"Wow, the circus!" Vince was beaming.
"Cheers Howard, you're a diamond. This is gonna be genius." To be honest Howard didn't want to go to the circus, but it was Vince's birthday and he'd been hinting at it since the beginning of the year. They lined up in the queue waiting to get through the door.
"I can't believe you actually brought me to the circus."
"I didn't really have a choice did I Vince, 'Gee Howard, I'd love to go to the circus for my birthday.' It wasn't exactly subtle sir." Vince giggled. He knew he'd, well basically demanded to go to the circus, but he didn't think Howard would actually take him.
"Happy birthday Vince." Howard smiled. He handed the tickets to the guy at the door and Vince dragged him to some seats in the very front. Howard sighed and sat next to his friend.
"Cotton candy, get your cotton candy here!" A man called.
"Oooh, Howard please!" Vince widened his eyes and pouted, making it very hard for Howard to say no. He bought Vince a bag of pink cotton candy.
"Aw, I wanted it on a stick." Vince pouted again and Howard sighed. He called the cotton candy guy back over.
"Sorry, could I have one on a stick." The guy looked at Howard and then Vince. He smiled and winked at Vince, handing him the cotton candy on a stick. Howard handed him back the bag but he refused to take it.
"Nah, that's on the house." He winked at Vince again before turning and calling out "Cotton candy, get your cotton candy here." Then the tent went dark. There was a singular white light shining down on the centre of the ring. Standing in that light was a tall man with a deep voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls" He cried, voice booming through the giant circus tent.
"Tonight you will be mind blown by the funniest clowns, most daring trapeze artists, acrobats, animals and an array of many more amazing things that you will never see again in your life. Unless you come back tomorrow." The ring master chuckled and the whole room went crazy.
"And now, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the clowns of the Feather Hat Circus!" With that the room went wild. Whistling and clapping as though their lives depended on it. As the clowns ran out Howard was sure he recognised one of them.
"Vince doesn't that look like…" He looked at Vince and realised it was hopeless trying to get his attention till the end of the show. Vince was dazzled by the colourful lights, loud music and funny face paint. It was like being at a night club. The clowns were tumbling, tripping, spraying each other with water and doing various other acrobatic tricks. Vince was laughing and clapping. Howard was looking at Vince. Maybe it was worth it to see Vince so happy. Howard shrugged off his feeling of familiarity towards this clown and tried to enjoy the show.
"Now, we're going to need a volunteer from the audience to help us with our magic trick." Every single child in the room jumped up shouting "me, me, me!" Every single child… plus Vince. The spotlight spun around the room, like an eagle searching for its prey. Finally it stopped. Everyone turned their heads to face the sparkling person under the spotlight. Vince beamed and walked down to the middle of the floor.
"We're going to do a disappearing act." The audience cheered. Vince just stood in the ring smiling up at Howard.