Note: Let's get to it.

It was silly, really, how the whole thing began. To be perfectly honest, it was the same typical way of how any strange, life-changing incidents begin in the first place. It's common knowledge so let's move past the semantics of the probability theoretical system.

"You have to take us."

"Take you where?"

"To the Cirque Freak show thing!"

A green flyer was thrust into Erin's hands. Erin looked it over. The creepy font spelled out it was a once-in-a-lifetime show starring a list of freaks with easy enough information to deduce what each freak's act would involve: bearded lady, guy with two stomachs, some rib guy, guy with a performing spider, a snake boy, contortionists, etc. Erin peered closer. A wolf-man? Really?

Erin glanced up frowning at the eager face of her younger sister.

"Where did you get this?"

"Ellie and I biked to the coffee shop to make sure our study group was prepared for our research presentation on Monday and when we left there was this guy handing out flyers and he gave us one. Ellie and I-"

"What guy? You took a flyer from some strange man at the coffee shop? What'd he look like? I really do not like how that sounds, Brigid." Erin said sternly monotone.

"Oh my gosh, it was fine! We grabbed our bikes and he was standing there on the side of the building. He did a bow and handed us a flyer and that was it! I figured you would've had a flash about it."

Erin shook her head. No flashes or blips had appeared on her psychic radar. "He bowed to you guys? What did he look like, Brigid. Strange men in the shadows who bow to girls and hand them a flyer is very much a red flag to me."

"Oh come off it, will you? I don't know really what he looked like since he was standing on the shadowed side of the coffee shop and it was almost dusk, hence why Ellie and I were leaving in the first place. Please note I made my curfew by the way." Brigid shot out. "And so we didn't see his face. I think he smiled when he handed us the flyer and was like, in old time-y clothes or something, I don't remember because I had to hurry to make my curfew." Brigid widened her eyes, sarcastically slowing her speech as if her older sister was hard-of-hearing.

Erin sighed and spread the flyer out on the kitchen island reading it over again.

"What do Ellie's parents have to say about it?" Erin knew that would trip her up. But it was actually she who ended up tripped.

Brigid looked smug. "Ellie's parents say it's okay as long as you take us."

"Oh really? And when did they say that? After she told them about taking a flyer from some strange man in the dark?"

Brigid's smug face mocked Erin as she reached for her cellphone and pulled up her text messages. She scrolled and pulled up Ellie's: "my 'rents say its cool as long as ur sister takes us"

"See? Told you." Brigid waved her phone in the air. Erin snatched it quick from her hand and pressed dial on Ellie's phone number. It rang a couple of times before Ellie answered.

"Good news, bad news?! Please good news!" Ellie yelled.

"Hey Ellie, it's Erin. Would you mind letting me speak to your parents right quick?"

The line was silent except for the sound of rustling and thuds. "Uh, yeah, yeah, totally. Here, I'll go find them, just one second." The phone was muffled with the sound of a distant t.v. on.

Brigid looked absolutely horrified and beyond pissed.

"Here's my mom."

The phone's speaker was muffled. "It's Erin she wants to ask you something" Erin heard Ellie say as she handed the phone over to her mother. "Hello? Erin, how are you?"

"I'm fine Mrs. Green, how are you? I just have a small question about the freak show the girls want to go to and I wanted to make sure Ellie had your consent before I agreed to take them."

"Oh yeah," Mrs. Green replied nonchalantly. "I think it'd be a good experience. They're rare and it's harmless fun. It's better than letting them wander the streets." Ellie's mom laughed. "I said she could go with Brigid as long as they had supervision."

Erin nodded. "That sounds good to me then. Thank you for letting me know for sure. Brigid and I will be there to pick Ellie up tomorrow evening. Ellie can just spend the night, too, since it'll be late, if that's all right with you."

"That sounds perfect. Talk to you later then."

"Yes. Good-bye."

Erin ended the call and handed Brigid her phone smiling. The fury that had been stewing behind Brigid's eyes was completely gone allowing disbelief to show through. Erin looked down at the flyer.

"So it's tomorrow night starting roughly around midnight. Hmm. Well, how about we pick Ellie up around 7:00, drop her stuff off here, go out to eat at that Italian place, and show up at the address between 11:00-11:30. Does that sound good?" Erin looked up smiling, eyebrows raised, waiting for the itinerary to be approved.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Brigid jumped onto the kitchen counter with her hands over her mouth. "Yes! Yes, that's perfect. Oh my God, I can't believe this! You are the best big-" Brigid's phone started dinging with text message after text message. Brigid immediately became distracted leaping off the counter racing to her room. Though her compliment was left unifinished Erin still smiled at it. She didn't mean to be so overbearing at times but being almost 30 years-old she knew a thing or two because she'd seen a thing or two and navigating her sister who was going to graduate high school in a year was strenuous at times because she didn't want Brigid to make the same mistakes she had made. But that could be said for all parents or legal guardians. You put parts of your own life on hold when you are caring for a person whose life depends entirely on you and you make sacrifices without a second thought.

Looking at the clock on the microwave she stuck a magnet over the flyer onto the refrigerator and pulled out leftovers to warm up in the microwave. Erin knew Brigid would resurface downstairs when she smelled the food and would scurry back up to her room with what she wanted. She was much too preoccupied to follow their usual dinner routine so Erin turned on the television in the living room which was opened to the kitchen and plopped down onto the couch. When Erin started dozing off she made ready to get to bed. Most of the leftovers had been eaten and the dirty dishes were most likely on Brigid's desk. Erin would let it slide. She was so tired. It had been a long week and tomorrow's Saturday was a welcoming thought.

Kitchen counters wiped down, dishes in dishwasher, Erin flipped off the light and headed upstairs to her bedroom. Brigid's light was still on and she heard her talking to Ellie on videochat. Brigid would be up all night and then sleep until 1:00 P.M. the next morning. Erin literally could not remember how she had done that at Brigid's age.

Erin turned on the lamp on her bedstand and started removing her hospital scrubs tossing them into her dirty clothes basket. It was full from a week's worth of scrubs. Working at a hospital having to wear scrubs was both a blessing and sort of curse: you always knew what you were going to wear but you also always knew what you were going to wear so why bother buying real clothes? She had real clothes just nothing new. She was a bit too pragmatic for her own good at times. Brigid had promised her at least that she would make sure Erin never looked like a "frumpy middle-aged soccer mom." She walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to wash her hands, face, and teeth. She would shower in the morning so she could blow-dry her hair and style it rather than it going up into a typical ponytail. Erin looked at herself in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. Auburn hair waved a bit past her shoulders, dark brown eyes, "tootsie roll eyes" her Grandmother used to say, and standard overly sensitive fair skin. She spit and rinsed her mouth with Listerine. Round, large-handful breasts filled her bra, irritatingly high-waisted meant her weight settled around her hips, then melted down to her pert butt (Erin was actually quite pleased with her derriere), finally long defined legs. She was a full-gown, matured woman who would never look like the thin bean-pole that was her sister. Although Brigid secretly envied her older sister's lush breasts and butt and Erin secretly envied that Brigid looked like a young, nubile supermodel: a thick haired strawberry blonde with light brown-hazel eyes young, nubile supermodel.

Erin gargled once more, scrubbed her make-up off, tossed her bra to the floor, and throwing on a cool, light cotton t-shirt nightgown she crawled into her large soft bed, switched her lamp off, and immediately fell into a slumber.