It is evening. You have been waiting around the circus all day, looking forward to tonight. At last! You get to see him! No longer would Nancy be looking over your shoulder! You have control over your life now! He is what makes you smile! You need him... you want him. You stand by the flap of the big top. Your right hand holds firmly onto the flap. You look to your right. The sun is setting above the trees in the distance. Your hair blows calmly in the wind. You look at the flap and then at the ground. You close your eyes. "This is it...", you think to yourself, as though you were about to engage in something extraordinarily challenging. You look up, opening your eyes. You breathe out and take a step into the tent. You walk in, holding your purse close to your body. You close the flap. You look around. The tent is dim. Shadows reflect on the walls of the tent. You do not see anyone around. You sigh with disappointment. He did not come. He did not care. You turn around and start to walk out of the tent... until, from behind, bright lights blink on. You turn back around. Hundreds of lights are shining on the stage. You drop your purse. You use your right arm to shield your eyes from the gleam of the lights. You slightly close your eyes. "What is this?", you think. You soon get your answer.
"WELCOME!", a familiar voice shouts from the stage. You walk closer to the stage to see him standing there, walking to you from the middle. "TO THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!", he shouts. You put your arm down. The light is no longer bothering you. You smile and laugh. He smiles and walks to you, up to the colorful borderline. "My name is Joker, as you know, gents... and ladies...", he says with a bow and closing his eyes, his right hand behind his back. He opens his eyes and stops bowing. He walks right up to you from behind the border with a serious look on his face. "Or don't you?". He puts his hands on top of the borderline. You blush, looking down.
"No... actually, this is the first time I've ever been told, your, 'name'...", you say, looking up.
"Well, when you're in the circus, everyone has a, 'name'...", he says, going along with your sarcasm. "Now, tell me... what happens to be your, 'name'?", he says, moving his face closer to yours and leaning on the borderline. You blush and look away.
"_...", you say, quietly. He moves his face even closer to yours.
"What?", he says, loudly.
"_...", you say, louder and looking at him.
"What?", he says, moving his face closer.
"_!", you shout, backing up.
"WHAT?". he exclaims, moving himself closer to you.
"_, _, _, _, _, _, _, _!", you shout, backing up. Each time you say your name, he leans in closer to you. After the last one, he falls completely over the border face first into the dirt. You grin and laugh. He starts getting up by pushing his hands on the ground. He is frowning. You stop laughing. You walk over to him. You touch his shoulder. "I'm sorry... are you ok?", you say, very concerned. He grins.
"Am I ok?", he says, grinning even more. "Am I ok? I'm better than ok, 'cause I got you!", he says, grabbing onto your legs and holding you over his shoulder. You giggle as he carries you around the outside of the borderline, running.
"What are you doing?", you laugh, putting your arms around his neck.
"You'll see...", he says, walking through an opening in the borderline. He closes the opening and carries you to the ladder of one of the tightrope platforms. He puts you down. He takes off his cape and boots, throwing them on the ground. He walks over to you. He walks behind you. He puts his arms around you, over your chest. You are burning up inside. He unbuttons your jacket, slightly closing his eyes. He is looking over your right shoulder. You can feel his breath on your cheek. He whips off your jacket to reveal a puffy white blouse underneath. You look up, nearly dazed. His hands are around your waist. He grabs your left wrist with his left hand, now looking over your left shoulder. You close your eyes, your mouth slightly open. He lifts your hand up to his face. He moves his hand slowly up to the tip of your finger and gently pulls your glove off. He holds onto the tip of the glove and then whips it to the ground, keeping his eyes on you. You drop your arm down to your side. He looks over your right shoulder. He grabs onto your right wrist with his boney hand. He curls his fingers around your wrist. He moves his left arm over your head and gently grabs the tip of your finger with his left hand. He slowly removes the glove from your right hand. He whips your glove to the ground. You put your right arm down to your side. He grabs onto your waist with his left arm. You open your eyes. "Come this way...", he says, walking you over to the ladder. He lets go of your waist and starts to climb up the ladder. You look up at him.
"Where are you going?", you say, looking up at him with a frown.
"Come follow me, and we will be, together...", he sings. He looks at you. "That is, if you take your shoes off... it helps when you're treading on the wire...", he says, being informational.
"Treading? Wire?", you say, worriedly and looking up at him.
"Come on! It's not like I didn't want to unbutton your boots... it would just take too long...", he says, looking at you with a grin. You blush. He walks up the ladder as you kneel down and unbutton your boots. You stand up, taking your right boot off first and then your left. You walk over to the ladder and start to climb up it. He watches from atop the platform as you climb cautiously up the ladder. He takes hold of your arms at the top and lifts you on top of the platform. You look down. You sweat. You cover your eyes, moving your head to your right.
"It's so high up!", you say in your hands.
"Yeah, it's scary at first, but you end up liking it eventually...", he says, looking at you. You take your hands off of your face. You look at him. He walks over to the wire. He puts his left hand on the wooden pole next to it. "Have you ever seen anything like it?".
"No...", you say to yourself, looking at him. You look at the tightrope and realize what he was really talking about. "N-No! I haven't! Never!", you say, correcting yourself. He smiles.
"Oh, ok... then you're in for a treat! The circus is filled with thrills like this, but none outdo the tightrope... yes, sir! Many a man have lost their life on a 'rope like this... no lifeline, no nothing...", he says, looking at the wire with a frown. "And I'm sure many a woman lost their lives on a rope, or from a rope, he, he, he...", he says with a chuckle. "But I aim to change that...", he says, looking at you. He walks behind you and closes his eyes. "You see, when a man loves a woman, he plays as her lifeline... he holds onto her...", he says, grabbing onto your waist. "And never, ever lets her go...". You blush madly. You feel his breath on your cheek again. He takes a breath in and out. He lets go of your waist and walks over to the rope. "Well, that's enough of that... time to move on to the real fun!", he says, chuckling. You frown.
"Fun? You consider risking your life balancing from one end to the other fun?", you say, worriedly sarcastic.
"Yep... and it's worth every minute if you have someone to join in the risk... someone who acts as your lifeline when you can barely make it across yourself...", he says, seriously and somewhat to himself. He sighs and pulls his chest in, standing up straight. "But the important thing is having fun while you're doing it, right? So let's get going!", he exclaims, taking a step on the wire and looking down at it. You walk slightly over to him.
"Wait! You're not just gonna leave me here!", you shout, holding onto your blouse. He looks up at you with a smile.
"Of course not! I've got it all planned, see? Now you go in front...", he says, getting off of the wire and moving you in front of him. He holds tightly onto your arms. You frown.
"No, no! I refuse to take one step on that wire!", you say, trying to back up. He pushes you closer to the wire.
"Ok then... take two steps!", he exclaims, forcing you on the wire. Both of your feet are on the wire. You look down, shaking. "Now when I let go, hold your arms out even with your shoulders... that way, you won't fall on the next step...".
"Next step? Wait!", you exclaim. He lets go of your arms. You hold out your arms as he instructed. You slightly shake. You start to look down.
"Don't look down!", he shouts, before you can even take a glance underneath the wire. You look straight across the rope, a nervous wreck waiting to happen. You continue to shake slightly. "Now walk!".
"I'm afraid to!", you exclaim, curling your fingers in your hands and out again.
"Just do it!".
"I can't!".
"Yes, you can!".
"I need a lifeline! I can't make it on my own!".
"I've got you!", he says. You can feel his hands wrapped around your waist. His head is over your right shoulder. "Don't worry...", he says, "I won't let you fall...". You sigh, feeling relief from him being by your side. You both look across the wire to the other platform. You take a step forward. He takes a step forward. You slowly make it across the wire, each of you taking a step after the other. When you are about to fall, he lifts you up... when he is about to fall, he holds onto you. The two of you make it across the wire safely. You step on the wooden platform at the end of the rope. He follows, not letting go of your waist.
"We did it! We walked across the wire! And...", you exclaim, looking at him.
"Yep...", he says, his arms around your waist. He smiles. "And?".
"I think I'm gonna be sick!", you say, running over to the wooden pole on the platform. You put your left hand on the pole and lean on it, holding your mouth with your right hand. You close you eyes and breath in and out. He looks up and turns around.
" Ah...the cost of having fun...", he says, with a smile and a laugh.