I look at myself in the full-body mirror that I have inside my circus cart, and I can't help but grin. The off-white, ruffled ballroom dress that I cut to just above my knees is nicely complimenting my figure, and even the elk antler headband that I originally thought was going to look terrible is actually looking wonderful. My heart-shaped scar is filled in with pale red paint, and my dully colored eye shadows are making it stand out even more, which is a very good thing. I fit the theme of tonight's performance, which is a winter romance, perfectly.
But before the performance begins, I have one thing that I have to do. Being careful to not step on any creaky floorboards, I open the door to where I can just barely squeeze through, and silently sprint across the small clearing where the audience will be coming in. I keep running until I reach a distant cliff, and I throw my bare feet over the edge, staring at the beautiful, wispy clouds. I smile the entire time, feeling the wind ruffle my hair and run invisible fingers through it. Apparently my angels followed me here and want to make sure that I'm primed for my performance. My angels may have never appeared to me, but it's more than obvious that they love me.
Once I've had my fill of the sky, the clouds, and being cared for by angels, I run back to the main circus tent and barely beat the massive crowd. Taking a seat against the wall, I pull my knees close to me and begin to hum the words that I'll be singing tonight. Even though it may not seem that evident, by now I feel on top of the world, and I'm trying not to give everyone a big hug. Not that I've ever hugged anyone, really; otherwise I probably wouldn't be in this circus. It's sad in its own right, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't grateful for the circus.
The only thing that drags me out of my thoughts is Blaze the knife thrower's finger tapping me on my shoulder and her dull voice telling me that I'll be going on in about two minutes. Just to try and calm my bubbling happiness I close my eye, clear my mind, and try to listen to the familiar grinding of the gears in the core of Clockwork. Within seconds, I can hear them monotonously continuing to go on with their never-ending lives, and I can't help but sympathize with their imaginary voices.
"C'mon Sophie, you're going up." I hear Blaze say before she disappears into the shadows, as usual. I stand up, dust myself off, and walk out into the middle of the ring which is covered in fake snow.
Acting as if I'm an actual elk, I walk around a giant, bare Sycamore tree and I'm about to eat a leaf when I hear the first of the puppets dropping down. I walk towards the man-shaped puppet and it begins to twirl me around as I begin my song.
"Words we have said grew in my head . . ." I get twirled one more time before I begin a quick waltz with him. Then he disappears and another puppet comes along to replace him and we do a similar routine.
"They colored my thoughts and sang me to bed . . ." I sing before the puppet yet again disappears.
Suddenly, I hear a male's singing voice, and my surprise is genuine as I spin around on the heel of my foot. "Lost memories grew into trees and covered the doors, swallowed the keys." This time the puppet master himself dressed as another elk comes into view, and I approach him, immediately beginning a slow dance with him.
I lean my head close to his ear. "How are you doing, Claude Munroe?" I whisper, smiling. "You're looking much like a forest animal tonight." The rest of the song I was previously singing is playing with the original singer's voice, a tranquil sound.
"Fine, but are you sure we should be talking like this?" Claude says, so panicked that he seems to miss my second remark.
"I'm certain. I wouldn't do it if I wasn't. Besides, we're supposed to act like we're thoroughly enjoying this." I reply.
"Are you saying that you aren't?" He answers, and I can hear his smile in his voice.
"Who told you that I wasn't?" Smiling back, he decides that it may be best to put our focus completely back on our dance. We immediately pick up the pace a little, and we try to make our bodies fit together a bit better. I see his freely hanging, pale blonde gently gliding off of his shoulders and his grey eyes look more alive than I've ever seen anyone's eyes before this very moment. We finish our dance soon, and we walk our separate ways once we gather our roses and other small, various gifts.
But as I'm walking to my circus cart, cradling a rose with a love note on it with special care, something just doesn't feel right about the air. It feels damp with just a slight chill, and I can hear faint shrieks telling me that I should go anywhere but here. I'm thinking that my angels have a point, but where else can I go? Claude might take me in, but before I'm given some time to think about it, my hand's reaching for the doorknob and I'm stepping inside.
What greets me is a figure literally made of shadows. He only has two circles in his face for eyes, and there's a small space for a mouth too. His mouth is slightly open, and he's staring at me like he's confused as to why I'm here. He has no distinguishable legs, he only stems from a pool of darkness on the floor. Out of nowhere he jumps up from the chair in front of my vanity and flows towards me on an imaginary breeze, smiling a big grin.
"Hello there, Sophie the Siren. I'm Jack, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
Author's Note: The lyrics to the song that they were singing is not my material. It is an excerpt of "Dance 'Round the Memory Tree" by Oren Lavie, and I simply edited the lyrics to where they sounded like proper English sentences.
