The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth!


It was a big day, that last day in 1931. I couldn't move fast enough. My life was finally going to start. I knew exactly where it was taking me.

"Jesteś spóźniony!" My papa, Hiram, called from the kitchen.

I admired my reflection in the mirror. I had to look nice that day. My dress was firmly pressed, my hair neatly styled, my million dollar smile (As my father Leroy would say) grinning back at me. I winked at myself before exiting my room.

Papa was right. I was running late. Couldn't have that, now could we? Not today.

Inside our house. There was no sign of the depression. My fathers had left Poland in much worse conditions. To them, no one could be poor if they had half a brain in their head.

Which is why I found myself scurrying out of the house, out my front porch and through the front lawn.

"Gdzie jest mój pocałunek na pożegnanie?" Papa called after me. I almost rolled my eyes at the man, but he and father only wanted the best for me, so I turned around to see them following me. They both needed their goodbye kiss.

"Kocham cię" Papa embraced me before tapping his cheek and leaning down expectantly.

"Love you too." I laughed before indulging the man and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Powodzenia. Uczyń nas dumni." Father smiled before pressing a kiss to my forehead. I looked right into his eyes and smile. Hoping that with just one look I was telling him that I would try my best to make them proud.

They knew I was in a hurry so papa grabbed a hold of my shoulders and turned me, urging me to be on my way.

After six years of dissections, castrations, and shoving my arm up a cows ass more times than I care to remember- by the end of that day, I knew I would be a Cornell graduate of Veterinary sciences.

I remember it all too clearly, sitting before my final exam. My professor was droning off instructions to us, but I paid him no mind. I was busy running over the anatomy of a horse in my mind.

I had a new life all planned. And with the opening of a door- Every plan I ever had vanished.

"Ms. Jankowski." My professor called my attention. I wanted to correct the man because my papa, Hiram, had been adamant about wanting to leave his families name behind in Poland. There was bad blood there. So we took the name Berry, from my father Leroy.

"May we have a word with you?" He beckoned me with a curl of his finger. It was strange, walking to the exit as my peers started on their exams, taking a first step into their new lives.

What I didn't know was that I was doing the very same.

"Rachel." I noticed then that it was the headmaster standing with my professor. "I'm afraid their has been a car accident."

Suddenly there was a ringing in my ears, my stomach twisted uncomfortably, and little black dots obscured my vision.

I knew these were signs pointing to my losing of consciousness. I powered through it, forcing myself to face my worst nightmare.

I remember my footsteps echoing through the small corridor reaching the morgue. I remember how cold it was and despite the fact, I was sweating.

How could they be gone? I had just seen them. I had just kissed them goodbye. I hadn't even made them proud yet. They could not be gone. It had to be a mistake!

With the removal of a white sheet, I knew it was not.

Both of my fathers laid before me, exposed.

I had worked on cadavers before. Never humans though. I never thought I would see my fathers like that.

I made it all the way outside before becoming sick. I knelt on the ground and hunched over myself.

I had nowhere to go. No idea what to do. What was to become of my families business?

So I pulled myself together. Wiped the sweat from my brow, the sick from my chin, and the tears from my cheeks. It would only be me from there on out. I had to be strong.

I made my way to the bank.

"Ms. Jankowski" The mans first mistake.

"Berry." I mumbled under my breath.

"According to this." The banker held out papers, nearly pressing them against my nose. "This is not a mistake. The house and all their assets, including your fathers practice are property of the bank in default of the loan."

The short, pudgy man looked at me in disdain. Like I had been the one to make a mistake.

"And I am telling you." I insisted, running my hands through my unruly hair. "You're wrong. My fathers owned that house outright" I tried to give him my coldest stare, but I had yet to perfect that look. My fathers had always said I only looked like an angered kitten when I pulled that face. I was hoping for more of a ferocious Lioness.

"These documents are dated four years ago. They signed them." He insisted, staring at me with the cold, dead eyes of a banker. See, now why couldn't I perfect that sneer?

"Did they need money for any reason four years ago?" He questioned me. Then it dawned on me.

"My tuition." I whispered in a reply. It was my own fault that I was in this mess. I never knew that they had taken out money.

"Well, there you have it. Now perhaps if you hadn't gone to college- you'd still have a home." The man tisked. I wanted nothing more than to reach across his fancy wooden desk, with his fancy golden name plate, and throttle his fancy little neck.

"But in light of the way your fathers ran their business-That's unlikely." The banker noted.

My blood had already been boiling at that point, but that- speaking ill of my father before their bodies could even get cold- that was unacceptable.

"My fathers were good men." I growled at him, balling my fists, rising to my feet. "When people came to them for help- They gave it to them."

"You fathers were irresponsible. They let people pay them in chickens!" He looked scandalized by the fact. "And eggs and whatever they had. Instead of money. This depression is with us for a very long while, believe me. And the only ones who will be standing at the end of it will be the ones who take what they need to survive." The man begun to hastily put away his papers in a fancy briefcase

"Do not make the same mistakes as your fathers." The man warned me. He opened the door to his office, practically shooing me.

So what's a girl to do? Especially when the man had insulted my deceased fathers, belittled my education, and taken away my home?

Well I slapped the man across his fancy face and stormed out of the bank.

I had walked home after that. Technically everything within the walls of my home belonged to the bank. But I was not going to allow that to happen.

I walked into my fathers room. It still smelled of them and their soap. I willed myself to contain the tears as I ran my fingers through the materials of their clothes. I pulled on my fathers leather jacket and grabbed my papas pocket watch before proceeding to my room. I packed myself a bag and left the home I grew up.

I remember walking out the door, forcing myself not to look back.

I couldn't stay there, reminding me of the life that was gone. And I didn't see the point of going back to school. There were a lot of men and women in those days with no home, no family.

Small towns were dying. Rumor was that there were jobs in the cities. So I got it into my head that I would walk to Albany.

I never made it.

I figured the best way to go, to hide my shame, was to follow the railroad tracks. I figured I'd encounter less people there than I would on the roads.

So I walked until nightfall. By then my feet had blistered and I hadn't had a bite to eat or a sip of water since before the time was set for me to take my exam.

It had been a long, emotionally draining day. And I was about to spend my first night alone. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, with only trees to keep my company.

I had found myself a small spring. Seeing as life couldn't have gotten any worse, I drank the water straight, not concerned if it would harm me or not. And when I had had enough of that, I soaked my throbbing feet.

It wasn't necessarily lady like, but I wished for trousers in that moment. I knew a dress would not be easy to continue in. And perhaps shoes that would not cause my feet so much pain.

I sat there for maybe an hour, just listening to the whisper of the trees and watching the fireflies float by. When suddenly the rails began to hum.

The sounds of the forrest were disturbed by the pumping of a loud engine. A train was about to make it's way past me.

I had heard about men and women catching a ride to their destination by simply hopping onto one of the stock cars of a train. My feet were in so much pain, I did not care of the consequences I might face.

I tugged on my fathers jacket, secured the pocket watch, yanked on my shoes, and made a run for it.

The light painted the forrest in an eery light. In that moment I really decided to catch a ride. I let a few cars pass before running alongside it. My feet were already in pain, but I pushed through it.

I huffed, pumping my legs to stay at the proper pace before lugging my bag onto the open door and then heaving myself on it.

Almost as soon as I found my bearings. A large, beefy hand took a hold of my arm roughly. It yanked me and held me over the edge of the open door, ready to throw me off.

I thrashed against his arms, then held onto them tightly. If someone was going to throw Rachel Berry off a train, they would be coming with me.

"Hey Hey! Don't mess with Finn. Throwing people off trains is one of the perks of his job." The voice of a man rang out. I looked just over the tall man's right shoulder to see him holding up a lantern.

"We don't need no bums on this train." Another man warned menacingly. He stood just beyond Finn's left shoulder. He had a mousy face and well groomed hair. He pressed the barrel of a gun to my forehead.

Well this is how Rachel Berry dies. Goodbye cruel world. You have been shitty.

"Now everybody, calm down here." The man with the lantern spoke calmly. I decided in that moment that I liked this tan man. He was bulky, but not in a way that was unattractive. It was clearly because this man worked hard.

"Put that damn pistol away Sebastian. Let her go Finn. And I mean on the inside of the train." Whoever that man was, I would be indebted to him.

Sebastian, the man with the pistol looked back and forth between the man with the lantern and I before heaving a sigh and pocketing his gun. He turned on his heel and disappeared from sight.

Finn looked over his shoulder at my savior, rather confused. He didn't loosen his grip on me though.

"I'm telling you. We don't need no trouble." The man insisted looking at the tall man who literally had my fate in his hands. "Look at them clothes She ain't no bum."

Finn really took a look at me then. He eyed my face before tearing away his gaze to look at my attire. I was really glad I hadn't changed out of my dress and into trousers. It saved my life.

Finn pulled me in, a safe distance away from the ledge and let go of the collar of my fathers jacket. He patted it lightly, trying to smooth the wrinkles he had caused.

"Sorry." He muttered. There had been a crowd watching, but they dispersed once my life was no longer in danger.

"Don't be sore, kid." The young man told me with a comforting smile. "It's almost a reflex with Finn."

The man almost killed me! And he wanted me to just drop it? Yeah, right.

"I'm Puck." He introduced himself. "That there is Sam and Kurt." He pointed at the two men who had been just beyond his shoulder the whole time.

"I'm Rachel Jankowski-" People had been calling me that all day, I accidentally did too. "I mean Berry." I corrected.

"Jankowski?" Puck questioned, with a glint in his eye. "Polac?"

"Moi przodkowie." I replied with a shrug. Something about the man had me comfortable with him. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't leering at me even though I could tell he had been drinking.

Those days it wasn't exactly safe for a woman to be traveling alone. Most of the time when it was 2 women traveling together they would get the hint. But I was alone.

"ah! okrzyki." He smiled, tipping his bottle of alcohol in my direction before taking a sip. He offered me a sip without hesitation.

"Noah Puckerman is the name." I smiled and understood the camaraderie he had already developed towards me. My fingers traced the small gold pendant around my neck. The star of david.

I took the bottle with a nervous smile before taking a sip. I winced as it burnt it's way down my throat and into my system.

"You're a little young to be on the rails." Noah said as he took the bottle back from me with a laugh. "You runnin' from something maybe?"

"No." I shook my head fervently. He had just saved my life I didn't want to give him a reason to call Finn over to really toss me out. "Nothing like that."

"Where ya headed?" He asked. It was then that I realized I really had no clue. Albany had just been something I was trying to convince myself of.

I was supposed to be a Cornell graduate by then. I had wanted to be a vet. Not an ordinary one, but one who worked for the Zoo's in New York or Philadelphia.

"I dunno." I told him honestly.

"Hungry? Out of work?" He asked me quietly even though no one was paying an mind to us. A third man had joined Kurt and Sam and they were engrossed in their own conversation.

"There's no shame in that." He reassured me kindly. "No shame."

We were both silent for a beat, just listening to the shaking of the train and watching the light of the lantern flicker off each others faces.

"Well, what can you do?" He asked me. I knew he had just been throwing me a bone, but I was desperate. I needed the work.

"Just about anything, I guess." I stood tall, puffing out my chest proudly. Just because I was a woman didn't mean I couldn't do a man's job.

"We land in deposit in the morning. I'll get you some work for the day. And if you're still alive at the end of it- I'll take you up to see August the lord master of the known and the unknown universe himself." He uttered the words dramatically as if this definition would lead me to guess who he was walking about.

"And who's that?" I asked him.

"August Rosenbluth. Oh Kid, you're in for the ride of your life."


I awoke with a start, immediately disoriented. Unsure of where I was or even what time it was. Groggily, I sat up on my elbows and looked at my surroundings. All I could really make out was a huge open door and I was laying on a wooden floor covered in straw.

It was the screeching of a train coming to a halt that brought back all the memories.

My parents were gone. I dropped out of school. I was on some sort of train.

The men I remembered to be Kurt and Sam, along with a third member that I had been later introduced as Blaine, quickly hopped out of the open stock door. Noah laid fast asleep, still drunk.

I hopped out of the stock car, curious as to where we had stopped. Noah had promised me a job for the day. But doing what?

As soon as my eyes adjusted to the light, my jaw slacked in awe. Hundreds of dirty, unshaven men poured out of stock cars. Like ants scurrying out of their home.

The wagons of the train were painted scarlet red with gold trim. Emblazoned on each wagon; Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

I wandered the open space as that circus came to life. Canvas tents were raised. The Big Top laid sprawled on the ground, yet to be assembled. Men stood over seams, lacing pieces together.

Eight man sledge teams were assembled, pounding stakes into the ground at breakneck speed. I had never seen anyone move so fast. The continues thump-thump-thump-thump- it never stopped.

Teams of men were raising enormous poles with their combined weight. They chanted:

"Pull it! Shake it! Break it! Again! Now Down stake it!"

Several teams of horses pulled wagons. I hadn't noticed one headed right for me. I had to leap out of the way at the last second to avoid being trampled.

I had never felt so out of place in my life. It seemed I was just in the way of this well oiled machine. Everyone knew where the belonged. They had their job to do.

I duck into a large tent, not only to get out of the way, but for my own safety.

A stillness I wasn't familiar with took over as soon as I entered. It was especially noticeable against the chaos happening just outside. Controlled chaos, to be precise.

The translucent tent was as tall as the sky. It had barely been set up. Only the tent and-

"Animals." I whispered, smiling so genuinely in what seemed like a very long time.

I looked around in complete awe. Camels, llamas, zebras, and horses stood behind low hanging ropes held up by iron stakes. Some of them had their heads in mound of hay others just chewed lazily, watching me, the intruder.

Two Giraffes stood within a chain link fence. I had never seen creatures so magnificent. To me, that meant a lot, considering I had wanted to make it my lifes work to watch out for their well being.

There were just so many animals! Lions, panthers, tigers, chimps, bears, jaguars, and one Orangutan.

The animals stopped moving as if to give me an acknowledgement. Those were animals so used to human contact. So I responded in kind, with a nod or a smile.

I don't know if I picked that train or that train picked me. Something told me my fathers sent it my way.

It was the Orangutan that caught my attention. She had her arm outstretched, almost as if she was looking for something that was just out of her reach.

"What is it?" I asked, stepping to her den. I smiled curiously at her "What do you want?"

She strained her arm, blinking at me, and pointing just behind me. I turned to see what she may be calling my attention to. There is a half squashed orange on the ground. That had to be what she was wanting to reach. I picked it up, wiping away some of the dirt.

I offered it to her outstretched hand. She took it easily, then sets it down on the floor of her den, before sticking out her hand once again. It took me a moment to realizes she was reaching for me.

I extended my hand to hers and grinned widely when she wrapped her long fingers around it. She held it while looking right into my eyes. I returned her gaze, realizing she was thanking me.

"You're welcome ma'am." I chuckled. I had always been good with women. Who knew I'd be good with them in every species?

She let go of my hand and returned to her den, munching down on the orange I had retrieved for her.

"What the hell are you doin in here?" It's Noah, rushing to me. He looked around as if searching for someone to hide from. Apparently we hadn't been caught because he took a hold of my elbow and pulled me out. I stared back longingly at the animals.

"Get outta there! You ain't no menagerie woman. Only menagerie men are allowed in there." He wasn't angry with me, but he was stern. He really wanted to make sure I got the law of the land. It pained me to follow him out of the tent, but I figured I could work my way up to that tent. I wanted nothing more than to return to that tent one day and work with the animals.

"C'mon!" He tugged me out into the daylight. "I got you some work."

"With the animals?" I asked, hopeful. Noah smirked and let out a deceiving laugh.

"Oh you betcha."


It turned out he had gotten me a job shoveling shit. Horse shit, Zebra shit, giraffe shit. Imagine any kind of shit, and I shoveled it.

"I've never seen so much manure." I commented as I continued to shovel the shit out of the car.

Noah had taken my suitcase full of pretty dresses and told me he'd trade them for some proper work clothes. He returned with sturdy brown boots, a couple of high waisted trousers, luckily they were made for women, and a couple of multicolored shirts. Mostly whites, browns, and tans.

So I was in proper work attire shoveling shit with the third man I had seen on the train; Blaine.

"They pack them in 27 a car." Blaine informed me. He had already removed his shirt because frankly, it was hot in those stinky cars. I coughed nearly gagging at the putrid smell.

"How do yo stand the smell?" I asked him, maybe I could get Noah to find me a bandana to tie around my face. That could help.

"What smell?" Blaine asked, shoveling out some of the last of it. I stared at him with a blank expression. There was no way anyone could get used to that.

He grinned at me and slapped me on the back. That was the first time I laughed.


After shoveling more shit than I ever wanted to see in a life time, Blaine lead me over Sam who had a new job for me. I pulled on a new shirt, not wanting to completely stink up wherever I went, and followed him to the entrance of the circus.

There was a man standing a top a platform beside the sideshow entrance. He was strutting back and forth like he owned the place. For a moment I had thought that man was August. Sam was quick to correct me.

"That there is William Shuester." He explained while the man called everyones attention ("Ladies and Gentlemen!"). People were gathered all around to listen to him. I noticed other working men had created a perimeter behind the guests who were debating whether they wanted to enter.

"When Will gives the signal." Sam explained, tweaking his ear. "Ya gotta push the rubes in towards the entrance, but without them catching on or else they'll be a fight." I nodded, I hadn't realized how many secret 'tricks' there were while running a circus.

Will tweaked his ear. That was our signal. I nonchalantly leaned forward, lightly shoving the people towards the entrance. A few looked back at me appalled, but I stared straight ahead of me as if all I wanted in the world was to pay the fee to get in.

Once inside, Sam turned me over to Kurt. Kurt smiled kindly at me and held out a long lead pipe.

"Stay inside the tent and smack the sides with this when you see a head trying to peak in without paying. Puck figured this would be a good job for you- like it is for me. We won't get distracted. Blaine should be around here somewhere." Kurt told me, leading me inside the tent.

I wasn't sure what he had meant by that, but I followed him inside the tent. I was paralyzed by what I saw. There at center stage, was a topless woman. A beautiful blonde who was shaking her breasts for all the men to see. My jaw went slack. Noah had been wrong. I would get distracted. Very distracted.

She maneuvered her breasts in circles, shaking tassels attached to them. Men hooted and hollered encouragingly.

"Yeah Brittany!" A man towards the front hollered excitedly.

Brittany smiled at them, but I noticed how bored she actually looked. It must have been tiring, performing to the same old tired routine to a bunch disgusting me. Women had the class not to pay for such things. They knew if they wanted to see a woman do that, it was only within the privacy of a bedroom. Not surrounded my sweaty, smelly men. Though as I stood there, I couldn't help but watch. She moved her body in ways I would have never been able to move my own. It was sultry and sexy and I found myself lost in thought. Brittany caught sight of me and winked. I must have blushed 15 different shades of red.

"Rachel!" Kurt called my attention, looking at me with a smug expression. He knew I would no longer be working that booth. From across the tent I could see Blaine, a pipe just like mine in his hands, he also had the same smug smile.

"Yeah?" I croaked. He chuckled and shook his head. Then he motioned at a couple of heads trying to sneak their way in. We each took a hold of our pipe and smacked the men trying to sneak a peak through the flaps with the pipes.


When the end of the night found me I was doing what I had been doing all day; shoveling shit. I was just outside the big top. I could hear the laughter and cheer and music the spectacle brought to the night air, but I was not allowed to peak my head in and watch any of it. I had my job to do.

I'm not really sure what caused me to lift my gaze, but when I did, I was floored.

Behind the rows of black and white horses I caught a flash of something shimmering against the lights. It was a woman. I had never seen a woman so beautiful in my life. It was clear she was a performer, laced in a pink colored outfit with sequined designs swirling all over her body. She wore some sort of tiara, curly hair cascading to her shoulders. White gloves were on her hands that pulled the reign attached to a beautiful white andalusian. Her porcelain skin and entrancing eyes had me captivated. She carried herself with confidence and slight superiority and usually that would have been a turn off, but not this time.

I couldn't tear my eyes off of her as she instructed her horses to stay put and stand in a line with just the gesture of her hand or a click of her tongue. She stepped back and beckoned one with the wave of her hand.

"Silver." She called the name. The white andalusian stepped forward. "That's right. Good boy." She cooed.

"You okay?" She asked worriedly, stepping to it's side to caress it's neck."You're shaking." She whispered, running her gloved hands softly over the horse.

I tore my eyes away from the beautiful woman and took in the sight of the horse. Silver was indeed shaking, and I could tell it was out of pain. He kept the weight off of his right front hoof.

"Excuse me ma'am." I don't know where I had gotten the courage to approach her, but my feet had dragged me towards her without permission.

She whipped her head around, a frown firmly set on her lips. She had been unaware she was being watched. To be fair, I had not planned on standing in the shadows to watch her. It had just happened. I had just been so captivated by her.

"May I?" I asked pointing at the beautiful horse who was in pain.

She eyed my attire, her brow furrowed. Something I could understand because I was filthy and sweaty and my pants still seemed to slip from my waist even after Sam lent me his suspenders.

She said nothing, but stepped back, allowing me to take a look.

I gently patted Silver down, letting him know I was a friend before lifting his foot and taking a look at his hoof. I clicked my tongue at the horse, guiding my hand to it's fetlock. Without hesitation, the horse trusted me, lifting it's hoof. With a glance at the woman, I could see she was surprised that the horse had trusted me. I examined the foot carefully. It was not a great sight to see. I was just a dirty roustabout, so I couldn't do much. I forced a smile at her.

"He should be alright for tonight." I told her, clicking my tongue and eased Silver's foot down. "But I'd put him on stall rest as soon as possible."

The woman eyed be, both impressed and slightly insulted. I realized how that may have looked, like maybe I was telling her how to do her job or that she was not properly taking care of her horses so I smiled at her. It was not returned.

She stepped forward beckoning another horse and left without so much as a word directed towards me.

"Walk on." She beckoned.

I was hooked from that moment. I couldn't help but stare after her.

Even though I knew I shouldn't; I followed her to the big top. I entered to where the loud chattering and music was coming from, but my eyes stayed solely focused on her.

Then a man with a top hat, white gloves, and read coat stood before everyone. He stretched his arms out.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AND CHILDREN OF ALL AGES! WELCOME TO THE MOST EXTRAVAGANT EXTRAVAGANZA THE HUMAN EYE CAN BEHOLD... WELCOME THE STARS OF THE BEZINI BROTHERS MOST SPECTACULAR SHOW ON EARTH!"

I could barely contain myself. The audience, both young and old, were captivated. The faces of people suffering from the depression lit up with pure joy and amazement.

Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, exotic animals. Divers on fire diving into a tank of water. A woman with a comedy bit using a small, very well trained terrier. Then there's the woman with her horses. She moved so elegantly, pointed toes and outstretched arms. She was glorious, atop her horse. Everything about her, every curve, every move, every command; it was beautiful.

She didn't seem real to me at first. The way she looked inside that big top, under those lights. Thought I'd go blind from the shine.

Benzini Brothers outdid God himself. They created heaven in one day and just as fast; heaven was packed away and gone.


What did you think? -A