Nihil Evadere

2- A Circus Out Of Thin Air

         Thalia's eyes were glued together, and she had to pry them open with her sweat-covered fingers. Even when they were open, her vision was distorted and blurry, and her head was heavier than a 1,000lbs weight. It still pulsed annoyingly, feeling like it was about to explode. The first thing that Thalia saw, was the countryside. It was early in the morning and freezing, the wind whipped her hair around rapidly. Cautiously, she propped herself up on her elbow, to get a better look around, and once her eyes had adjusted, she saw that she was on a roadside. Her forehead, hands and legs were covered in damp sweat and grime. What happened? Thalia thought in her groggy head, before the events of earlier that day came flooding suddenly back to her. The woman, the syringe, her parents. She quickly lifted up her t-shirt sleeve and spotted a deep, bruised cut where the sirem had been injected. It was only once those events came back to her that fear surely settled within the small, helpless girl. She was on a deserted roadside, completely alone, with no supplies on her. She brought her knees up to her frozen chest and burried her head in her hands, wondering what to do. Her salty tears gathered in a pool in her dirty hands, as her whole body was racked with sobs. Her legs ached, her head ached, everything ached. Her heart ached. What was the point? Then-

(PLAY THE VIDEO, STOP IT WHENEVER YOU WANT!)

Thalia's head jerked up at the familar tune being played in the distance. She stood up quickly, and squinted to the source. To her surprise, vibrant, flashing lights and exclaims of delight and happiness were heard across the horizion. A circus carnival. How didn't I notice this before? Thalia privately wondered, for she was sure that it had not been there before. Just like with her malicious captor, her legs made their way towards the distance, the music pierced the otherwise silent night, and rang in Thalia's head. It throbbed, and her eyelids were even heavier than before, but she perservered. Walking towards the mysterious carnival. To her doom.

  Before she knew it, she was close enough to the gates to read the cartoon-ish, bubble writing sitting atop the golden gates. The mismatched, vibrant colours danced in the reflective gates. The words read: NIHIL EVADERE CIRCUS, and Thalia squinted at the silly-sounding words- they must be a different language, she concluded. However, her attention was quickly snatched away by what lay behind the gates. Dozens upon dozens of flashy rides and good-smelling food stalls were dotted around the area. There was a helter skelter that you couldn't see the top of, decorated with a spiral of red, blue and white and with tiny, flashing lights following the pattern. A mile-long line of children queued for the ride, each excitedly clutching a small straw bag. Next to it, there was a cotton candy stall, that looked hand-painted and delicately made, with a line of flushed children waiting. An elderly woman dressed in pastel, fleecy clothes swiftly spun the fluffy, pink sugar into a cone. The sweet treat was bigger than many of the children's heads! Behind the stall, a carousel spun in a blurr, so fast that Thalia only caught snippets of the showy colours. It was painted yellow, green and white and a bright, multicoloured light whizzed around atop the tent-like canopy. Every now and again, a child on one of the ornately decorated and beautiful horses would resurface from the swirl of intense colour. Each one was laughing their head off and having fun.

Thalia so wanted to join in.

Her eyes alight with happiness, she wandered towards the gate, but before she could reach it, a voice grumbled: 

"Wha'dya think your doing, lass?"

Thalia spun around and saw a ticket booth, dressed in the same colours and flashing lights as the rides, to the left of the gates. It almost looks like a ride, Thalia thought. At the window, sat a middle-aged, stocky man wearing what looked like an ice-cream man's or sailor's uniform. It was white and red, and the words Nihil Evadere Circus were sewn in bright colours onto a pocket.

"I- I want to go to the circus," Thalia answered in a meek voice.

"You wanna go to 'da circus?" the man roared with laughter while Thalia stood at the bottom of the booth awkwardly.

"Yes please," she answered. The man stopped laughing abruptly, as if realising that she was serious.

"Well," he said, clearing his throat. "You gotta pay on entry. Fifteen bucks for a ticket, then you can go on any ride as many times as you want."

Thalia's heart dropped. It hadn't occured to her that she's have to pay on entry.

"I don't have any money..." she sighed, and turned back to the black abyss that was the roadside. Where would she go now? She was back to the helpless, lost version of herself. She was childish to think that some stupid circus would take all of that away. Suddenly, there as a loud thump behind her, and, spinning around, Thalia saw a woman.

She was a beautiful woman, dressed in an orange, yellow and red tutu with a sequin pattered criss-cross on the front. Her eyes were a warm hazel colour, and she had flaming red hair. Her alluring, make-up-covered face was bedazzled with large, orange rimetone gems, and she wore a feahtered hair-piece. Perfect and as red as her hair, her eybrows were knitted together in a rage, her glaring eyes fixed on the ticket man. In her pale hand there was a crisp couple of notes that were £15.

"Give the little girl a free entry, Arnold, you know what the ringmaster said! If she's conjured the circus then she can come in free!" she roared.

"Well, if that's how you think, Merrigold, why do you have £15 in your hand?" Arnold asked, staring at the notes hungrily. In the blink of an eye, he made a mad grasp for the money, his beefy fingers thrashing wildly. Just as fast, Merrigold, pulled the money away, and with expert flexibility, kicked the man in the nose. Arnold keeled over his ticket booth and clutched his face, groaning.

"Reflexes of an acrobat, Arnold dear. Oh of course, you wouldn't know- you can't even lift your leg high enough to get off a chair. Toodles!" With one last sickly sweet smile, Merrigold turned to Thalia.

The entire time, Thalia had watched the adults, dumbfounded. Her mind urged her to run away, before the woman could see her, but just as she was on the brink of doing so, Merrigold turned and locked their eyes.

"Do not be afraid, dear," she whispered soothingly, stepping towards the frightened girl with a look of sympathy that was hard to tell whether it was geniune.

"W-what do you mean...I-I conjured the circus?" Thalia blurted out. To her great surprise, the acrobat only laughed, slightly confused.

"Oh, dear, what a lot that you don't know. Come, come, let me buy you an ice cream," she said, smiling invitingly.