like you've never seen before." Mr. James drawled out slowly taking drags of tabacoo at the same time. To be honest the smoke that was swirling around the confined space was making my head spin.

"It's a risk of sorts, we shouldn't even have it most likely. But of course Mr. James had taken a great liking to it, so it is now our job to incorporate it into our shows." Simon paused, wearily eyeing Mr. James. "We are sure that you will find great ways to showcase it."

"Alright enough with the chitchat, how's bout you go show the lad our pretty lil' thing!" Mr. James said giddily. "I think I'll stay here though boys, I can't handle myself around her." He sighed, almost as if reminiscing in an old memory.

Simon moved from behind Mr. James and stepped towards me, lightly taking me by my arm and leading me to the door.

Once we were out in the open in the humid summer air, and away from Mr. James' prying ears, Simon spoke again.

"I really don't like this. No sir not one bit. It feels wrong. I know that we'll most likely get into some deep trouble for doing this. I don't like it." At this point I wasn't sure if Simon was talking to me or more to himself.

"Can you at least tell me what it is? I don't understand what's going on." I admitted, and I really didn't, all of it sounded like gibberish. If it was another act that they wanted me to show, it should be no big deal. We had gotten new acts before.

"You'll see soon enough Charles." He replied, looking down almost as of he was ashamed.

We continued walking like that, in silence. We went around back of Mr. James' trailer, and Simon led us into the woods which edged around our circus grounds. Now I was starting to feel as if something was really wrong, why would this person be out back in the woods. I didn't even want to voice my questions to Simon.

Further and further we went into the woods. We had to step over and around bushes and trees, I wasn't sure Simon knew where we were going, there didn't seem to be a certain path he was taking. Then again I wasn't sure we would ever stop, we seemed to just keep walking. But then I saw a small gray tent. A tent which shouldn't have been there. We walked closer and closer to it. We were still walking in silence.

We got to the gray tent, which all in itself seems to be giving off an aura all on its own. Simon stepped toward the flap which led into the tent. He silently opened it, and motioned for me to enter.

The inside of the tent was completely dark, the only bit of light was filtering in behind me. There was no way I could see what was inside of it. Though at the same time being in the dark made my other senses heighten. I could smell something salty, almost like ocean water, and as soon as I thought of the water, it was almost as if I could hear it too. A slight swish and splosh of water. Which was impossible, we were in the middle of the woods.

I could hear Simon rummaging around, as soon as he had stepped into the tent. Then, suddenly the tent was lit up. It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the overwhelming brightness. When I finally felt as if my eyes had had plenty of time to adjust, I opened them fully.

And that's when I saw her.

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Hey-lloo,

I really should be asleep right now. Blah I'm super tired. Not sure this chapter came out how I wanted but it's okay :P

Anyways gonna make this authors note short.

Song for this chappy is: The Kooks Seaside

Alright toodalo ~ Cosmic_Tears