My original idea was to publish the story as a whole, but I decided against it; so here's chapter one. Enjoy!
"Look dad, a circus!" Hunter yelped excitedly.
"A circus? Where?" Larry asked and looked around in confusion after lowering his newspaper.
"There!" Hunter said as he poked the newspaper Larry held in his hand.
Larry turned the newspaper around and indeed, there was an article about a circus that had arrived to the town on the night before.
"Mum, dad, I'm going out, will probably be late, don't wait up!" Sierra announced as she emerged from her room.
"Wait a minute, young lady," Kate stopped her, "Have you cleaned your room?"
"Yeah, yeah, just like you told me to," Sierra quickly replied, "So, um, see ya!"
Sierra had just opened the front door when her mother's sharp voice stopped her: "Sierra!"
"Okay, I didn't clean it, yet," Sierra confessed.
"But I'll clean it up when I get back, okay?" she pleaded.
"No, you'll clean it up before you go," Kate said firmly.
"But mum!" protested Sierra, "All my friends are waiting for me!"
"Well they can wait a little more, can't they?" Kate replied.
"You go and clean up your room now, or you're not going anywhere".
"But mum…! Can't I please do it later? I promise I'll do it!" Sierra begged.
"You promised that already last week, and nothing happened," Kate remarked.
"So you'll clean it now, period".
"But…"
"Now, Sierra".
Sierra let out a frustrated sigh before angrily marching back to her room.
"She is impossible sometimes," Kate sighed, shaking her head.
"She's a teen, Kate. They're all impossible," Larry remarked from the chair he was sitting on.
-:-:-:-
"Larry, have you heard of Sierra?"
"No," Larry replied to his wife, keeping his gaze focused on the TV as he surfed through the channels.
"Why?"
"She's been awfully quiet in her room. And she's been there for hours!" Kate explained, "Maybe we should check on her?"
"Yeah, you go ahead," Larry waved his paw absent-mindedly and turned his attention back to the TV.
Kate sighed deeply and shook her head before heading to Sierra's room. She knocked on her door.
"Sierra?" she called, and after receiving no reply she knocked again.
"Sierra?"
Kate put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door, which to her surprise was not locked. She was greeted by the room in the exact condition she had last seen it, except for one thing; the curtains fluttered slightly in the draft flowing in from the open window.