1
Circus
by Anoop Anthony
Manoj drove down the western interstate highway in silence, lost in thought. The circus was on the outskirts of town, nearly an hour’s drive from home. From the passenger seat, Shilpa glanced at him occasionally, her lips pursed. In the back seat, Arun was talking non-stop with the unbridled enthusiasm of a six-year-old about the circus. He’d seen a flyer at his school two weeks ago (“special discount for school children"), and a few of his classmates had gone; it was all he had been able to talk about for the last two weeks.
They arrived at the venue nearly two hours later; the traffic in the last stretch of road leading up to the circus had been crazy. Manoj pulled into a vast parking ground where what looked like hundreds of cars were spilling out families . Ahead, bounded by a fence painted with grinning cartoon animals, was the circus — colorful tents, bright lights, a ferris wheel towering over everything. They could hear a cacophony of sounds — carousel music, crowds, the electronic blips and bloops of fair games.
“Wow," Arun yelled. He could barely stand still.
Shilpa smiled at Arun's excitement, but Manoj felt only dull dread as he stepped out of the car.
"Are you ok?" Shilpa asked him. Manoj nodded.
They bought tickets at a booth and entered the circus grounds through a high cutout gateway festooned with more cartoon animals. The words "The Great All India Circus" was painted on a board high above them and outlined with dancing LEDs.
They walked down lanes made of brilliant green Astroturf past various attractions: a group of masked men on stilts who towered over them, and a trio of fire dancers with oiled muscular bodies and flaming torches. They stopped briefly at various carnival games that involved shooting balls at balloons, tossing hoops, and controlling robotic arms to pick up stuffed toys. They saw a woman with snakes hanging off her neck and her arms, and a man juggling with bottles and knives. Another man was performing card tricks with a troop of monkeys. Arun was wide-eyed as he tried to take it all in.
They stopped finally to get popcorn at a little yellow snack cart. Manoj was digging into his back pocket for his wallet when he heard Arun say, "Look, a clown!"
