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about mental health at the The stigma.org. Eating

0:32

breakfast with the troopers little. Awkward.

0:35

For me. I also used to

0:37

eating my meals in terrified silence, trying not

0:39

to bring my dad's raft down on me

0:41

for the slightest reason. And.

0:43

Have had a meal. Everyone seemed to really love

0:45

each other. Abigail. Nature. I sat

0:48

next to her while she handed me a plate

0:50

stacked full of pancakes and syrup. Nikolai.

0:53

In Santiago, sat across from me to entertain

0:55

each other's company to notice me the twin

0:57

that further along the giant table more than

0:59

content to be by themselves. Tony meanwhile said

1:02

that the head of the table and was

1:04

one of the messiest eaters I'd ever seen

1:06

in my life. You'll

1:09

have to excuse him, Dear. Abigail.

1:11

Told me as she offered me a glass of milk

1:13

from a pitcher. Antonio

1:16

doesn't have the best table manners I'm

1:18

afraid. I. Didn't want to be

1:20

rude and stare at him but. He. Was hard

1:23

not to as he seemingly eight like

1:25

an animal that was starved and half.

1:27

crazy. The. Best Table

1:29

manners. He has no table manners.

1:32

Legal I snorted as we turn

1:34

to watch Garibaldi eat. Legalize.

1:37

Comments on Santiago to a fit of giggles and

1:39

soon the two of them are back to talking to

1:41

each other. Every. Having my fill, I

1:43

sat awkwardly my chair. not exactly sure what I

1:45

was supposed to do now. I

1:47

was not part of the freak show thanks to Little

1:50

Shapeshifter, but. Still didn't feel like

1:52

I belonged here. And a strange

1:54

encounter I overheard between Antonio on the former

1:56

animal tamer still lingered in the back of

1:58

my mind. the Shifter was in

2:00

a raven form again today, and he

2:02

perched on my shoulder like a parrot. I'd

2:05

offer him some pancakes, but he didn't seem to

2:07

be interested in it. So the

2:09

two of us just sat there silently at the table

2:11

while everyone around us chatted and talked to

2:13

each other. Ah, Tony! Tony

2:15

is the… Tony is the… Tony is the… The…

2:19

Ringleader, he shouted. Ah, Antonio Garibaldi! Yes, okay,

2:21

cool, yes, that's him. Benny, I've

2:23

got another amazing surprise for you. Benny

2:29

suddenly broke my awkward quietness and pulled everyone's

2:31

attention over to him. Despite

2:34

having eaten like a wild animal, his face was

2:36

surprisingly flee of stains. He stood up

2:38

excitedly from his chair and hurried over to me. Come on, I

2:40

want to show it to you. He offered

2:42

me his hand, and with a slight bit of hesitation,

2:44

I took it and allowed him to lead me to

2:46

this mysterious surprise he had for me. He

2:49

led me to the troop tent where everyone had their

2:51

rooms. I was expecting

2:54

him to have given me the same spare room I'd slept

2:56

in the night before, but

2:58

was surprised when he led me to a

3:00

different room and opened the door for me. Stepping

3:03

inside, I was floored to see that it was

3:05

almost an exact copy of my room at home,

3:08

but unlike my room at home, which

3:10

was sparsely decorated and simplistic, this room

3:12

was filled with toys I had never

3:14

owned, an entire bookshelf that wasn't

3:16

in my old room before, and a desk

3:19

filled with several different kinds of art supplies.

3:23

This is amazing, I said, with so much

3:25

excitement that my voice gave out a little

3:27

squeak and ran into the room to get

3:29

a good look at everything. Tony smiled

3:32

as he leaned against the door frame and watched

3:34

as I inspected the whole room. The

3:36

raven flapped off my shoulder and landed on my

3:38

new art desk, also content to

3:41

watch me run around and point at every little

3:43

new thing that was here for me now. This

3:45

is my room, I asked as I grabbed

3:47

a teddy bear off my bed and gave it a hard

3:49

squeeze. Of course it is, I

3:51

want you to feel welcome here in your new

3:54

home, and between shows you'll have quite a bit

3:56

of downtime, so I figured I might as well

3:58

get you some things to keep keep you entertained."

4:02

He entered my room, his hands behind his

4:04

back, as he approached me. I

4:06

looked up into his colorful eyes and again,

4:08

feeling like I was being sucked into them.

4:12

"'Thank you, sir. This is everything I've ever wanted,"

4:15

I told him with a smile, and he smiled

4:17

back at me. I

4:19

looked over at the raven and saw him picking at the desk

4:21

of his beak. I turned my head up

4:23

to look at the beautiful lights that hung from the ceiling and

4:25

was more than happy to see that

4:27

they flickered between different colors. "'I

4:30

have one last thing for you,'

4:33

he said, pulling his hands from behind

4:35

his back and revealing a costume, short

4:37

orange suspenders and a frilly

4:39

greenish shirt. I looked at

4:41

it and then up at him. He smiled

4:43

a big toothy grin and practically shoved it onto

4:46

me. "'Well, go ahead, dry it on,' he stood

4:48

up and turned around to leave, quickly shutting the

4:50

door behind him. I looked down

4:52

at the combination of clothes and figured that if I was

4:54

part of the freak show I would have

4:56

to look the part. During my clothes

4:58

I started putting the new ones on,

5:00

and to my surprise I found that they fit me

5:03

perfectly. I walked over to the door

5:05

and opened it up to show Garibaldi that the uniform

5:07

fit. "'Oh, you look stupendous!'

5:09

He'll knock it out of the park

5:11

with tonight's performance," he said with excitement,

5:13

which got a jaw-dropping reaction from me.

5:16

"'Tonight! But I've never

5:18

done anything like this before. So do I need

5:20

to practice or something?' I said in a panic,

5:22

suddenly realizing that I had to perform in front

5:24

of people. Garibaldi snickered and kneeled

5:26

so that he would be on my level.

5:29

"'Don't you worry, Benny. He'll be doing most

5:31

of the work,' he motioned over to the shapeshifter.

5:33

"'All you have to do is name an animal

5:35

and he'll transform into it for you. No matter

5:37

what it is, he can turn into it. For

5:39

now, practice in here with him. "'I'll

5:42

come by later and let you practice in the

5:44

big top before the show,' he said with a

5:46

smile, and tussled my hair before standing up and

5:49

giving my room one last look over. I

5:52

wordlessly nodded as he turned to leave my room.

5:55

My mind was zooming over a million miles an hour

5:57

as I tried to mentally plan out in my head."

5:59

And how I was supposed to do all of this?

6:02

I must have been standing there for a long while because

6:04

I soon received the knock on my door. Getting

6:07

pulled out of my panic zone, I opened

6:10

the room door to see Santiago and Abigail

6:12

standing out in the hall. Hello,

6:16

dear. Have you decided to come and check in

6:18

on you? See how you've been holding up? Abigail said

6:20

to me with a smile. Santiago,

6:23

meanwhile, pushed past me and pigeon-toed his way into

6:25

my room to get a good look at everything

6:27

with wide-eyed excitement. I'm scared

6:32

for my performance, I told her, walking

6:36

over to her and planting my

6:38

face onto her soft embrace. She

6:41

nodded knowingly and

6:43

wrapped her arms around me, softly stroking my head.

6:46

I let my stress out and my great big groan

6:48

into her. You've

6:50

got an amazing room, Benny, Santiago said with

6:53

excitement, picking up some of my stuffed animals

6:55

and tossing them in the air. I

6:57

looked over at him and couldn't help

6:59

but smile at his carefree nature. They

7:02

were the best people who could have shown up here to cheer me

7:04

up. Before

7:06

they left, Santiago offered to help me put on the makeup

7:08

I would have to wear for my performance. I

7:11

was hesitant at first, but when he said,

7:13

please, please, please, over and over, for almost

7:16

a minute, I caved and let him do it. He

7:19

did only some red cheeks and a red nose

7:21

for me, while Abigail finished it off with colorful dots

7:23

on my face. The two of them

7:25

showed themselves out and I was

7:27

left in my new room with my shadowy shape

7:29

shifter. I

7:31

sat at my desk and looked at him as he hopped around

7:34

and pecked at it without care in the world. I'd

7:37

seen his different forms for myself, the

7:39

dog that led me here, the snake, and

7:41

the raisin. Can you, um,

7:44

should you

7:46

turn into a turtle, please? I

7:48

asked him, not wanting to be rude and

7:50

just ordering him around. He looked

7:52

at me for a moment before his form melted into a

7:55

puddle on my desk, scaring me

7:57

for a brief second before he reformed into the shape

7:59

of a turtle. I

8:01

stared at him in amazement before carefully picking him

8:03

up and examining him. He pulled

8:06

his head into his shell when I brought him

8:08

up to my face that couldn't help but smile

8:10

and excitement and all the possibilities I could come

8:12

up with, however my moment of thinking was interrupted

8:14

by the loud blaring of a train whistle. This

8:17

got me completely off guard and I accidentally dropped my

8:19

turtle friend from my fear and startling

8:21

that I had just gone through. Realizing

8:24

what I had just done, I quickly dropped to the

8:26

floor and picked him up. I asked

8:28

him with concern before he poked his head out at

8:30

me and gave me a little nod. I

8:33

let out a sigh of relief before setting him on the

8:35

table and quickly heading to the door to go out and

8:37

see what that noise was. Before

8:40

I got out into the hallway, I was greeted by a pair of

8:42

boots waiting for me at the door. They

8:44

were knee-high and had yellow smiley

8:46

faces at the buckles. They

8:49

also had a note attached to them. I picked

8:51

the note up and quickly read it. Boots

8:53

make the man. Love

8:56

Tony. I looked down

8:58

at my sneakers. I figured they

9:00

didn't fit my outfit, so I walked

9:02

back into my room, kicked them off, pulling

9:05

the boots on and making sure that I fit in them. It

9:07

was only at this moment that I started

9:09

to question how it was that Antonio knew

9:12

my measurements and shoe size and how

9:14

he knew what my room looked like. That

9:18

line of questioning was blown away once I

9:20

again heard the loud blaring of a train whistle.

9:23

I quickly pulled my boots on and had the shapeshifter turn into

9:25

a raven so he could follow me towards the source of the

9:28

train. We didn't have far to run,

9:31

as when we exited the troop tent, I was shocked

9:33

to discover that an entire steam train had somehow appeared

9:35

in the middle of the woods. It

9:37

was truly a confusing thing for me to understand. We

9:40

were in the middle of the woods with no train tracks

9:42

anywhere to be seen. Garbaldi had

9:44

said that his freak show usually traveled

9:46

across Europe. How? How

9:49

was this train here now? While

9:51

my brain completely turned to mush trying to

9:53

figure it out, Santiago came tip-turning over to

9:55

me with excitement. He threw his

9:57

giant sleeves around me and excitedly pointed

10:00

at the train. Betty,

10:02

Betty, Betty, Betty, Betty, there's someone I want

10:05

you to meet. He pulled

10:07

me along toward the train, and I was

10:09

amazed by the colors the train possessed. Along

10:12

with that, it also had several flags attached

10:14

to each car, and stars painted all across

10:16

it. Santiago eagerly hobbled

10:18

us over to one of the carts and knocked

10:20

on the side entrance. Waiting a

10:22

moment, the door slowly slid open and a black

10:24

woman stepped out. Santiago

10:28

was feet like pigeons. You come here

10:31

with a boy who walks along with

10:33

a shadow, not his own, she

10:35

agreed on us. She wore

10:37

a short orange halter top that wrapped

10:40

around her body, a navy blue skirt

10:42

with a celestial pattern, and a green

10:44

striped scarf around her waist with coins

10:46

along the rim, and

10:48

an orange bandana on her forehead. But

10:51

the thing that pulled my attention to her was her

10:53

bandaged face. They

10:56

covered her left eye and left only the right

10:58

one able to see anything. Hi,

11:01

aizarra! Santiago happily waved his oversized

11:03

sleeve at her and quickly pushed

11:05

me over to her. This

11:08

is Benny! He's joining the group! I

11:11

awkwardly rubbed my arm and tried my best to make it

11:13

look like I wasn't focusing on the fact that she only

11:15

had one eye. Benny,

11:19

an unfamiliar child with

11:21

a familiar story. I

11:24

looked over at Santiago with confusion, but he just

11:26

smiled at me and waved. She

11:29

always talks like that, he said

11:31

with a giggle, before quickly tip-turning away when

11:33

he heard Nikolai shouting at him. Time

11:35

to go practice, have fun, Benny, he said,

11:38

as he quickly waddled away. I

11:40

looked back over at Aizarra and saw that she was

11:42

taking her time to examine me. Offer

11:45

your hand to me, child, and I will see

11:47

what you cannot see. She

11:51

offered her hand to me, and with great hesitation I

11:53

offered her mine. She flipped my

11:55

hand over so my palm was up, but

11:57

in a moment of doing so I could tell that something caught

11:59

her eye. off guard with her reaction to it. "'What's

12:03

the matter?' I asked. She

12:05

carefully placed her fingers on my palm and

12:08

began tracing it across the lines that crisscrossed

12:10

my hand. Strange.

12:13

Your future is clear and yet so

12:16

unclear. It's

12:18

set in stone, yet the stone itself may change

12:20

around it. Yours

12:23

is a palm which I have never encountered

12:25

before," she told me, clearly

12:27

fascinated with the oddities that she had just

12:30

discovered. Suddenly in her

12:32

reading she came to a dead stop at one point in

12:34

my hand and quickly looked up at me. The

12:37

mantis awaits in a giant flower that she lives

12:39

in. She

12:42

told me as she dropped my hand and looked

12:44

down at me. "'What?'

12:47

I asked her in confusion, not having understood

12:49

anything she had told me at all. Was

12:51

that the vague idea of my future

12:53

being unclear and also clear? But

12:56

judging by her reaction, something rubbed me the wrong

12:58

way about all this." She

13:01

kept her gaze on me before swallowing a lump in her throat

13:03

and offering me a small smile.

13:05

"'You shouldn't worry. What

13:07

I have seen may not truly happen, but

13:09

you must be careful for danger

13:12

lurks within smiling faces, Benny,' she

13:14

said to me before bowing slightly and

13:16

returning to her train car. Having

13:20

left me completely confused and just a bit

13:22

nervous, I started walking away from a seemingly

13:24

magic train and back towards the tent.

13:28

"'My God! Don't

13:30

tell me,' Tony brought another street rat into the circus.

13:33

A slightly German accented voice stopped me in

13:35

my tracks. Turning around back to the train,

13:37

I watched as the orange-haired woman stepped off

13:40

from the train. I looked with

13:42

complete disgust on her face as she looked at me. Following

13:45

her, she descended the train car, was a tan-skinned

13:47

man about a whole foot taller than

13:49

the woman." "'Oh,

13:52

no! It means he's going to have

13:54

that fake, friendly shtick, isn't it?' he sighed as

13:56

he hopped down to the floor from the train car

13:58

and rolled himself into a ball as he landed

14:01

and rolled right over to me, looking

14:03

down at me with a sense that he was

14:05

far superior. What

14:08

do you mean? Mr. Girl Baldy's been nice

14:10

to me since I got here. I

14:12

told him as I stared into his judgmental green

14:15

eyes. He had long brown hair

14:17

that was tied up in a ponytail and still managed

14:19

to reach down to his shoulders. Soon

14:21

the woman came walking over to him and she

14:23

crossed her arms at me, responding

14:26

to my statement with an angry,

14:29

Look, kid, you shouldn't even bother being here. Go

14:31

run back to whatever sewer pipe Tony dragged you

14:34

out of, because joining this circus is going to

14:36

be the biggest mistake of your life. She

14:38

kissed angrily, almost getting mean to start crying

14:41

on the spot with her mean comment. Yeesh,

14:43

Eva, the man said as he

14:45

looked over at the woman, who, I guess, was

14:47

named Eva, didn't have to go that far. It

14:50

looks like he's about to start crying. I

14:53

quickly tried to wipe the few tears from my

14:55

face to hide the fact that I was already

14:57

crying. Why should I bother pretending to

14:59

be nice to him just because he's new? He

15:01

probably wouldn't even last a week here. Now

15:04

come in, Jesper. We

15:06

need to practice so I don't drop you face

15:08

first into the ground. She

15:11

walked right past me, bumping into me and sending

15:13

me staggering backwards, and my raven fluttering a bit

15:15

as he caught his footing on my shoulder. As

15:19

if the reason people come is to see us. I'm

15:22

the one with the moneymaker, after all. Jesper

15:25

scoffed as he followed after Eva. The

15:27

two of them seemed to argue the whole way as they walked

15:29

towards the tent. Left

15:31

alone with their harsh words and with Izar's

15:33

prediction fresh in my mind, I began

15:36

again to have second thoughts about having joined this freak

15:38

show in the first place. My

15:40

self-doubt was interrupted by my raven as he pecked

15:43

at my hair and tugged on it, pulling me

15:45

out of the labyrinth of my mind and towards

15:47

the big top tent. I figured

15:49

he wanted me to practice with him, so

15:51

I followed his lead as he flapped off my

15:53

shoulder and started to fly towards the tent. I

15:56

followed after him and wiped the last few tears

15:58

and snot from my face. I

16:00

was determined to show those two jerks that

16:02

I indeed belonged here. I

16:04

was amazed by everyone's performance. Getting

16:07

to practice with them was like seeing a private

16:09

show all by myself, with the added fact

16:11

that I also had to participate in it. I

16:14

was able to learn everyone's acts and how they

16:16

worked. Nikolai and Santiago worked together like

16:18

I had seen them do when I first entered the

16:20

freak show. Nikolai was a skilled

16:22

night thrower and Santiago was his target. The

16:25

clown would occasionally tell jokes, but he was

16:27

at his own risk. His

16:29

jokes often caused Nikolai to begin laughing and

16:32

mess up his aim. Abigail,

16:34

despite her large frame, was the

16:36

tightrope walker. She hadn't clicked

16:38

for me when we first met, but she

16:40

had been practicing her tightrope walking. I

16:43

could tell that she was nervous while doing it. I

16:45

doubt she had done it plenty of times, but she

16:47

still had an aura of nervousness while she was doing

16:49

it. Jasper and Eva were

16:51

the acrobats. I watched as the

16:53

two of them swung from the ceiling like

16:55

monkeys, doing amazing flips and twirls. The two

16:58

of them even jumped off their respective swings,

17:00

caught each other in their arms, and fell

17:02

to a much lower swing. During

17:04

their practice, I could hear them arguing with

17:06

each other, with Eva threatening to drop Jasper

17:08

on more than one occasion. I

17:12

learned that the twins in Azara had separate

17:14

tents set up outside of their respective acts.

17:17

It made sense, since the twins were a spectacle

17:19

without even having to do much, but

17:21

the two of them could juggle and do things

17:23

separate from one another. It wasn't every

17:25

day that you could find joined twins like the two

17:27

of them, so it was easy to say that they

17:29

have the easiest jobs, and since

17:31

Azara was a fortune teller, it made sense to

17:33

set her up in a tent as well. I

17:37

was so enamored with everyone's practice that

17:39

I didn't even really do my own

17:41

very well. The

17:44

shapeshifter got me to pay attention every once in

17:46

a while, but by the time Garibaldi came in

17:48

with news that the show would begin in two

17:51

hours, I'd completely wasted my opportunity

17:53

to practice. Garibaldi called us all

17:55

over for a group meeting. Now

17:57

as you all know, Benny is new to the

17:59

freak show. He pointed to me, and I

18:01

gave everyone an awkward wave. That being

18:03

said, I figured we'll end tonight with his performance. He

18:06

said with an excited smile and quick, happy claps,

18:08

everyone muttered amongst themselves and looked down at

18:11

me as I stared down at the

18:13

floor in horror. Wish I had practiced

18:15

more than I had. It's

18:18

okay, sweetheart. Abigail's

18:21

soothing voice comforted me. She wrapped

18:23

her arms around me from behind and gave me a

18:25

soft and warm hug. Santiago quickly

18:27

waddled over and tussled my hair, a

18:29

big smile plastered on his face. I

18:31

was grateful for their support, but looking

18:33

over at Jasper and Eva, I

18:36

was met by their icy cold glares. Swallowing

18:39

a lump in my throat, I followed everyone back towards

18:41

the hall that led to our rooms. I

18:45

sat on my bed, nervously picking at the

18:47

skin on my fingertips as I could hear

18:49

the sounds of people arriving at the freak

18:51

show. The two hours

18:54

flew by in a blur until at last Garibaldi

18:56

came to gather me up to my room. Don't

18:59

dwell on it too much, Benny. I'm sure you'll

19:01

do amazing, he said with a hoarse laugh, placing

19:04

his top hat on his head and heading

19:06

out to greet the audience. I

19:08

followed after him and poked my head out from

19:10

behind the tent flap. It was met with the

19:12

entire big top filled to the brim with people.

19:15

My feel was suddenly amped up to eleven. Ladies

19:18

and gentlemen, Garibaldi shouted, his voice

19:20

reverberating to the big top and

19:22

getting everyone gathered to watch the

19:25

show to quiet down. Thank

19:27

you all so much for coming to my

19:29

amazing freak show, he said with a hint

19:32

of overwhelming pride. Tonight you'll

19:34

see things that will amaze you, frighten

19:36

you, and maybe even inspire you.

19:40

Now give it up for the

19:42

duo that we love to laugh

19:44

at, Nikolai and Santiago. The

19:47

clouds cheered and clapped as stereotypical carnival

19:49

music began to blare. I

19:51

watched from behind the tent as Santiago was

19:53

tied to a spinning wheel and Nikolai delighted

19:55

in throwing knife after knife at him, sometimes

19:57

with his eyes closed, with his back turned.

20:00

And, for the finale, after Santiago had said

20:02

probably every joke he had ever thought up,

20:05

Nicolai pulled an enormous bowie knife from

20:07

his metal prosthetic leg and tossed it

20:09

right at Santiago's head. The knife

20:12

missed the clown's scalp by mere inches and

20:14

impaled his hat to the wheel. The

20:16

crowd roared with applause as Nicolai

20:18

turned to bow at all of

20:20

them, and Santiago waved excitedly from

20:22

his position strapped to the wheel.

20:26

The lights soon went out for a brief moment,

20:29

and Garibaldi appeared back in his position in the

20:31

middle of the tent. A

20:33

delightful showing! But now you'll

20:35

see that sometimes, to reach for the stars,

20:37

you simply have to... swing for

20:40

it. He's out of the smile

20:42

as he pointed up towards the ceiling of the tent. The

20:45

lights dimmed down and spotlights shone up to the

20:47

sky. Abigail was there already in the

20:49

middle of the tightrope. She was holding an

20:51

umbrella in one hand and a mini-table in the other

20:54

hand. I could tell from down here

20:56

how nervous she was. Suddenly

20:58

Jasper came swooping down from a swing and placed

21:00

a vaseful of water and flowers on Abigail's mini-table.

21:03

He let go of his swing and somersaulted through

21:05

the air. Ava next swooped in, hanging onto the

21:07

swing by her legs, and caught Jasper just as

21:09

he was beginning to fall towards the ground. Abigail

21:12

was in her own little world, doing her best

21:14

just to stay focused and complete her part of

21:16

the set. The acrobat circled

21:18

Abigail as she continued to make her

21:20

way over towards the other side. All

21:22

the while Jasper and Ava continued to

21:24

add more things onto the mini-table. By

21:27

the time Abigail reached the other side of the

21:29

tightrope, the table had a vase, several plates and

21:31

a toaster on top of it. The

21:34

crowd was eating it up, but I was panicking

21:36

when I realized that my turn was fast approaching.

21:40

"'Your turn, Benny,' Tony said

21:42

as he wrapped an arm around me from behind

21:44

and succeeded in getting a scared scream from me.

21:47

Don't worry too much, like I said. He'll

21:49

be doing most of the work." He

21:52

told me, with a smile and chuckle. He

21:54

walked past me and I followed after him. Finally,

21:56

I emerged from behind the tent flap, and as I did

21:58

so, I noticed that the music that was filling the tent,

22:01

had a source. Hidden off

22:03

to the side was a giant wagon, and

22:06

inside the wagon was a pile of flesh

22:08

and faces. My

22:11

heart stopped and I let out a muffled scream

22:13

as Tony quickly caught me from behind and covered

22:15

my mouth. Oh, I

22:18

almost forgot! Don't mind bandwagon! They

22:20

may look scary, but they're harmless. They enjoy

22:23

playing music more than anything, Tony

22:25

said. He

22:28

said it so nonchalantly. Under

22:30

any other circumstance, I would have easily believed

22:32

him, but as he walked off, I

22:36

couldn't tear my gaze away from

22:38

the creature. It

22:41

rised and jiggled in its wagon. Stray

22:44

hands played the accordion, some were

22:46

playing the keyboard, one of

22:48

the heads blew into a harmonica, and one

22:51

was blowing into a trumpet with the help

22:53

of a stray hand. And

22:57

for the finale tonight! The

22:59

newest addition to the freak show

23:01

are brand new animal tamer Benny!

23:05

Garibaldi shouted. I

23:08

was so scared by the horrible creature playing music,

23:10

I almost didn't hear my name being

23:12

called. Before the situation got too awkward, my shapeshifter friend

23:15

tapped me on the head with his beak to get

23:17

my attention. I walked into the spotlight, I

23:19

received a few scattered claps. I

23:23

could tell most people were probably looking forward to something

23:25

much more interesting than a

23:27

random twelve year old with a red-eyed

23:30

raven sitting on his head. The

23:32

silence was almost enough to make me start crying again. I could

23:37

feel a panic attack setting in as I

23:40

felt my breathing becoming harder and harder to do.

23:44

But before I could have a meltdown on the circus

23:46

floor, the raven fluttered off of my head and suddenly

23:48

shifted and morphed into a giant dog. That

23:51

got people's attention and they marveled at the sudden

23:53

appearance of such a large dog. The dog looked

23:55

back at me with the same deep red eyes

23:57

it always possessed, inflicted its head. He

24:00

was motioning for me to give it a command. Taking

24:03

a few deep breaths to regain my composure, I took

24:06

a few cautious steps toward the giant dog

24:08

and carefully placed my hand on its muzzle.

24:12

Please turn into a lion? I

24:14

asked him. He looked at

24:17

me and nodded, backing up, letting out

24:19

a roar as a full black mane

24:21

sprouted around its neck. The

24:23

crowd was caught off guard and shocked by the

24:25

display. I smiled a little and mustered up a

24:27

soft thank you to him. Can

24:29

you turn into a unicorn? I

24:31

asked him, thinking of the first mythical

24:33

creature that popped into my head. He

24:35

lowered his head for a moment before his body

24:38

slimmed down and began to grow taller. Soon

24:40

he'd taken the form of a slender horse and a

24:42

horn grew on his head. The stunt

24:45

got everyone's attention, and

24:47

they were shouting and cheering for me. It

24:49

was the first time in my life I felt that I had

24:51

done something special. I

24:54

carefully approached him and held his long face in my

24:56

hands. Can I write to you? I

24:59

asked him. He seemed to

25:01

think about this for a moment before getting down low enough

25:03

for me to clamor onto his back. Once

25:05

I was safely on, he began to trot around

25:07

the circle to the sound of uproarious applause and

25:09

cheers for the both of us. When

25:12

my part of the show was over, we all gathered in the middle

25:14

and we got a huge round of applause.

25:17

Everyone from the freak show crowded around me after we had

25:19

all taken a bow and the freak show was deemed to

25:21

be over. Santiago and

25:24

Abigail were the most upfront of

25:26

how happy and excited they were with my performance.

25:30

I would have done it better, but I

25:32

guess for the first time it was all right. Nikolai

25:34

shrugged as he played around with a

25:36

butterfly knife. The first sort

25:39

of compliment I'd gotten from him, so it made

25:41

me feel a lot better about staying with the freak show.

25:44

With the show over, we were allowed by Garibaldi to

25:46

return to our tent for the job well done. I

25:49

was on my way to my room when I heard a few voices from

25:52

the outside. Thinking it was

25:54

a few members of the troupe, I skipped going to my

25:56

room and headed outside into the darkness to see if I

25:58

could see the source of the voices. Following

26:00

the sound trail, I was greeted by

26:03

a group of drunk guys teasing the twins.

26:07

"'Oh, this is a kind of freak show I sign up

26:09

for!' one of them laughed as they tossed an

26:11

empty beer can at the twins. Alan

26:14

cowered away from them as they heckled and laughed

26:16

at him. Edgar, meanwhile, was stoic

26:18

and didn't bother to show them any reaction.

26:21

Before the drunks could do anything else to the twins, a

26:24

familiar voice interrupted their heckling. "'A

26:26

woman!' Garibaldi's overly excited voice

26:28

startled not only the men but me. "'If

26:31

it's something freaky you wish to see, you need only

26:33

follow me!' "'I'll show you

26:36

something truly freaky,' he said with

26:38

his characteristic snicker. The

26:41

drunk men muttered to themselves for a moment

26:43

before agreeing and following Garibaldi over to one

26:45

of the side tents. Keeping

26:49

the shadow so as to not be seen, I followed

26:52

after them. They

26:54

held them into the tent and closed the flap behind them.

26:57

I reached the tent and was greeted by a

26:59

giant funhouse. Lifting

27:02

the tent flap, I discovered that it was

27:04

pitch black inside. My

27:07

curiosity was big, but my fear

27:09

of total darkness was bigger, so

27:12

I quickly closed the flap and started my way back

27:14

to my tent, my room. As

27:17

I was walking away, I started hearing screams from

27:19

that funhouse. I

27:22

quickened my pace. The

27:25

next day there wasn't a single sign of the drunks, and

27:28

the freak show began to pack up and

27:30

load everything onto the train. I watched with

27:32

unease as Tony and Nikolai pulled the bandwagon

27:35

onto the train and its eerie dead faces

27:37

stared at me. I

27:40

was worried. I

27:43

was worried that some of those faces might have

27:47

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