To my reviewers:
Jerichoholic-Edgehead: Oh, go on! Take a wild guess. It's really obvious, isn't it?
FunkyDonky: Hey, I was wondering when I was going to get one from you!
Chapter 4. Abandoned
The Cirque was moving on. Their next destination was 35km west of their present position. Mr. Tall had shown them, once again, just before they left. It was a small town, just off the coast. Cormac could see no reason why Mr. Tall had decided to go there, but he didn't complain. He remembered when Mr. Tall had come to his own town, and had taken him in without question......
(34 years ago)
Mother and son walked hand in hand. The son, now twelve, walked along quickly and excitedly. The mother, on the hand, pulled him back, like any mother would, but the look on her face said anxiety. They approached the abandoned windmill, and the son became even more excited. By the entrance, a sign said, AUDIENCE GO STRAIGHT. As they approached, an extremely tall man approached them.
"May I have your tickets, please?" asked the man, holding out his hand. The boy urged his mother to take out their tickets, and she did so. The boy rushed in, and as the mother started to follow him, the tall man whispered into his mother's ear as she passed. She stopped abruptly, and turned to face him. Her face was filled with shock and guilt. The man nodded, and she slowly turned, and rushed in after her son. The tall man followed them slowly. He knew what was going to happen here. He knew what he had to do.
The show went on smoothly. The boy was enthralled by it all, while the mother still hadn't gotten over the shock. When the souvenirs came round, the boy nearly bought one of each. The mother didn't speak, even when asked a question. The boy was puzzled; if only he knew what his mother was thinking, he would have screamed for her to come to her senses. But he didn't know then, he couldn't have. And anyway, the show was starting. His attention was back to the stage.
The tall man watched all this from the darkness. He nodded, and slunk away into one of the corridors. He walked effortlessly, covering a few hundred metres of corridor easily. He then waited. He took out a chair from virtually nowhere, and sat down. He wasn't going to wait long.
When the show was over, and everybody else had gone, the boy remained, becoming more and more nervous. His mother had told him to stay here; that she was just going to the loo, but that had been thirty minutes ago. He stood up uncertainly, and approached the place where his mother had gone. The corridor was dark as midnight, with the light becoming fainter and fainter inside. It was like being inside a long, endlessly long mouth.
He called out to his mother. "Mum! Where are you?" But no answer came. Not a sound. He tried again. Same response. He decided to go back, but he was lost. He couldn't find his way back. As he stumbled around blindly, his arms outstretched, he felt the wall in front of him. It split into two directions. Left or right. From the right, a warmer, more welcoming air seemed to drift. Just as he made his decision, somebody grabbed him.
He screamed. He completely lost it, thrashing around, hitting his invisible assailant.
Who suddenly appeared before him like a hallucination. It was the extremely tall man, and he was holding an old-fashioned lamp. The boy stopped thrashing, and he started sobbing quietly.
"My name is Hibernius Tall," said the man, "it seems that I am going to have to take care of you now"
The boy stopped in mid-sob. "But what about my mum?" he asked, his voice shaking like jelly.
"She has abandoned you, Colin," he sighed, and put his hand on Colin's shoulder. "She was never comfortable with the knowledge of your incredible skill, and when the Cirque du Freak came to town, she saw it an opportunity to get rid of you. I'm sorry"
Colin started crying aloud now, huge teardrops plopping softly to the floor. The crying echoed around the corridors, and Mr. Tall let him cry. He led Colin outside, and let him stay in his caravan for the night. He would introduce him to everybody the next morning.
(Present day)
Cormac walked over to Mr. Tall. Something had always bothered him, ever since the day he first came, and joined, the Cirque. He had always wanted to ask, but he found that he either didn't have the time, or couldn't pluck up his courage to ask. But he decided that he would ask today. It was sort of fitting, as this was the anniversary of the day he joined.
He walked up to the towering man, roasting sausages over a fire. They had just arrived at their destination. As Cormac opened his mouth to speak, Mr. Tall stuck out a sausage and asked, "Do you want one, Colin?"
"No thanks. Actually, I came to talk to you about...." started Cormac.
Mr. Tall stood up, and looked at Cormac in the eye.
"Are sure you want to know?" he asked. Cormac nodded.
"I said to your mother, as she followed you, 'I'll take good care of him for you'. I think I've stayed good to my word, Colin."
And, as soon as he heard the words, he burst into tears, just as he had, thirty-four years ago...
Okay, that was abnormally long, but it was quite an emotional one (sob) . I hope you liked it, because I sure enjoyed writing it!