The weekend had just begun, and it was going to be an exciting one in Ariel & Eric's kingdom. A traveling circus had been invited by Grimsby to visit the kingdom and put on a few shows. The whole town was excited and looking forward to the great event. They had helped set up the tents, admission tickets, snacks.. Pretty much anything they could. Now, on opening night, not one person was staying home. According to Eric, the kingdom had never had a circus come to perform.
As the setting sun peeked out from over the ocean, Ariel stood on the balcony that connected with their bedroom, watching the masses of people walking in to the large circus tent as a man on stilts collected their tickets. After observing the event for a few minutes, the redhead decided that she, too, would go see the performance of the evening. She turned from the balcony to head back into her room, readying herself for the night.
Dumbo was flying over the audience. This was a normal day for him, but he was still very excited to perform. There would be another show later today, because the circus would stay for a little longer than usual. After his performance, he walked to his train car to ready himself for the next show in a few hours. He usually preferred to earlier shows, but for some reason, he felt like the later showing might be better today.
Ariel walked over the warm sand towards the circus tent, feeling the tiny grains seep between her sandals. Reaching the entrance, she greeted the ringmaster, who strangely recognized her as the princess, though he was a stranger. When she asked him about it, he heartily replied, "I heard that you had hair as red as a fire engine, Miss!"
Ariel politely thanked him, noticing out of the corner of her eye the silhouette of something behind one of the tents. Curiously, she excused herself and walked towards it, wondering what small creature was behind the red and white pinstripes.
Dumbo had moved over to one of the empty tents after sitting in the train for a while. No one that saw him though it was strange because all of the animals walked around the circus from time to time. As he was laying down, he noticed someone coming toward the tent. He saw the shadow of the person on the tent wall. It didn't look like any of the people that worked at the circus.
Now who could that be? he wondered.
Coming close to the tent, Ariel paused, deciding whether she should just leave whatever it was alone, or go under the tent and see what was going on. She thought for a minute, then decided on the latter, lifting the surprisingly heavy drape and bending under it.
She stood up and dropped the tent back down, glancing down to see a baby elephant peering up at her.
Dumbo was staring at the lady who had just appeared at the bottom of the tent. He couldn't see her very well. She looked friendly though, so Dumbo decided to say, "Hi, I'm Dumbo! Who are you?"
When the little elephant spoke to her, Ariel was a bit surprised, but not much. She knew animals could speak, as her best friend for 16 years was a fish, but she'd only really talked to underwater animals. Land animals, which were much bigger, still astonished her.
"Hi there," she said gently, kneeling down carefully next to the elephant. She brushed her hair behind her ear and replied, "I'm Ariel. It's nice to meet you, Dumbo. Are you part of the circus?" She smiled, unable to ignore how precious he was.
Dumbo nodded. "Yeah, I'm part of the circus. I'm just resting until the next show." He informed her. Now that he could see her better, he took some mental notes about her appearance. Ariel had red hair, not the orange color most people call red, her hair was red. Her face was pretty, and she looked very friendly. Dumbo hoped he would soon be friends with her.
Ariel glanced up at the large clock she spotted across the tent. 7:48. From what she remembered, the next show began at 8. Biting her lip, Ariel wondered if she should leave the little elephant alone. She would hate it if she ruined his performance. So after a few moments, she asked softly, "Um.. Should I leave you then? I don't want to distract you or.. Or something." She grabbed her hair, twirling it through her fingers.
"Oh, you don't have to leave," Dumbo answered, "Unless you want to sit in your seat early for the show."
Knowing she wouldn't have to find a seat since, well, since she was the princess, Ariel shook her head. "That's alright," she smiled. "I can stay until you have to go get ready."
The former mermaid looked around the large tent, seeing all the different acts practicing. No one else seemed to have notice her, luckily. She wasn't sure she was allowed back here, even if Dumbo said it was okay. But as she looked around, she couldn't help to grow more curious about the circle as a whole. "So, Dumbo.." she said, still watching everything else around her, "What do you do?"
"Well," Dumbo said, "I flap my ears like this," he continued, flapping his ears, and now rising of the floor, "And I fly over the crowd and do tricks and stuff!" He concluded, with a huge smile on his face.
Ariel giggled and gasped in surprise at seeing the little elephant's trick. "Wow!" she exclaimed, standing up to watch Dumbo fly around. Still laughing, she said, "I didn't know elephants could fly!"
Dumbo smiled as he heard this compliment. "Well, I don't think most elephant can fly. But I can!"
"Really!?" she exclaimed up to him, watching Dumbo fly around in circles. "You must be really special!" She laughed at the little elephant's antics, finding the act completely astounding.
Suddenly, the redhead heard what sounded like a megaphone. "Five minutes everybody! FIVE MINUTES! Places, everyone, PLACES!"
"Aww…" The elephant replied as the announcement came on. He wanted to talk to Ariel some more. But, performing would be fun, so he wasn't entirely upset. "Hey, can you meet me back here after the show? I have to perform now, and you should probably find your seat."
Ariel nodded excitedly in agreement, becoming eager to go see the show. "Ok! I will! Good luck, Dumbo!?" she waved up at him before ducking back under the tent, heading towards the entrance.
"Your Majesty!" an usher exclaimed. "Perfect timing! Let me show you to the royal box." He led Ariel towards a special, closed-off seating area for Ariel to sit in. After thanking him, Ariel leaned back into the surprisingly comfortable seat, folding her arms over her belly as she exhaled. She looked around at all the colors and lights of the circus, waiting for it to start, just like the other almost 300 people in the stands.
As Ariel walked toward her seat, Dumbo was sure her heard someone call her 'You're Majesty'. He thought that was weird. Why would they call her that? He couldn't think about for long though, because he had the perform. He stood where he was supposed to, and flew above the audience when he was cued. The show lasted too long, though, and he really wanted to see Ariel again. She seemed like a nice new friend.
When the show was finally over, he looked around to try to find Ariel again. He looked in the stands where most of the audience was, but couldn't find her. Where is she? he thought, she didn't leave yet, did she?
In a few moments, the tent darkened as a booming voice declared the circus was about to begin. Ariel leaned forward in her seat, eager to see the well-acclaimed show. She enjoyed every part of it, from the larger elephants doing their own tricks to the performers who could incredibly walk across a rope that was hardly the size of a piece of seaweed. Her favorite part, however, was seeing Dumbo fly over the crowds, flapping his ears as the audience cooed and cheered for the baby elephant.
When the performance ended, Ariel was glad she had decided to come, though she wished that the rest of her family could've been there, too. She left the special seating area and headed for the exit, the guards forcing the crowd to move out of the way for the expectant princess.
After finally getting outside, Ariel paused to take a deep breath of the fresh, salty sea air. Glancing around her quickly, she then hurried back to the tent where she had met Dumbo. Peeking underneath it, she saw many of the tired performers cleaning up and putting away their props, including Dumbo. The redhead entered the tent again, a growing smile on her lips. "Dumbo, that was amazing!" she said enthusiastically.
Dumbo was packing away the props and equipment with his trunk, when he noticed Someone enter the tent. He quickly realized that she was Ariel, and a smile grew on his face. "Thank you!" He responded.
Ariel nodded, then went to help the little elephant put away his things. "So, where are you off to next? Do you get to go home at all?" Though Dumbo seemed to be doing this for probably most of his short life, Ariel knew that he couldn't be completely independent. "Do you have a family back home?"
"Well, I'm not really sure where the next performance is," Dumbo answered, "but it should be fun just to perform." Ariel's next question puzzled the little elephant, but he answered, "Well, I live with the circus," Then he pointed to one of the other elephants that were packing things up as well, and said, "That's my mom right there."
"Oh!" Ariel exclaimed, looking over to the adult elephants. Dumbo must've been born into his circus career. "It must be so exciting to be able to do something you love, all the time, in lots of different places," she smiled.
A yawn escaped the pregnant princess, and she looked out to realize that it was getting late. It shouldn't have surprised her, since the show had started at dusk. "Well, Dumbo, I think I'd better get going. I'm sure you need your sleep as much as I do," she chuckled.
Dumbo yawned as well. He didn't want Ariel to leave though. "I guess you're right, i am a little tired. But can you come back tomorrow? Please!" Dumbo asked, hoping she would agree.
Ariel nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, of course! I was planning on bringing Melody, my daughter, to tomorrow's show. I'm sure you would love her! I promise, we'll be here." She carefully bent down to embrace the little elephant, then straightened up and folded her arms over her belly. "Goodbye, Dumbo," she waved, making her way back to the edge of the tent. "I'll see you tomorrow!" With that, the pregnant princess left the circus tent and headed back to the castle, looking forward to bringing Melody to the circus by the beach.