Circo Bizerko

Part I

Alison L.

Lasse, Logan, Lizzy, Matt, and Alison were in a car. Alison was driving, of course. They were going to Circo Bizerko, a new act that was traveling all over the globe. However, this circus was only held at night. One had to show identification to prove the would-be patron was 18 or older.

It was raining when they arrived, so Alison pulled the car up to the front of the tent, and Lizzy, Lasse, and Matt scrambled out of the backseat and under the awning. »Eww!» Lizzy said, about the smelly water that plonked her on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Alison parker the car in a sluice of mud about 300 years away. »Thanks for waiting on me,» she told Logan.

»It’s really coming down in buckets,» he observed.

»I have an umbrella in my bag. I think we can probably share it. That’s a looong walk back to the front,» she said, craning her neck to see if she could even see their friends.

»You are like a boy scout with your enormous purse of supplies,» Logan mused.

»Or like a magician,» she said.

When they arrived back at the tent entrance, Matt and Lasse were tugging a stuffed giraffe back in forth. Lizzy watched them, acutely, like a tennis match.

»Hells bells, we’ve been gone 3 minutes and it’s like Lord of the Flies up here,» Alison stated, putting a hand on her hip.

»The boys won this giraffe and they are fighting over who gets to give it to me,» Lizzy explained. Her eyes never left the action.

Logan snatched the toy from the scuffle and handed it to Lizzy. »Here,» he said. »I won this for you.»

Alison ran her fingers through her hair. »Great! Can we go inside now? It’s super freezing out here.»

»Dude,» Lizzy said, affecting an American accent. »It’s like 73* out here. Fahrenheit!»

Matt looked confused. »Is this chilly?» he said.

»No, it’s not,» Logan said. »You just don’t understand Floridians. Nobody does. I wouldn’t mind it being 10 degrees colder actually.»

»I’m from Finland,» said Lasse.

The friends chose an empty row of seats two rows from the top. Matt put his feet on the raiser below them. »I wish Bullet were here to see this,» he opined.

»Would he chase the clowns?» Lizzy asked.

»I think he’d probably crawl into one of the tiger’s empty cages and go to sleep,» Matt said.

»I wonder if they have shrimp-flavored cotton candy,» Lasse said, cocking his head to the side. The others followed his gaze down to a little girl, bobbing along after her mother, a cloud of turquoise fluff in her hand.»

»Eww,» said Lizzy. »Nothing like candy confections while you are assaulted by the stench of animal droppings.»

Lasse shrugged. »I dunno, ‘k.» He grabbed his wallet and shuffled down the bleachers.

Three women plopped down in front of the friends. The one wearing a towering hat sat right in front of Alison, the shortest of the five friends.

Alison made a face and looked at Logan. »Do not say a word,» she said.

Logan laughed and turned toward Matt and Lizzy. This happened last week when we were out seeing Koyaanisqatsi . The exact thing happened. She was livid.»

»I understand,» Matt said.

»Don’t you have a booster seat or something in your magic bag of tricks?» Logan teased with a smirk.

Lizzy stood up. »Trade with me, I’m a bit taller than you.» The girls switched positions.

»That’s a lot better, thanks,» Alison said.

She looked at Matt, who was nibbling at his nails. »What’s your favorite part of the circus?» she asked.

Matt looked thoughtful. While she waited for him to answer, she could hear Lizzy and Logan discussing whether or not they should ‘volunteer’ Lasse to be shot out of a cannon.

»I like it when the pretty girls do tricks with fire,» Matt decided.

»Pretty grils?» Lasse asked, his mouth full of cottony fluff.

»What flavor did you end up with?» Lizzy asked.

»Watermelon, if you know what I mean,» Lasse answered.

The house lights dimmed, just as Lasse sat down. Matt clapped in anticipation. Lizzy poked Logan with Alison’s umbrella.

The spotlight shown down on the middle of the circus floor. The show was about to begin!