"Vater! Vater! Look!" A young boy, with pearl white skin, called. He stared at a tent. It wasn't a usual white and red striped one, it was green, red, and white. It looked like Christmas.
"Gilbert, hold on." A man, with long blonde hair, sighed. He paid a man at a podium, and the two went inside. It was magic. There was a large crowd, and the tent was full of lights. It didn't look like a regular tent. It looked like an arena.
"Come on Gil, the show's about to start." The man said, smiling at his boy. Gilbert nodded hastily. His first circus. He'd been waiting for it until he was deemed old enough by his father. Gilbert and his father found a seat, and waited for the show. He'd seen comic strips from thrown out newspapers about circuses, where there were people who battled Lions with chairs, ballerinas on elephants, and a man with a long hat and cape pants leading the excitement. Gilbert could barely contain himself, he was so excited. As Gilbert was gonna ask, how much longer, the show began. It started out better than Gilbert could know. People created fire from their mouths, clowns were funny and painted strangely.
Then the lights became less bright, and soon the tent was darkness, with only one main light on the Ring Leader.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the moment you've all been waiting for!" The drums began to beat, and the lights started to shift throughout the crowd.
"THE VOLARE ITALIANI!" The crowd started cheering, and from the ceiling Gilbert saw people. He couldn't tell their ages from that high, but he knew one of them seemed pretty old. Gilbert starred as one, a woman, jumped from a long tower, before grabbing onto a swing. The woman began to do flips and tricks in the air. Then a man followed after her. The two swung onto one another, did flips with one another, and it was spectacular. Then the older man started. Gilbert was amazed at the tricks. It was like they were flying. A few moments later, something caught Gilbert's eye. Three figures stood at the top of the tower, a swing was given to them, and they were off. Children. Children were also flying.
"Vater! Look! There are children up there! They're flying!" Gilbert tugged on his father's shirt excitedly. The man looked at his son, a small smile on his face. Gilbert was amazed as the performers did tricks and jumps, and leaps, and everything in the air. "Vater I wanna fly…" Gilbert said amazed as he saw the "Volare Italiani" in the air. His father looked down on him, and gave a small smile. The two continued to watch, before the show finally ended, and the two went home.
10 years laters
Gilbert sat on his chair, bored beyond his wits. For the first time in a long time, he finally had a break from work. His little brother, Ludwig, was at school. Which left Gilbert all alone. Gilbert stared at the old clock that was just mocking him. Each time it clicked a second away, Gilbert sighed of boredom. As much as he liked having days off, he wasn't used to it. Especially if he's so busy all the time, and to finally have a day off, it's as though he has to do something, but can't. Gilbert sat up, and started to clean. If he couldn't work, he'll clean. He turned on the radio and started to work. First was the living room, which was easy enough since Ludwig and he never really made too much of a mess in there. Then the kitchen, which was a little more used, so dishes were piled in there. He started to wash them, and place them silently away in correct cupboards, singing to the songs that were playing nearby. Gilbert was about to head upstairs, when the radio spokesman caught interest.
"And don't forget! For the next month, and this month only, the famous Jones Circus will be coming! It's been years since we last saw them, but now, they've arrived back into our little town once again. Be sure to get some days off, and have fun with your family and friends!" Gilbert paused, before smiling. The Jones Circus. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. He couldn't wait to tell Ludwig! Gilbert abandoned his cleaning, and rushed out the door. He was gonna need some extra money to get tickets and pay for some games and food.
"Ms. Emma!" Gilbert called to his neighbor, a nice young woman, who was working in her yard.
"Oh! Bonjour Gilbert! May I help you?" She asked politely, a smile on her face.
"Can I work for ya? The circus is coming! So I wanna get some extra cash for Ludwig and I!" Gilbert asked, not so politely, but Emma didn't mind.
"Of course you can Gilbert-!"
"No he can't." Emma's brother, Ned, said, as he stood outside, leaning against the doorframe.
"Why can't he? We're good on money for the next few months. You checked. Five times."
"I just don't want to go wasting money on someone who's not gonna use it for important things." Ned shook his head.
"But this is important to me! I want Ludwig to go! He's never been to one!" Gilbert begged, his German accent getting thicker the more desperate he got.
"No. That's my answer. You can go work for someone else." Ned said, huffing one off his pipe, and went back inside.
"Sorry Gilbert. If it was up to me, I would, but, you know Ned." Emma apologize.
"Ja, Ja, I know… Well, I'll see ya later Emma! If Ludwig comes home early, can he garden with you?"
"Of course! Au revoir Gilbert!"
Gilbert dashed out of his yard, a little annoyed at Ned, but, he really couldn't blame him. After all, they were kinda stuck in the same boat Gilbert was. Being poor and all. It was still a marvel that Emma could grow such a beautiful garden in such a broken old neighborhood. She's lucky that everyone's friendly in these parts. They were always looking out for one another. He started off wondering if anyone in his neighborhood was gonna pay him to do some small labour, but, he couldn't think of anyone who would actually give him the money and not scam him, so he decided to do some work out of his home environment.
The American town of Cheshire wasn't anything special. It wasn't seen on any maps, nor was it regularly discussed. Everyone cared more about the larger cities, like Hollywood, or New York, no one cared about the small Cheshire, who can't even show up on the maps. It was regularly confused for the one down in Connecticut, but, nope, this was just another American town in an American state.
"Hey yah Mister! Got a job I can do for ya?" Gilbert would ask random men on the street, each replied with a no. This town knew Gilbert was hardworking, Gilbert thought, how could no one want to hire him for some simple work? Gilbert sat on a concrete step near a house, and sighed. This was hopeless.
"Are you the kid who's pestering every guy on this street?" A voice said above Gilbert. Gilbert looked up and saw a man, no, a kid. This guy didn't look any older than Gilbert.
"Ah, yeah?" Gilbert said, "What, is this your territory? Sorry, I didn't know this was owned by anyone." Gilbert said, the kid looked a bit shocked when Gilbert spoke. Guess he wasn't expecting a German.
"I have some work for ya, if you're willing." The kid said, smiling.
"Sure! What is it?" Gilbert got up happily. If the kid got a job and some money, Gilbert didn't really care.
"I'm supposed to get some clothes and stuff picked up, but, if you help me, then I can get it done early, and I can have some time to myself." The guy shrugged. Gilbert thought about it for a second, and didn't think it sounded too bad. Just some regular shopping.
"I can help!" Gilbert said happily. The guy smiled too.
"Cool! Okay, come on!" The guy started to run off. He was fast. Gilbert chased after him.
"What's your name anyhow kid?" The guy asked Gilbert. Gilbert frowned slightly at being called a kid by someone who didn't look any older than him.
"Gilbert." Gilbert said, between breaths. The guy smiled.
"Gilbert… That's a nice name. Mine's Alfred!" The guy laughed. The two ran through the town, hitting shops, and buying things. Gilbert didn't pay too much attention to what he was getting, since, he knew from experience that people did not like it when he payed attention to the objects being bought. Alfred then grabbed the stuff.
"Stay here. I'mma be right back! Gotta drop this stuff off! Need to keep it a secret, ya know?" Alfred said, smiling. Gilbert nodded. He hoped he wasn't scammed by this guy. He seemed okay. Gilbert sat down on a bench in the town square, right in front of a water fountain. He turned back and stared into the water, his reflection looking at him, with red piercing eyes. He didn't enjoy looking at himself. He didn't enjoy knowing that this was why people didn't trust him, not just because was German, but because he was supposedly a demon of satan. Heck, when he was younger, he thought he was a demon. Gilbert sighed. This world was full of demons, and he was definitely not one of them.
"Hey, I'm back! And I got us some pop!" Alfred called, walking towards the albino. Gilbert turned to him and smiled. He liked the guy. It was weird how Gilbert had never even heard of him in town. Might be a tourist. Alfred handed over a coca cola to Gilbert, and Gilbert took it without question.
"Are you from around here?" Gilbert asked, as the two started to drink. Alfred shook his head.
"Nah, I'm from Maryland." Alfred shrugged. "Though I have been moving, just not, permanently you know?" Gilbert nodded. He knew. Kinda. "Anyway, now I'm just exploring the states and meeting new people. Leaving them behind…" Alfred looked at the sky, a solemn look in his eyes, before reverting back to a Happier self and faced Gilbert. "What about you?" Alfred asked.
"What about me?" Gilbert asked. It was obvious he lived here.
"Like, do you live here? Or do you like, belong here?" Alfred asked.
"I live here. With mein bruder." Gilbert said, not really paying attention to the second question. Alfred looked up at that.
"You have a brother! Me too! His name's Mattie! He's my step-bro, but he's still awesome! You should see his-" Alfred stopped. He looked at Gilbert. "Why were you seeing if people would hire you for some work?" Alfred asked.
"To get money, duh." Gilbert said sarcastically.
"Yeah, but why. It's obviously for something important." Alfred said, taking a sip of cola.
"The circus." Gilbert sighed. "Mein bruder has never been to one, and I want him to see the wonders of it, like I did when I was a few years older than him." Gilbert said, lowering his head.
"What about your parents?" Alfred asked.
"Not here." Gilbert said, his voice became hardened. He didn't wanna stay stuck on this topic.
"Oh!" Alfred exclaimed, though it wasn't really for Gilbert's answer. "I still have to pay you!" Gilbert looked at him. Now was the pay. "You said circus, right?" Gilbert nodded. "Here. I've got a few spares." Alfred took out two tickets to the Jones Circus. Gilbert was in awe.
"You're giving me this?" Gilbert asked surprised.
"Well, yeah. You've earned it, right?" Alfred grinned. Gilbert took the tickets in haste.
"What about you? Aren't these yours?" Gilbert asked, still confused. Alfred gave a low chuckle.
"Trust me. You can have these two. I have more." Alfred said. Gilbert took the tickets, and felt amazed. He hadn't held one of these in a long time.
"Danke." Gilbert said, a large smile on his face. Alfred laughed.
"What are friends for?" Alfred jumped off the bench. "Yelp, I better start heading back, else my old man's gonna cuss me out. Again." Alfred waved goodbye, while Gilbert just stayed sitting, staring at the tickets. That kid… Gilbert stood up, and started running back to his house. He was so excited to tell Ludwig. Gilbert raced down his familiar road, the one he always took, before seeing the familiar broken down house.
"Bonjour Gilbert." Emma greeted him. She was still in the yard working on her garden.
"Hallo Emma!" Gilbert said happily.
"Did you get money?" Emma asked, rubbing her hands off on her dress.
"Nein! Even better!" Gilbert held out the two tickets Alfred had given him. Emma looked shocked.
"You didn't steal those, did you?" Emma asked, worried. Gilbert was a bit known to steal, but it was only for survival.
"What? Nein! This kid, he didn't look older than me, gave me a job, and gave me them as payment!" Gilbert said. Emma gave out a sigh of relief.
"I'm happy for you dear. Keep care of those, you don't want to go losing them, do you?" Emma said. Gilbert nodded. Emma was basically like everyone's mom. His neighborhood was full of immigrants that came from different countries. There was this Asian family down the road, and they were a large family. The eldest was only 19. Then there was this English girl who didn't leave her house at all, Gilbert mainly went to her for jobs, since she always had some. Though, nowadays, she says she found a guy, and they're marrying soon, along with leaving the States, and going back home to England. Two sisters from France moved there as well, leaving behind their life in France, to pursue something worthwhile. What that worthwhile meant, Gilbert didn't know, he was just happy that they found a home. There's more, but Gilbert never really pays that much attention to them. He only cares about the ones that actually talk to him. No one else does, since, well, he's German. Racist assholes. Acting as though they're countries weren't the bad guys once too.
"See ya Emma!" Gilbert waved goodbye, before entering his house. Gilbert jumped in the air gleefully. His awesome self was able to provide two tickets to the circus next week. His little brother was going to be so impressed. Gilbert placed the tickets in his tattered wallet, which was holeless, much to his overall delight. Gilbert laid on the couch. He thought he did great. He helped out Alfred, got tickets, didn't get into any trouble, surprisingly, and he actually did something worthwhile. Ludwig was gonna see the circus. Gilbert loved his brother, even though he was still learning English. It seemed funny, but, when Ludwig was younger, Gilbert and his father would mainly commune in German, so they don't lose their culture, and Ludwig seemed to pick it up. It made Gilbert a little guilty that his brother couldn't speak English as well as other people, but happy that he understood it. Gilbert feared that Ludwig was bullied in school, but, he never came home with stories like that. Not that he would actually tell Gilbert. There was a lot of things that Ludwig had never told Gilbert, but, Gilbert thought that he wouldn't push for information. It wasn't good at times. Gilbert continued to ponder, when the door opened.
"Heya Kiddo!" Gilbert greeted, sitting up. Ludwig stood at the door, his stern face lifted with a smile.
"Hallo Bruder." Ludwig simply said, placing his backpack on the ground near the door. "How was your day?" He asked slowly.
"Today has been awesome! Just like myself!" Gilbert chuckled. Ludwig smiled, but rolled his eyes.
"Why?" Ludwig asked.
"Because, I got us tickets." Gilbert chuckled.
"Tickets…? What are…?" Ludwig started to ask, before Gilbert kindly interrupted him.
"Fahrkarte." Ludwig's eyes widened.
"What are they for?" He asked, interested.
"Der zirkus!" Gilbert said, grabbing his brother, and spin him around. Ludwig laughed, before he was set down, and started to smile.
"We're going to the zirkus?" He asked. Gilbert nodded.
"I was able to get us tickets. I the awesome Gilbert, and your awesome big Bruder, has gotten us entrance into the circus for one day!" Gilbert laughed. Ludwig laughed, a wide smile on his face.
"I can't wait to tell mein friends!" He smiled. Gilbert stopped laughing, and looked at his brother.
"You have friends!" He asked, shocked. Ludwig looked at him annoyed.
"Ja I have friends!" Ludwig said in German. "I just don't talk about them is all." Ludwig huffed. Gilbert nodded.
"I see… I see." Gilbert said, also in German. The two conversed for awhile, excited about the events to come. Ludwig then stared into the distance for a second, his smile, turning into his regular frown.
"Bruder, what about work?" He asked sadly. Gilbert continued to smile.
"I haven't used any vacation days bruder. Besides, you know that my boss will let me. That Vargas guy is pretty cool. Angry, ja, but he's a pretty chill guy." Gilbert chuckled. Vargas was what everyone at the restaurant called the boss. Vargas was a regular person. He wasn't anything out of the blue. Except for a curl on the left side of his head. These newbies had tried to grab it, and ended up getting fired. It was quite a show. Vargas was pissed. Gilbert and his "veterans" in the art of work still laugh about it, and warn the next generations that if they try to pull the curl, they're gonna get fired. It's felt like an urban legend. Except real.
"Do you promise?" Ludwig asked quietly. Gilbert looked at his younger brother. His younger brother who only wants to live a normal life. His younger brother who deserves to have a normal life.
"Ja. I promise." Gilbert smiled. Ludwig looked at him instantly.
"Pinky swear?" Ludwig seemed to request, holding out his pinky finger to Gilbert. Gilbert chuckled at it, before he raised his own, and the two interlocked.
"Pinky swear." Gilbert promised, once again. Ludwig, now reassured, smiled, releasing his pinky, and went up to his room. Gilbert sat on the couch. He loved his brother. He was just ten, but still was really smart. Gilbert was gonna make sure that his little brother was going to get into college. He was prepared to go through hell if it mean that Ludwig was going to live a better life than Gilbert's.
"Little squirt…" Gilbert chuckled to himself. He started to then go into the kitchen, and started to prepare dinner. It wasn't going to be anything large, it never was. But, hey, at least it's food.
"Hey! Ludwig! Abendessen!" Gilbert called, setting down the food onto a small circular table that was wobbly. The small pitter patter of footsteps belonging to Ludwig racing down the stairs filled the house. Gilbert didn't know why, but, Ludwig always said that his favourite time of the day was dinner. Gilbert laughed and had asked "Because of the food?", Ludwig only stared at him, saying nothing.
"Finally! I was hungry!" Ludwig announced.
"Ey! Prayers first! Then food!" Gilbert said, almost whacking the boy's hand with a wooden spoon. Ludwig nodded, setting his head down, and his hands clapped together. Gilbert did the same.
"Oh the dearly Lord above, we thank you for allowing us to survive yet another day, and for blessing us with these fine tickets for the circus. We thank you for the food, and the ability to sit with one another, without separation. Amen." Gilbert prayed aloud.
"Amen." Ludwig copied, and finally dinner began.
"How are your classes going?" Gilbert asked, trying to end the silence that never seemed to stay there long.
"Their going good! I don't like science though, it's really hard to understand." Ludwig scowled. Gilbert laughed.
"Science isn't my thing either. Even though I'm so awesome! Science isn't that awesome." Gilbert boasted. Ludwig rolled his eyes with a smile.
"Oh! But Anneliese is helping me with it. Along with Amili. Though, I don't really like Amili to be honest. She messes things up, and she tends to screw around." Ludwig said without a thought.
"Better not be telling her that, them girls are wild and fragile creatures, trust me." Gilbert said, taking a bite of bread. "I've been through many girls, and the moment you say something to upset them-" He snapped "-Gone! With the wind!"
"That's only you bruder. Besides, Amili isn't interested in me. She's interested in someone else." Ludwig said.
"Ah, your poor crushing heart!" Gilbert gasped. Ludwig turned red.
"It's not like that bruder! Jeez…" Ludwig looked away, eating his food without looking at his brother, who only laughed.
"No need to be a beet, kleiner bruder." Gilbert chuckled, reaching over the table to ruffle Ludwig's hair. Ludwig still looked a bit red.
"You're a arschloch." Ludwig grumbled. Gilbert looked at him amused.
"Did you just cuss at me? You know what I've said about cussing, ja?" Gilbert asked. Ludwig looked up quickly, nodding quite fast. "Well, too late now!" Gilbert said, standing up.
"Nein! Gilbert! Nein! No! Stop!" Ludwig started saying, removing himself from the table. Gilbert looked even more amused. "Not again!" Ludwig tried to get away, but ended up on a wall.
"Here comes the kitzeln monster!" Gilbert launched himself onto his younger brother, tickling him.
"Nein!" Ludwig yelled, laughing. "I'm too old for this!" He said in between laughs.
"No one is too old for this! Besides, you're still not old enough to cuss!" Gilbert laughed. The two continued having fun, before finally, Gilbert tuckered out.
"You really are an arschloch." Ludwig huffed, glaring at Gilbert amused.
"Ja, ja, call me the bad guy." Gilbert smirked, ruffling Ludwig's hair. Ludwig gave a smirk to his elder sibling.
"Can we just go back and eat?" He asked exasperated. Gilbert nodded, standing up, and lifting Ludwig up.
"Come on stinker." Gilbert chuckled. Today was a good day. Gilbert met this cool guy that paid him in tickets, Gilbert was able to complete his goal, Ludwig had a great day at school, the only thing that could end all this light would be the next day. Gilbert was gonna see if Vargas would let him take a day or two off to go to the circus. Gilbert prayed that Vargas said yes. He didn't want to disappoint his little brother.
A/N - I would like to state that I am not a christian, or in any relgion that does prayers. I hope that I did the Praying-Before-Eating correctly, but if not, then please, correct me. Also, I'm not German, any words used are just words that I had already knew from either friends or from common knowledge. Thank you for reading and I hope that you'll continue to do so! I've already got the next chapter ready, but I'll be posting it Next Week. I'll try to upload on Fridays, but they might leak into Saturdays. Possibly Sundays. Hope you enjoyed!