The circus and its monkeys
The pounding in my head was not being helped by the calliope that seemed to be playing just outside my bedroom. Calliope? That didn’t seem right, but there it was playing loudly and proudly as the screams of children erupted and a big cat roared. Big cat? I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. I must still be dreaming. I didn’t live anywhere near any place that should house large cats.
My vision was still blurry from last night, and fragments of memory hid just far enough away for me to reach but not grasp. What happened last night? The smell of freshly popped corn was competing with cotton candy for olfactory recognition.
I rolled over and fell off the bed. It wasn’t my bed. It was too narrow. Landing with a thud, I shook the whole room. Where was I? My sight came into focus. Dust reflected in a light beam streaming through a window. It looked a lot like cigar smoke… Last night flashed through my brain…
I stood up and realized that I was in a trailer. None of the items appeared to be mine, but no one else was there. I stumbled toward the door and opened it to the glare of the sun at midday. As my eyes grew accustomed to the light, I saw several other trailers, a couple of cages with exotic animals and a tent looming in the background. The carnival? Was there a poker game last night?
I walked down the stairs, through the trailers, past the tiger and onto a path where people were looking at the strongest man in the world, the bearded lady and the Great Sardino, who apparently could lie on a bed of nails.
The children shrieked again. “What are they throwing, mama?!?” There was a large group of people standing in front of cage. I moved closer to see monkeys throwing something at the onlookers.
“I’m going to sue!” shouted one man who had been hit by a brown clump. “This is disgusting. I didn’t come here to be assaulted by some damn dirty apes!” I was sure he was quoting from somewhere; besides those weren’t apes. They were monkeys. And this was a circus. That’s when I realized that I had won the whole thing in a card game last night. The other guy probably cheated.
My vision was still blurry from last night, and fragments of memory hid just far enough away for me to reach but not grasp. What happened last night? The smell of freshly popped corn was competing with cotton candy for olfactory recognition.
I rolled over and fell off the bed. It wasn’t my bed. It was too narrow. Landing with a thud, I shook the whole room. Where was I? My sight came into focus. Dust reflected in a light beam streaming through a window. It looked a lot like cigar smoke… Last night flashed through my brain…
I stood up and realized that I was in a trailer. None of the items appeared to be mine, but no one else was there. I stumbled toward the door and opened it to the glare of the sun at midday. As my eyes grew accustomed to the light, I saw several other trailers, a couple of cages with exotic animals and a tent looming in the background. The carnival? Was there a poker game last night?
I walked down the stairs, through the trailers, past the tiger and onto a path where people were looking at the strongest man in the world, the bearded lady and the Great Sardino, who apparently could lie on a bed of nails.
The children shrieked again. “What are they throwing, mama?!?” There was a large group of people standing in front of cage. I moved closer to see monkeys throwing something at the onlookers.
“I’m going to sue!” shouted one man who had been hit by a brown clump. “This is disgusting. I didn’t come here to be assaulted by some damn dirty apes!” I was sure he was quoting from somewhere; besides those weren’t apes. They were monkeys. And this was a circus. That’s when I realized that I had won the whole thing in a card game last night. The other guy probably cheated.