Circus Box Girl

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It was spring festival time in Grenwell and the whole town was
buzzing with business . There was free street theatre and open air
concerts.
There was activity on every corner with jugglers and buskers .
The main street was bumper to bumper with traffic and the traffic
lights were turned of as the local police were called in to direct the
traffic .
Visitors had arrived came from outside town and shopkeepers put on
clearance sales . Footpaths were over crowded and people .

As advertised and right on cue Paples circus arrived to Grenwell
village .
Everyone had been waiting for weeks for this moment .
A parade of floats with funny clowns on them made their way through
town.
The came the trucks with caged tigers behind bars . There were huge
elephants with chains around their feet and ponies with acrobats on
their backs and as they made their way up the main street into Hope
Park the people on both sides of the road cheered the passing parade
.
Once inside the gates of Hope Park a flurry and a scurry of events
erupted .

The Big Top was erected . People were selected as work crews threw
their energies together in one combined effort to get the show on the
road .
Side shows were quickly placed in rows as some of the main attractions
arrived in flashy cars and buses . A constant stream of free
entertainment was on display . Snake charmers with their trances and
Eastern ladies with their belly dances . Fortune tellers with strange
glances and bike rider taking chances with one wheel of the ground as
they spun round and round .

As tent after tent was set up all of the performers settled themselves
in for what was turning out to be a sell out season .
The one week only circus show was one of the most popular ever .
Apart from the performers and animals Paples Circus had the only
hover-bumper car ride in the world . Hover-bumpers were new on the
scene and loved by everyone .

Thousands of people queued up outside the gates of Hope Park to get
their tickets for the circus . One of the people in the queue was young
Mable McFable who had slept for a week in a small tent waiting to buy
tickets .
The McFable family had entrusted the job of securing those tickets to
Mable the youngest member of their family and now finally in her hand
she held seven family season circus passes which included floating
ecstasy ,
another name for the rare seven minute Hover-Bumper Car ride .
She made her way home through the crowds and never spoke to
anyone
Until she walked in through the front door of their small three bedroom
terrace house in Chatwell Street .

"Mable's here everyone ." Her Dad shouted .
In twenty seconds a circle of people her in the front parlour .
" Nobody knows what I've been through " she said .
"Did you get the tickets ?." Her big brother screamed .
Mable held them up triumphantly in the air .
The family danced around in a circle singing and laughing
"We're going to the circus."
All that night sleep evaded the McFable family home .
It was almost too good to be true . A season pass for everyone as well
as a Hover-Car ride .
Before sleep came morning arrived and it was the first opening day at
Paples Circus . After a hurried breakfast the McFable family made their
way to town.
Every now and then Mr and Mrs McFable had to stop and find one of their
lost children who couldn't keep up . Somewhere in the crowd a frantic
scream
gave an indication to where some poor child lay with a worried face and
a trail of tears flowing freely .
Eventually all seven arrived at the circus safe and sound .
Once inside the gate they all got in to line and waited for their
Hover-Bumper Car ride . It was fantastic watching the way people
manoeuvred through the air pockets that hung around the walls of the
hoverdome .
Depending on how often and how hard you bumped into another car gave
extra traction to the suction caps around the Hover-Bumpers air
propulsion
Units that in turn activated the inner magnetic cells where the centre
of gravity was accelerated anywhere from three to six feet from the
ground to the blast
Extreme which was called the ecstasy spot . In an uncontrollable ride
seven minutes went fast . Most people were usually glad to get off in
the end .
No one saw Mable stay on . She got fourteen minutes and never batted an
eye lid . In her opinion she deserved it .
After her double ride was over Mable got out of the Hover-Bumper Car
and walked away wobbly and weak on her feet to a seat outside a small
caravan that was parked beside the Big Top . A little shaken and
needing a drink of water Mable opened the door of the caravan and fell
inside .
The caravan was empty apart from a small fridge and a bed .
She lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep .
Her sleep was interrupted by the roaring of a lion and to Mable's
surprise
She was in a cage with three lions . In her hand she held a whip and a
wooden chair . The lions roared aloud and jumped over her head .
Cameras flashed from the audience and it was then that Mable realised
that she had become the Lion tamer in the big top .
She was frightened but never ran . As the lions jaws gnashed she felt
faint and at that moment the cage door opened and a funny clown with a
huge pair of feet carried in a large box with a sign that said Vespers
Vanishing Box .
The clown opened up a door ands invited Mable to step inside .
As she did she discovered bright blue flashing lights appeared .
There was a terrific crash that was followed by a burst of smoke that
almost smothered her . Mable had no idea what was going on .
She just knelt down and prayed hard as all the commotion exploded in a
frenzy of white light and the door of the box opened up .
Mable walked out into an empty field . There where goalposts at one end
of the field with a loud speaker mounted on the top .
The speakers crackled and then a voice uttered out
"Welcome Circus Box Girl score a goal a win a prize ."
A soccer ball bounced its way towards Mable .
She took the ball and walked towards the goalposts then she placed the
ball on the spot in front of the goal . She stepped back and took aim
and fired the ball into the back of the net . Through the speakers
cheering erupted as a black car raced towards her . The door of the car
opened up and she stepped inside . Immediately she was driven off at
top speed a stall with a shelf lined up with prizes . The stall was run
by a boy with a football scarf who asked her to pick a number from any
of those written down on the wall of his stall .
Mable asked for lucky seven and the boy cried out .
"She's picked seven ."
Bells started to ring out everywhere and a fire engine rushed towards
Mable . The door of the fire engine opened up and a large man rushed
over and lifted Mable up onto to the mechanical ladder of the fire
engine . The ladder started to life higher and higher into the air .
Suddenly she saw two people on the flying trapeze swinging over towards
her .
Mable was grabbed by a strong pair of hands that reached out and then
let her go .She dropped down onto a net to the thunderous applause of
the audience in the Big Top . The flashing of cameras almost blinded
her as she stood up and took a bow .
Music started to blare through the Big Tops Public address and flashing
disco
Lights lit up the arena as all of the performers came out and took
their final bow before the audience . Mable stood there among them as
flowers were being thrown in from some of the people in the audience
who screamed for more . Mable felt the goose pimples in her skin rise
up .
Suddenly a deadly silence fell around and Mable felt someone touch her
face .
"Are you all right little girl " said the boy with the football scarf
around his neck Mable opened her eyes and sat up .
"Where am I ." Mable asked .
"You're in the ringmasters caravan at Paples circus."
Mable blinked here eyes and stretched her arms in the air and asked
.
"What happened ?"
The Ringmaster approached her and said ,
"Well little girl it seems that you have taken the longest Hover-Bumper
Car ride in history . I believe that you somehow got locked into a
anti-gravitational pull that sent you into a weird time warp . You
managed to changed the present time continuum swing of our three
dimensional existence and enter a co-inexistent swing where parallel
worlds live side by side ".
"What ?" Mable asked .
Everybody except the Ringmaster laughed .
A knock came upon the caravan and the McFable family were all brought
in .
After a few hugs Mable was allowed to leave the caravan .
Mr McFable reached out and offered his hand to the Ringmaster .
"Thank you for finding our little lost girl ." he said .
A handshake was exchanged .
"No problem . Thank you for coming to our circus ."
The Ringmaster replied and looking straight at Mable he smiled and then
said "We are always looking out for new talent . How would you like to
join us? " Mable laughed ,
"Sue why not ." she answered .
"Then the next time we come to your town I'll bring the contract
".
Everybody laughed .
The day ended and all the McFable family walked home .
At the end of the week Paples circus left Grenwell village and as talk
spread about the circus it seemed that the main focus of attention was
centered on one performer in particular .
A little circus girl who could tame lions and fly through the air on
the trapeze .

By Paul McCann

THE END