15-year-old Ori is an average small-town boy. Or so he thought, until a strange circus appears in his backyard. Accepting an acrobat's invitation to join the Cirque de Reverie, he is swept up in a whirlwind of wonder. Unbeknownst to him, the circus...
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Though it was summer, the air had taken on an unnatural chill.
The girl wore it like a cloak around her shoulders as she stumbled through the woods, tears twinkling in her eyes like salty stars. The trees, tall and spindly, loomed sinisterly in the dark, their branches reaching out like grasping fingers. They tugged at her clothes and hair, begging her to turn back and return home, but the girl pressed on, unheedful of their warning.
The trees watched her go, rustling sadly in the wind that sighed through them. They had tried their best.
She was crying, she knew she was, but she couldn't feel the tears. Her elbows were scratched, but she didn't sense the sting. Her feet were bare, but she didn't feel the scrape of rocks and roots against her raw skin. Everything was hazy and distant as if she was seeing through someone else's eyes.
Just for a little bit, she wanted to be free. She knew it would be years before she could leave, and even then she didn't know if she could. She couldn't leave her sister alone. They had promised to always be together, and she couldn't break that.
But it would be nice to have a night. One night where she could pretend she owned her own life. Even if she had to spend her sparse hours of freedom in these creepy woods, it was alright because it wasn't town. Anything was better than there.
Besides, she couldn't face her sister after what they had both said to each other. She had said such awful words, so sharp they stung, and she had heard Mama reflected in her voice. No wonder her sister had been hurt. But she had stung back, her words like a slap to her face.
Her sister would hold her grudge for days. Usually, the girl's anger would have already flitted away like a butterfly on the breeze, but this fight was different. As strange as it sounded, it felt like fate.
A light, tinkly tune trickled through the trees. It was dainty and ethereal and haunting all at once, and its notes sung of promise. The promise of adventure. Of freedom. Of a life beyond her town.
She found herself winding her way toward it, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The tree branches reached out, but instead of snagging at her hair and clothes they pushed, urging her along.
She wasn't afraid, though she probably should have been.
Mama had always said she was too naive and trusting, like an innocent little lamb walking toward its own demise.
She spied a glimmer of light. A spotlight painted a second moon in the sky, the dark silhouette of a bird, its wings spread, perched inside.
She drew out the dream she kept caged in her chest and let it flutter free. Finally, she didn't have to hide it. Letting it go was a relief, like a sigh she didn't know she had been holding in.
Twining through the trees, the light brightened until it was so strong it blinded her eyes, sending spots dancing through her vision like fireflies. She covered her eyes with her hands, letting the light filter through her fingers.
The light dimmed, and she slowly brought her hands down. What she saw made her gasp, her intake of breath wrought with awe and delight.
Nestled between the trees was a white-and-red striped tent, a golden flag waving from its pinnacle. A man stood in front of it, engilded in the brilliant light. He beckoned her forward, the motion smooth and languid. As if in a trance, she obeyed, stepping closer until she too was bathed in the circus' light.
"What do you seek most in life?" the man asked, his voice the sound of crashing waves and skipping stones. It was a question that vaguely struck her as strange, but her brain passed over it like a distant memory. She didn't have to think at all, her response rising from her chest to her lips.
"Freedom," she answered without hesitation, savoring the dangerous way it tasted. "I want to soar like a bird."
The man nodded approvingly, his mouth curving into a pearly grin.
"What would you say if I told you I could make all of that happen and more?" he asked. She froze. He was offering her everything she had ever wanted. How could she refuse?
"I'd say I didn't believe you," she admitted slowly. "But I want to."
"Why don't you stay for a show?" he suggested, his eyes as piercing and crystalline as aquamarine.
He lifted the tent flap, revealing the golden and glamor that awaited her. "If you don't like it, you can always return. But if you do like it, you can stay and be free." She looked over her shoulder, staring at the bleak, foggy forest, and then looked back at the glittering paradise.
It wasn't hard to choose.
"I'd love to," she said, smiling graciously at him.
She stepped inside, the tent flap swinging shut behind her.
The woods murmured, waiting apprehensively.
But the girl never came back.
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[ a / n ]
well, now you know how the sisters are connected to Ori and the circus!
I know this chapter is kind of short, but I'm going to work on that
also, I promise that I'm going to try to settle into a regular update schedule instead of just throwing chapters at you guys randomly ^^"
