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"Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and
Girls. Let’s have a round of applause for our Circus Master," a voice
called over the loudspeaker.
A thunder of claps echoed through
the big tent as the Circus Master appeared. He walked to the center ring
with his arms high in the air. "Thank you. Thank you," he shouted. "We’ve
got a show filled with exciting daredevil stunts, elephants, tigers, and
many other events. Let the circus begin," he called.
The crowd cheered. A flap opened and
in walked the Flying MacKenzies, all dressed in their purple tights and
glittery hair. They bowed and walked to the far left ring. The lion tamer
entered next with the tiger. A small car was pushing its cage. It headed
for the right ring. The tiger’s cage was opened and it ran into another,
much larger one. Next came the elephants. Sheena was in the lead and Ian
was perched on her trunk, standing tall. He waved his arm as they walked
around the ring. He heard children calling out, "Look at the raccoon in
the pink tutu." He felt his face go bright red.
"Ignore them," whispered Sheena.
"Act like you’re having fun now. Wave."
Ian waved at the crowds. Three other
elephants were in line behind them. One of them was a baby elephant named
Kyle.
Behind the elephants came Mac riding
his purple and pink ball. "Look at that raccoon on the ball, Mummy,"
shouted a wee lass, loud enough for Mac to hear. "It’s a boy raccoon and
he’s wearing a pink tutu, just like the other one on the elephant. That’s
funny." She giggled and giggled. Mac was very embarrassed but kept steady
on the ball. He rolled around the big tent, waving his arms and trying to
smile.
At last the show began. The Flying
MacKenzies climbed up the tall pole and started swinging back and forth,
throwing each other and doing acrobatics. They held onto the trapeze. One
of them nearly fell but the crowd knew the net below would catch them. At
the other end of the tent, the lion tamer went into the cage with the
ferocious tiger. Ian and Mac watched as he tossed it bits of raw meat,
which it gobbled down. He cracked his whip and the tiger jumped through
hoops and sat on a stool and did all sorts of tricks.
"Your turn," Mac said to Ian. He and
Sheena walked into the middle ring. Sheena stood on her back legs and Ian
did tricks, like stand on his head and do somersaults. He swung on her
trunk and stood on her back. The crowd applauded and cheered. Ian felt so
proud.
Mac’s turn was next. As the
elephants were doing their tricks, he rolled around on his ball, going
under the elephants and around Kyle. He even rolled on the ball towards
the tiger cage and as the whip cracked and the tiger roared, he circled
the cage. He nearly fell when the man put his head inside the tiger’s
mouth. "Yikes!" he whispered.
When the show was done, the Circus
Master had all the performers come back out and take a bow, including Ian
and Mac. When they got back to the tent with Jock, he gave them a huge
bowl of potato crisps and fluffy buttery popcorn. "Well done, lads. Well
done." He patted both of them on the back. "Say, would you lads like to be
in tonight’s show as well?" he asked.
"Doing what?" Mac asked.
"Being clowns. You can dress up in
bright, spotted clothes. There’ll be no tutus and no pink, lacy things.
You’ll wear a hat and a red rubber nose and big red shoes. You can have
squirt guns and squirt the people watching in the audience, and you can
toss sweeties out for the children and make them laugh. What do you say,
lads?" Jock asked.
"Fun!" shouted Ian. "I want to. Can
we, Mac?" he pleaded.
"Of course. After today’s show, we
can handle that," Mac said.
"Great, lads. Go and have a rest and
be back here by sunset," Jock said and then he left.
"That was fun, wasn’t it, Mac? Look
at all the food we have and we get to squirt people and wear bright
costumes," Ian said, so excited he could hardly stop talking.
"It sounds fun, but right now, I
need a nap. Are you coming with me or not?" Mac said and walked toward the
costume trailer and their blankets. Mac fell asleep right away but Ian
just lay there, thinking of his exciting day at the circus. Tonight
promised to be even more exciting for him. |
