Monster,
How should I feel?
Creatures lie here,
Looking though the window.
The teenager flicked up one of her quarters in the air with her thumb as she strolled through the carnival grounds. Her other fist was shoved in the pocket of her jeans, and she had a competitive look in her eyes. Her smaller, younger sister followed behind her, pretending to balance on a tightrope, and glancing over at almost every game they had passed. "You're really good at Balloon Pop, you know," her sister commented in her dainty voice. Her bigger sister only shrugged and jammed the coin she was tossing to herself in her other pocket. "Meh, I'm alright, I guess."
The smaller one galloped up to her side. "But you popped four balloons in a row! You've got to be the best thrower in Paris, Anaïs!"
Anaïs stopped in her tracks and looked down at her with a half-smile popping on her face. "What can I say? I gotta good aim. So, which game should I win next?" she asked, looking to her side in search for another carnival attraction. "Hey, how about we go to the Haunted Lab? I love that place!" But her younger sister shook her head rapidly. "No, no, not there," she answered frantically. Anaïs sneered down at her and scoffed. "C'mon, Louise, don't be such a sissy."
"I am not," she shot back. "It's just too dark in there. I might run into something or fall."
She rolled her eyes. "Pssh, whatever."
"H-How about another game instead?" Louise suggested, scanning the fields of snack stands, games, and other people walking around. "Like... Ooh! How about that one?" She pointed at a lone game stand with a carnie standing beside it. Anaïs turned to where her little sister was pointing and immediately noticed the large bulls-eye on it first. Above it on a wooden sign read, "Dunk The Bird Boy".
"'Dunk The Bird Boy', huh?" Anaïs trailed her eyes down the target and saw a little boy sitting on the platform, with his head down, waiting to be dropped in the water. She flipped her ponytail onto her shoulder and said, "Alright, fine. I wanna practice my throwing, anyway."
Bird Boy patiently kicked his dangling feet in the air below the platform he sat upon. This was the carnival's first day in the city of Paris, and it was already doing very well. Bird Boy could see many crowds from just where he was sitting alone. It was also in the middle of summer, so he did not mind at all getting dropped in a pool of water; it was actually pretty refreshing, even if his feathers got wet and soaked through his white shirt. Other than his pointed, beak-like nose, people called him the "Bird Boy" mainly because of his patches of black feathers on his body. He had two long feathers sticking out of the back of his head, two tiny wings protruding from behind his shoulders, and he was developing tail feathers. His wings would twitch every now and then, as he could not maintain them himself yet.
However, his wings perked up when he heard someone walking through the grass towards him. Ready to be dunked again, Bird Boy glanced up and put on a friendly smile.
The two girls stopped when they were close enough to get a good look at him, and the older one grimaced in revolt. Then, she scoffed and said something to her little sister in French. Fortunately, Bird Boy did not know French, and did not have to listen to any insulting comments the players had to say.
"Step right up, don't be shy; just for twenty five cents, you can dunk the Bird Boy to win a stuffed animal!" the carnie announced. Anaïs pulled out her quarter and walked up to him. "I'll have a go."
The carnie took the quarter and pulled out a tray right below the side of the tank to place the coin in, then bent down to hold up three plastic balls from a pile on the ground. He handed them to the girl and said, "You only get three tries. Good luck!"
Anaïs smirked and turned back to the tank. She stared Bird Boy directly in his pitch dark eyes as to intimidate him, which seemed to be working. He winced and uncomfortably shifted himself on the platform. She put one ball in her hand and cradled the other two in her opposite arm. As she drew back her arm and focused her aim, she dropped the other two others on the grass and threw the ball.
DING!
Bulls-eye.
The second the sound of the bell reached his ears, the platform had bent down forward, and Bird Boy was immediately released down into the water. He paddled up and gasped for air; he did not expect for someone to get a bulls-eye on their first try. It was rare to happen.
"I'm impressed! That was the most perfect throw I've ever seen!" the carnie said to her, and reached behind the tank to retrieve a large, orange monkey doll to award her. "Here's your prize, youngster."
"Sweet, thanks!" Anaïs wrapped her arms around her plush prize. Louise gazed up at the stuffed toy. "Wow! That was a great throw! Can I see the toy, sissy?"
"Mmm... Maybe later." Anaïs held the prize in one arm and over her shoulder to head to another carnival attraction. "C'mon, I wanna go try the Duck Game."
Louise frowned and galloped after her sister. "Aww, come on! Just for only three minutes? Two minutes? One minutes?"
Bird Boy heard the girls' voices and footsteps fade away while he lifted himself up on the now retracted platform. Although he really did not mind being dunked in the tank, being already accustomed to it, the one thing that bothered him was when his feathers on his head got soaked, and the water dripped down into his face, blurring his vision.
The carnie leaned his elbow on the edge of the tank and looked at him. "You alright there, kid?" he asked him. Bird Boy put his hands over his eyes to try to wipe out the water. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "The water's just getting in my eyes."
The carnie moved his head from Bird Boy to face forward. "Well don't look now; here come more players!"
"Huh? Wait!" Bird Boy frantically rubbed his fists over his eyes to see who was coming, but the water from his feathers kept smearing on his eyes.
"You only get three tries, little one, so good luck!" the carnie told the player. The player focused on the target, then threw the ball directly at it.
DING!
This one was not exactly a bulls-eye, but the target was still hit hard, and the platform dropped Bird Boy into the tank. Again.
Once again, he paddled to the surface and wiped the water out of his eyes, then slicked back his feathers on his head so they would not drip water into his face anymore. He could now open his eyes again, giving him the opportunity to see who else was the lucky one who hit the target on their first try.
Bird Boy grabbed onto the edge of the tank and boosted himself up to see the carnie handing her a purple stuffed hippopotamus.
All of a sudden, upon seeing her, his heart skipped a beat, and his face became warm.
There she was...
It was a girl, about his age, in a white buttoned jacket and a pink dress. Her dirty blonde hair was short and curly, complete with a pink ribbon on top. Her round face was beautiful. She had dark, brownish-green eyes and a small mole besides her glossy pink lips.
Bird Boy could not take her eyes off of her. Of all the other players that he had seen before, come and gone, this one seemed to stand out for him. After hugging onto her prize, the girl stared at him in wonder, and not in disgust, like most of the others had. Moments had passed, and she did something that Bird Boy had never expected anyone to do.
She smiled and waved at him.
After being escorted to another carnival attraction by her eager mother, Bird Boy swam back to his platform with a smile. He would always remember those gorgeous, kind eyes.
The carnie half leaned over to him again. "Hey, the sun is startin' to go down, so get ready to go to the tent when it gets dark."
Bird Boy nodded at him. "Yes, sir," he wistfully responded.
The gibbous moon shined almost as bright as the sun in the black, starry sky. The sound of crickets chirping and occasional owls hooting filled the night air, mixed in with the murmurs and laughter of people waiting in line to buy tickets for their seats for the Freak Show, which was occurring in the circus tent. It always started around midnight, because the people had an old saying that this was the time monsters came out.
Backstage, all of the "freaks" were preparing themselves for the show, some of them practicing their astounding talents, while others were making sure they looked decent with the help of some circus assistants. A handful of them only had to stand there during their act; one of them including Bird Boy.
He sat in his giant bird-cage, stereotypically designed just for him. It was not all that uncomfortable for him, though; the floor was cushioned with rubber material. The cage was also covered by a large blanket for the ringmaster to reveal what was underneath, and surprise the audience.
But every time the cage was covered, Bird Boy took this opportunity to sketch in his notebook that someone had discarded behind the Dunk The Bird Boy game a few weeks ago, along with a raggedy pouch half filled with used pencils, worn down erasers, and a pair of small metal scissors. At the bottom were nothing but clumps of paperclips. Almost every single day, he would draw in the notebook, getting more and more skilled with his sketches. He would usually draw birds that he would see flying around the carnival, or certain types of plants that he found interesting.
When it was finally midnight, and the audience was tightly seated on the metal benches, the ringmaster came onstage under a spotlight. After an applause, he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Welcome to the Freak Show! Watch and be amazed; these freaks will take your breath away with their talents, abilities, or just by laying your eyes upon them! Prepare yourselves, as the show is about to begin!" Another roar of applause reached Bird Boy's ears, signaling him to stop drawing and get ready for his act.
But after a few droning minutes of hearing the typical shocked gasps, bellowing laughter, and loud cheers from the audience, he suddenly recalled that girl he saw earlier. She was so nice and beautiful. He probably would not meet another like her, and his wish was to see her again. A particular thought hit him like lightning; what if she was here, inside of the tent and watching the show? A warm feeling rose within Bird Boy that was indescribable, and he had an idea of what he would create next, but this one did not involve drawing. Quickly, he took out the pair of scissors from the pouch and tore out a few pages of his notebook.
"I hope I remember how to do this," Bird Boy muttered to himself. He then cut out a circle from his notebook paper, and cut a spiral into it. Once he was done, he rolled in the spiral from the outside to the middle, then unbent one of the paperclips and punctured through the center of the spiral to hold this new shape he made; a rose. He held it up in his hands and admired it proudly. He placed it right beside his legs and grabbed another sheet of paper. Only one was not enough.
"And now," the ringmaster cried, his voice echoing throughout the tent, "for the final freak of the night! The one you've all been waiting for..." As he talked, a pair of circus assistants wheeled in, upon a low, metal platform, a rounded off cage with a large blanket over it. Once it was rolled out into the center of the stage, the ringmaster ambled up to its side and clutched onto the blanket, still facing the audience.
"I present to you... Bird Boy!" He yanked the cover clean off the cage, revealing Bird Boy standing inside, surrounded by a few paper roses. He tried waving towards the crowd of people watching him to distract them from his paper crafts scattered around the floor. Fortunately, the circus tent in an instant filled with astonished clamors the second the ringmaster unveiled the cage.
Bird Boy ignored the facial expressions the onlookers gave him; he had other plans. He bent down to pick up one of the roses and looked back up at the audience. He had his face pressed up against the bars as he scanned the audience members for the familiar face of the girl with the green eyes. Instead, he only received the looks of fear, disgust, and bewilderment on multiple strangers' faces. As much as he predicted for them to react this way, Bird Boy was deeply disturbed how they looked at him. It felt like they were taunting him in some way as if they were saying things like, "You'll never find her here. She's just like us. You'd never be friends with her." He pivoted his head from side to side, frantically trying to find her memorable face. Anxiously, he backed away from the bars, but suddenly-
CRUNCH!
Bird Boy stumbled back forward, looking over his shoulder and on the floor. He kneeled down to pick up the crushed paper rose. Biting his lips to prevent any sounds from coming out, he quietly concluded that his doubts were right.
Moments afterward, when the ringmaster announced a thank you to everyone for coming, and to "have a nice night", the spotlight faded away right as the entire tent lit up for audience members to find their way out of the crowded tent. While they were leaving, the ringmaster walked up to the cage and kneeled down to see Bird Boy's face. "You doing okay, kid?" he asked. "You seemed more empty than any of your previous acts."
Bird Boy kept his gaze locked on the flattened rose he held in his hands. "I just have a stomachache, sir," he responded.
The ringmaster got back up to his feet. "Well, I'll let you stay in bed for tomorrow, but tomorrow only. I don't want this to become a serious problem. Now, you stay right there while I go tell your supervisor."
"Yes, sir."
As he was walking away, the ringmaster mumbled to himself, "It's a good thing those people'll be amazed by anything."
Bird Boy let out a heavy sigh and watched the clusters of people slowly flood out of the tent. For once, he thought that someone could connect with him, and in exchange, he would show his out kindness to them by creating something he had never made before, just for them. His chances with others were slipping away every time he would try, and crumbled down his optimism little by little. A nasty glare formed in his eyes as his fists shook, and he drew back and chucked the crushed paper rose out of his cage in frustration. At the same time, the last people exited the tent, leaving Bird Boy to be the only living soul in the tent. No response to his feelings, whatsoever. He drew up his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and buried his face in his lap.
Meanwhile, out in the carnival fields, a little girl walked alongside her mother, who was trying to find an exit to the carnival. "Sheesh, they made this fair so expansive," the mother said to herself.
The little girl nodded. "Yeah. I love it, too. The circus was so cool!"
The mother sneered. "That freak show? Why?"
"Because those people have cool talents and looks. And I thought I recognized that boy from the dunking game, too. Maybe one day, I'll join the circus!"
"Honey," the mother said, stopping to unzip her large purse, "those... people are nothing like us. They only get paid to do what they were born to do."
The girl frowned at hearing this. "I think they are, Mom. They just have special abilities that not everyone else can-"
"Oh, no," her mother groaned while digging into her purse. "I'm sorry, honey, I think I left your hippo in the circus tent."
"It's okay, I'll go get her," the girl said with a sigh. "Wait right here." She ran back toward the tent's direction.
She was relieved to see that the lights were still on inside the circus tent, and to get away from her mother's ludicrous chatter. She pushed away the tent flaps to enter inside the tent. The vast emptiness made the atmosphere a little eerie, but it was not enough to frighten her. What was worrying, however, was that she had forgotten where she and her mother sat, which would force her to check the entire perimeter of the tent, just for a small stuffed hippopotamus. Just as she was about to climb the steps to the benches, something on the corner of her eye had caught her attention. She turned around and kneeled down to pick up what looked like a crumpled up notebook paper in the shape of a rose. Looking up from it, she saw that large birdcage in the center of the stage, with the Bird Boy still sitting inside of it, motionless.
When he heard footsteps approaching his direction, Bird Boy peeked up from his knees, expecting to see the ringmaster. His eyes widened, and his tiny wings twitched as he lifted his head all the way up. At first, he thought he was imagining things, but the girl standing right in front of his cage and looking down at him was all too real.
Her pink lips curved into another friendly smile. "Hello," she said.
Bird Boy just gave her a blank stare. He wanted to say something to her, but could not think of anything to say. She put one hand on one of the cage bars and asked, "Do you remember me? At the dunking game?"
He gulped down and climbed up to his feet. "You... You can speak English?" he asked in a frail voice. The girl nodded and replied, "Uh huh. My dad is part American. He taught me how to speak English when I was seven."
"Really? Wow." Bird Boy struggled a smile. "Having parents sounds really cool."
"You wouldn't want mine," she said with a laugh. "They always boss me around and have no sense of rationality."
"Huh?"
"They're, um... insane!"
"Oh." Bird Boy's eyes darted to the side, then back at her. "You sound like the smart one, though."
She laughed again. "Thanks." Her eyes explored the bottom of the inside of the cage, seeing paper roses scattered around Bird Boy. She held up the paper rose she found and tried to unbend the petals. "I found this on the floor... Did you make these?"
He stared down at the rose resting in her dainty hands, and his face went hot. "Y-Y-Yeah... I did. I was gonna give it to you if I saw you again, but I accidentally stepped on it. I couldn't find you, either." He picked up the other roses on the floor and held them in his arms, then began tying the straightened paperclips that acted as the roses' stems together. When he was done, he held up the knotted paper clips in one fist and outstretched his arm to hold it in front of her. Bird Boy had a proud look on his face, even though a couple of the fake roses started to wilt outwards. "Look, I made a bouquet for you!"
The girl's smile grew into a grin. "I love it!" she exclaimed. Her hand slowly reached in the cage to retrieve the bouquet, then she carefully pulled it back to examine them in wonder. "You're so talented... You should've been an artist instead of in the circus."
Bird Boy nodded and looked down. "Yeah... But I didn't really choose to be in the circus. The ringmaster says that he adopted me from the orphanage and said that this is my home now." He clung his hands on the two bars at chest level. "In the circus industry."
The girl tucked the roses inside her dress pocket, metal stems first. "That doesn't sound fair at all," she commented. "You're a person just like me, the ringmaster, and everybody else. It's not right for you to be in a cage like this."
He shrugged as his eyes once again dropped to the bottom of the cage. "I guess some people don't get chances," he grumbled.
"Well... I think you can." She put her hands over his knuckles that were still on the bars. "You're already really creative and smart. I know you can do something great."
Bird Boy relaxed his fists to hold on to her soft hands. His eyes soon met hers, and gave her a smile of his own. She had pretty eyes, as well.
Pretty, green eyes.
"Um, can I ask you something?" the girl said.
"You already did."
She giggled. "No... What's your name? I know they call you 'Bird Boy', but what's your real name?"
"That is my real name," he beamed. After a moment, he asked back, "So... what's your name?"
"My friends call me 'Maddie'," she simply said.
"Maddie," he echoed. "I like that name."
She smiled warmly at him again, but stopped and whipped around at the sudden voice that tore through her daydreaming. "MADDIE?!" her mother shouted from outside the tent. The girl was immediately reminded on why she was in the tent in the first place. "Oh no... my hippo. I forgot about her."
Bird Boy tilted his head to the side. "Your hippo? Oh, you mean your prize you won?"
"Yeah, I left her on one of the benches up there," she told him, pointing up at where the audience sits. "My mom's gonna kill me if she finds out that I wasn't looking for her!"
His eyes lit up, and he put on a sly smirk. "That's not a problem," he assured.
She glanced back at him in both confusion and anxiety. "What? Why not?"
Bird Boy asked her to walk towards him a bit more. She took a step closer so that she was right against the cage bars, even though she had no idea what he was doing. He reached his arm through the bars and rest his hand over her shoulder. "Well, I may have your hippo," he stated, and pulled his hand back and held a familiar stuffed toy now in his grip. "...right here!"
The girl was absolutely dumbfounded, and stared at him with huge eyes while he handed her the purple hippopotamus. "How did you do that?!"
He chuckled in amusement and put his hands behinds his back, and replied, "It's just a little magic trick I know, but a magician must never reveal his secrets."
"MADELINE MOREAU! Are you still in there!?" her mother shouted, and her shadow on the ground began to enter the circus tent.
The girl whipped around again and yelled, "I'm coming!" She gave Bird Boy one last glance. "I gotta go. I hope I see you again soon."
Bird Boy nodded. "Me too."
"Au revoir, mon ami," she said with a smile, and ran off to the tent flap to meet with her mother, with her purple hippopotamus tucked under one arm, and her other hand over the bouquet of paper roses. "Look, mom, I finally found my hippo!" she said in the distance before she disappeared into the darkness.
Bird Boy kept on smiling in the direction of the tent flap. He had not felt this happy since the day he was adopted by the ringmaster.
He had held onto his hopes that he would see her again for years. It did not matter to him how long it took. Bird Boy would wait through his darkest times for him to reunite with his first love.
And then, he did.
Mademoiselle Moreau sat on her armchair, reading a book near the window, which emitted light for the pages. The book she was reading was about the French architecture, which she was a huge fan of.
She put down the book on her lap and turned her head towards her front door when she heard the doorbell ring. Placing the open book on the seat of the chair, she stood up and went to see who it was. When she opened the door, she received a pleasant surprise; Raven was standing there with his mask on his face, and his top hat behind his back. He smiled down at her. "Hello, Moreau."
"Raven! I didn't expect to see you here," said Moreau.
He put his hat upon his head. "Since I, with the rest of the carnival family, have been passing through to arrive at a different city, Edgar decided for us to rest here for a bit," he explained.
Moreau smirked and put her hands on her hips. "And you're still wearing that mask when you come to my house?" she joked. "What, are you afraid to be seen with me?"
Raven laughed softly. "Oh, you know I still have to hide my face from the public. It's only for the sake of the circus."
"Well, don't just stand there and tell me about your day. Come in!" Moreau grabbed on his shawl and tugged him inside, closing the door behind him.
Raven took a seat on Moreau's living room couch and patiently waited for her to join him. His eyes journeyed around her living room, admiring her taste in decour. Most of which were of the French culture, such as the the blue, white, and red flag hanging above the door, and a framed photograph of the Eiffel Tower of Paris hung near the armchair. She seemed like a true French patriot.
Moreau walked up to him, holding her hands together, and said, "Can I get you anything to drink?"
"O-Oh, yes, please. Just a glass of ice water will do. My throat is a little dry."
She nodded once. "Certainly. Just a moment, please," she said before sailing into the kitchen. Once she had her back turned to him, Raven took off his hat, gripping the brim, and put his other hand inside of it. He dug around for a second, then he pulled out an old paper craft that he folded himself when he was a boy to examine it. It was a paper rose with a slightly rusted paperclip that punctured through the center of it to hold it together. Its petals were slightly bent up, but it looked like someone had tried to straighten them.
Raven quickly dropped it back in his hat when he heard Moreau coming back with a glass of ice water in her hand. She placed it on the table in front of him. "Thank you, dearest," he said. Moreau took a seat right next to him and folded her arms. "What did I say about wearing your mask indoors?" she said, teasingly.
"Oh yes, sorry." He untied the knot that held the straps together, then lifted his mask off his face and placed it on the arm of the couch. He turned his head to her. "How do I look?"
"As handsome as always," Moreau replied with a smile. Her hands traveled onto his. "So, how's everything in the carnival business?"
"It's fantastic," said Raven, bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip. "Edgar told me that my magic skit has been voted to be in one of the highest rated acts in the circus."
"That's wonderful to hear!" She scooted herself closer to him and rested her head on his arm. "I knew you could do something great," she muttered.
Something glistened in Raven's dark eyes as he moved them down to the inside of his hat, seeing the rose peeking out. His throat dried up again before he took another sip of water, and his wings drooped down his back. "Moreau," he said, returning the glass to the edge of the table.
"Yes?"
His hand crept into his hat and touched the paper pedals. "I have something I want to show you." Without hesitating, he pulled out and held the paper rose in front of Moreau. She gazed down at it in awe, looked up at him, and then back down at the rose again.
Raven continued, "I found it in my dresser while I was cleaning it out this morning. It reminded me of how we first met," he told her.
She carefully cupped her hands around the paper rose to lift it up to her face. "And you kept it all this time?"
"Why wouldn't I?" he said with a shrug. "It holds so many memories from the ray of light in my childhood, and I decided to give it to you."
Moreau's head tilted up to see his face, but then she shook her head and pushed it back into his hands. "I can't take this."
"Why not?"
"Because I already have a whole collection of them in my drawer," she answered, growing her own smile on her face. Raven looked at her in surprise, at first, then smiled at her before safely dropping the craft back in his hat and placing it back on his head. Moreau wrapped her arms around him for a hug, making his wings perk up once again, and added, "And yes, I remember, too."