|
|
|
Holly was feeling like she wished something would happen that would be a surprise, you know, something exciting. School was out and it was only 3pm in the afternoon and what could she do till supper time? Sometimes she would go out and play with her friends who lived on the same street, Trickle Lane, and they would have fun together, but for some reason she didn't feel like doing this today. Maybe I'll go down by the river and look for some small rocks or stones I can put in my fish tank, she thought. Holly had a large fish tank with about ten brightly colored fish with wavy fins and black beady eyes that gleamed in the sunlit light tube at the top of the tank near the bubbles that floated on the surface of the water and made soft gurgling noises all the time. She had some greenery in the tank but it needed some rocks for the fish to swim in and out of and maybe she could find one with a hole in it. Now THAT would be great, but she would have to look really hard for it. Well, Holly never did reach the river because on her way there she bumped into her friend Porky and his two friends, Dresser and Snorkel, who were going in the opposite direction. "Where ya going, Holly?" cried Porky. "I was going to look for rocks for my fish tank", she replied, " what are you doing?" "We're going to pick up tickets for the Circus that's starting tomorrow. Want to come with us?" Holly's eyes shone. " A CIRCUS?!! I'd LOVE to come, but I gotta ask Mom first and see if she'd let me buy a ticket, and can I bring Ring, you know, my little racoon friend?" " Of course," said Porky, " tell you what, we'll buy two extra tickets and you run home and ask your Mom, and if she won't let you come we'll give them to someone else, but I'm sure she will" Holly ran off to Trickle Lane and burst through the back door of her house and into the ktichen where her mother was cooking a rich dark chocolate cake, well, actually, the cake was in the oven and she was mixing icing to put on top. " Mom, a Circus is here and starts tomorrow and Porky wants me and Ring to go with them to the show. PLEEEZE can we go? You will say YES, huh, Mom?" Her mother looked up and smiled,"Well,well, looks like we are a little behind the times. Your father already bought two tickets for you and Ring, but if Porky has bought you tickets, how about I give you the money for them and then your father and I can go too? It's alright," she added quickly," we won't be sitting with you because the ticket numbers wil be different so you can have fun without grownups looking over your shoulder!" "THANKS. Mom, thanks a LOT" Holly cried and rushed out into the back yard calling, " Ring! Ring! Where are you?" A small disturbance at the end of the garden shook some bushes that were up against the back fence and soon Ring's inquisitive face peeked out and when he saw Holly he came scurrying quickly over to where she was. Ring was a baby racoon whose dark eyes had black rings round them, grey fur and a bushy tail with black rings round the tip, and he had cute soft paws that he would pat Holly's face when she held him. "We're going to the Circus tomrrow, Ring." she told him happily and he grinned at her." Let's go find Porky, Snorkel and Dress" she continued, "They will be waiting to see what Mom said". So they hurried off back to the store where the tickets were sold and sure enough, the three friends were waiting patiently for them and in Porky's hoof were five tickets. Holly handed him some money and told them what her mother had said. Snorkel commented, " That was nice of your Mom to let you come with us and I wish all parents would realize kids appreciate it when they aren't breathing down our necks all the time." Dress, who had been hopping up and down on her toes, cried, " Let's go watch them set up the tents. We might be able to see the tigers and elephants". The gang got excited and headed off towards the field north of the Village where events like a Circus or the Animal fair, Arts and Crafts and other such, were held. As they came near they saw a whole bunch of activity going on and heard the shouts of men as they worked to get the Big Top, the main tent, set up. They were glad it wasn't raining and the men were sweating as they pulled and tugged at the heavy canvass roof and side walls. Behind the tent some long long trailers stood and they could hear the roars of the big cats, the tigers and lions, and men shouting orders about how the cages were to be arranged, and the high wire fence that made a narrow pathway from where the animals would be kept till when they went into the Ring. They would be running down that narrow pathway from their cages to the Ring where there was a metal door they would go through and then the door would shut behind them and they would be in the Ring till their act was over and then they would go back through the door to their cages. Porky and his friends wandered around being careful not to get in the way, and spoke with one or two or the Circus people who weren't so busy, like the Fortune Teller - a weird looking lady who had a little booth set up and was sitting at a card table setting out cards in a funny pattern. She was dressed in a long flowing bright green dress with orange and black goldfish all over it. The fish were swimming through dark green reeds and made you think you were just like the fish in Holly's tank at home! The lady, whose name was Madam Glenvira, smiled at the group of friends and waved them over. "Welcome to Bright Top Circus," she cried, "Come and sit down and I'll tell one of you your future as a gift from me." Porky and the others looked at eachother and he asked, " Who wants to have their forture told?" Holly said, "How about Ring? I bet Madame Glenvira has never told a Racoon what his future is going to be before." Madam G nodded, " As a matter of fact, I haven't," she said, " But there's always a first time. Come and sit at the table, Ring". Ring hesitated. After all, Madam D. DID look kind of different and Ring, quite honestly, didn't like fish! At least, not when they were squiggling around in the water. Holly gave him a gentle nudge and he got up on the chair and held out a paw. Madam G took it gently in her hand and looked at the small velvety pad that had fine lines that one could barely see, and she pushed away the fur so she could see more clearly. Then she held Rong's paw and closed her eyes for a few mintues. She had very green eyes that almost, but not quite, matched her dress, and when she opened them she looked at Ring and then at the others with a curious expression. " It's odd," she said, "but I see Ring and you," she pointed to Porky and Dress, " crawling through a window somewhere. I can't make out where it is but whatever you are doing it is dangerous and you are being very careful. And I see you two," she looked at Holly and Ring," hiding behind what looks like a large dresser in a narrow room. I don't know where that is either, but you too, are feeling you need to be hiding from something or someone. And you", she turned to Snorkel, "are behind a bed it looks like. I'm sorry, but that's all that comes and I can't tell you more but just to be very careful from now on." Dress asked, " But Madam Glenvira, do you know WHEN we are going to be in danger and doing what you saw?" Madam G smiled strangely, " Well, dear, it s odd but it seemed like it would be tomorrow." At that moment someone called to her and she rose and excused herself,saying she had to leave. Porky and the rest started to head for their homes as it was getting towards supper time and they didn't want to be late and maybe mess up their chances of going to the Circus the next day. "What do you think?" asked Porky,"do you believe what she said?" As they wended their way home they talked over what Madam Glenvira had said. Snorkel thought it was all a bunch of piffle. " She doens't know what can REALLY happen," he snorted, " I bet she says things like that all the time so she can make money and get people to come back again and ask her how to get out of danger, or whatever she says is going to happen that isn't nice." "I don't know,"said Holly, "she seemed like she really meant what she said and like she was really concerned about us being careful. What do you think, Porky?" Porky touched his snout with a hoof and thought. " I don't know, to be truthful, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful and kind of on the lookout for anything strange. And since we all know what she said we can look out for eachother." Dress pitched in with, "I don't think we should tell our families what Madam G. told us, do you? There's no point getting them all stressed up over nothing and we don't KNOW anything will happen, and if it doesn't we'll look stupid." They agreed not to say anything about their future-telling experience and Ring's bright little eyes shone even brighter and his nose twitched a little more and he kept close to Holly. The next day after school, they went to their respective homes to change and get ready for the show which began at 6pm and went till 9pm and Porky and his group met at the main entrance in tons of time so they could be as near the front of the line as possible! It was already starting to make a long sausage across the field. As they were standing in line Porky whispered to his friends, " Hey, look over there!" He pointed across to the back of the Circus compound where the cages and trailers were. They looked over just in time to see the end of what looked like the hind legs and tail of a tiger disappearing across the far side of the field. Then they saw three men go running out after it with something in their hands. Porky seemed to be the only one to have noticed what had happened because just then, as more and more people joined the line up the gate to the Big Top opened and the line started to move in, everyone pushing in a hurry to get in and find their seats. Porky said, " Let's go and see what's happening. We can use our tickets tomorrow. The Circus is here for a week anyway." So they all slipped quietly out of the crowd and ran towards the back of the circus grounds. While the loudspeaker was announcing events for the night people were filling the Big Top and clowns were making everyone laugh as they waited for the show to begin. Porky and all found a distressed Ring Master talking rapidly to his staff. He was wringing his hands and looking MOST upset. " Timka has got out", he was saying, " I don't know WHERE she would go and we don't know this place and neither does she, so she will be scared and might get angry because she's frightened and in a strange place. Does anyone have any ideas what we could do? I sent Joe, Don and Rick after her with the usual, but they don't know this Village and wouldn't know where to begin to look for her". The children, Porky and Ring arrived just in time to hear what the Ring Master was saying. Porky stepped up to the Ring Master and said, " Excuse me, but we saw your tiger running away when we were waiting for the gate to open. We live in Krumble and we know every place there is. If you'd like us to help find her ?" Mr Bright looked at them with hope in his eyes. " If you could help us we would be VERY grateful". Holly stepped forward, " What does Timka like to eat and play with - like what does her trainer do to get her attention? If we knew that maybe we could figure out a way to attract her to her trainer and he would know what to do with her then". Mr Bright told one of the men to fetch Tossack, the lion tamer, who was with the other big cats getting them ready for their act. Tossack was dressed in baggy blue trousers and a shirt that had gold trimmings and red tassles on the shoulders. He was a young man with fair blond hair and blue eyes and he looked very worried and sad. Mr Bright told him of the offer to help find Tinka and what Holly had asked. Then he asked if Tossack's assistant could possibly take over for the next act and free up Tossack to help in the search till they found her and got her back. Tossack looked relieved that there were some folk who could help find his favorite tiger because she was really actually tame and not a bit ferocious. He told Mr Bright that his assistant Lennie was well able to carry on without him and he would go with Porky and his friends. He told them that Timka loved large plexiglass balls and would play for hours chasing them, tossing them in the air and catching them in her mouth. She seemed to be fascinated with the colors and the feel of the plexiglass that didn't break when her sharp teeth bit into it. Tossack went to get a couple of the balls and they set off in the direction they had seen Timka and the men disappear. As they left the Circus they could hear over the loudspeaker, a voice asking the crowd to keep absolutely SILENT while the acrobats swung upside down high up in the top of the Tent. They hung by their feet and caught eachothers' hands, one letting go and hanging by the other one's hands and then swinging to the far side of the tent, then letting go of his partner's hands and catching the narrow bar as an empty swing swept by. There was no safety net below which was why the crowd was asked not to even whisper or make ANY sound! Porky and his friends wished like anything they could be inside watching all this and they thought of their families enjoying it all but they knew they had to find Timka, so hurried on. They caught up with the three men who were standing outside a single wide trailer belonging to a widow lady (who was watching the circus at this time!) and they noticed that one of the windows was wide open and looked big enough for a tiger to go through. " Hi Mr Bright," one of the men called softly, "Tinka's inside there and sounds like she's getting angry or scared because she's started growling. We don't know the layout of the inside of this trailer so we haven't been able to get inside. It's too dangerous to just go through the door when we don't know what's on the other side." Mr Bright turned to Porky. " Do YOU know how the trailer is inside?" " Sure do," said Porky," we visit Mrs Lucy all the time because she bakes the best cookies and she's always giving us some to eat and likes the company. Her husband died last year and she gets lonely. The front door opens straight into the living room and the kitchen is right next to it. There's a sort of dining area in the kitchen and that's where we eat the cookies with her. Then there's a short hallway that goes to the bedrooms and after them at the end, is the bathroom. " They all discussed the floor plan and not knowing where Timka might be and not being able to look inside the windows because all the curtains were drawn they thought about what might be able to be done. The men had brought a spray that held sleeping liquid that wouldn't hurt Timka but put her to sleep if they could get close enough to spray her. "How about we crawl through the windows? " asked Snorkel, " we'll see which ones are unlocked and we're small enough to get in and we'd be really quiet so Timka won't even hear us. We all know exactly where the furniture is so we won't be bumping into things and making a noise, then one of us could try getting to the front door and open it for you." The Circus people didn't much like the idea of young children doing such a dangerous thing but they couldn't think of anything else to do and they couldn't stay outside all night, so Porky and the rest found some unlocked windows and checked to see if they could be opened from the outside. Very carefully and silently, they each disappeared into the trailer. Ring followed Holly through one window, and as usual he always went where she did. Porky and Dress went through another. Snorkel found one for himself and discovered he had entered one of the bedrooms. Holly and Ring were in another bedroom and Porky and Dress found themselves in the kitchen. Fortunately for all of them, Timka was prowling around the living room making growling noises because she was in a strange place and rather frightened. We all know how that is, huh, so we can feel for Timka? The men outside were worried because they had no idea what the children had found and they couldn't hear anything but they figured that if Timka didn't roar they were safe. The Circus men got as near to the front door as they could and the three men who had come first spread out a large thick rope net and laid it on the ground outside the door. It had long strong ropes at each of the four corners held by the three men and Mr Bright who had positioned themselves there. They planned that when Timka came through the door and Tossack called to her, he would throw her a ball on to the net and then each man would pull HARD on their rope and the net would close like a string bag. Tossack could then go close enough to his pet and spray her from the medicine can and put her to sleep. Then they could take her back to the Circus. Inside the trailer they could hear Timka sniffing around and Snorkel crouched down behind Mrs Lucy's bed. He didn't feel very brave and hoped that Timka wouldn't come into the bedroom where he was - the door being slightly open! Holly and Ring were hiding behind a large dresser in the other bedroom and Ring clutched Holly's leg and his eyes were so bright and not inquisitive at all! Porky and Dress could hear Timka the most, being the closest to her, and Porky wondered HOW he could reach the front door and get it open so Timka could see the door was open and not see HIM! Dress was frightened but she didn't make a sound. Porky thought really hard because he didn't know where the others were hiding but he had to distract Timka away from the living room. He had an idea but he didn't know if Dress would be brave enough to come out of hiding. He whispered into her ear, "I'm going to go down the hall past the bedrooms to the bathroom and flush the toilet. As soon as you see me run past, you jump out and open the front door as wide as you can and run out to Mr Bright and the others. You'll be safe with them. Can you do that?" Dress nodded and held her breath as Porky tiptoed as quietly as he could down the hall, which fortunately wasn't very long, to the bathroom. He wasn't feeling at all courageous and his little hooves were shaking, but he reached the bathroom and half closed the door. He went so fast he didn't stop to shut the bedroom doors and then he felt badly because he thought, "What if Timka goes into a bedroom instead of the bathroom ?" Anyway, he opened the bathroom window wide and saw it wasn't too far to fall before he would hit the ground. Then he took a DEEP breath, flushed the toilet and jumped out the window as fast as he could, kicking it shut with his hind hoof. He heard Timka make a startled growl and come speeding towards the bathroom. As she went by the bedrooms the three others hiding behind the bed and dresser held their breath and tried to be invisible, but Timka wanted to see what was making that strange sound, and besides, the nearer she got to the bathroom she could smell pig and she was hungry!. She skidded to a halt when she reached the bathroom because there was nothing there that was either human or animal. No pig! Odd. Then she heard a very familiar voice calling, " Timka, Timka, here girl". The tiger pricked up her ears. She recognized Tossack's voice and immediately felt better and not scared any more. This place was strange and she was hungry and she missed the other animals. She turned and went towards where the voice was coming from. Now another strange thing! There was an open door that hadn't been there before and she could get out of this funny cage. She leaped through the door and right into the middle of the net where she saw one of her very own plexiglass balls that she loved to play with. Then the men pulled on their ropes and the net closed round her. This made her angry and she tried to claw her way out but the ropes were very strong. Then she saw Tossack, her favorite person in the whole world and she stopped struggling and tried to reach him because he was coming towards her and she knew he would never hurt her. As Tossack came closer she felt something spray into her face and the next thing she knew she was back in her cage at the Circus ! She wasn't at all sure how she got there but she was very happy - this was HOME! The show was about over when they all got back and everyone of the Circus crew were so happy to have Timka home safe and sound and unhurt. They were glad noone had been hurt in the search and all praised the courage of the five friends, telling them how brave they were. They gave extra kudos to Porky for coming up with such a good idea to get Timka distracted so Dress could open the front door. All worked out perfectly. Mr Bright gave them tickets to see the show EVERY night of the week and you can imagine how they felt about THAT! When they got home, the usual questions was asked, " Did you have a good time and enjoy the show?" Well, they had been seeing some part of it so they said, " We thought it was really exciting - especially the tiger part. And we made friends with the owner of the Circus and he's given us tickets to go every night for the rest of the week!" Their parents were curious as to how they came by all these free tickets but they were kindly folk and didn't even quiz their children. So for the next six nights, Holly, Ring, Porky, Dress and Snorkel sat in the front seats and got called to join the clowns in some of their tricks. Now if YOU were at the Circus every night for a week which tricks would you want to have a part in? Would you want to ride the bicycles with the clowns, turn summersaults, fall over and throw candy, balls and other trinkets to the children in the audience ? Tell jokes and watch everyone laugh, ( and try not to laugh too hard yourself! ). How would you dress ? Would you have a big bright red shiny nose, a funny face and baggy clown clothes, or would you rather be an acrobat, or ride the elephants ? Holly, Ring and her friends tried all those things during the nights they went and had the time of their lives. Tossack even let them throw a plexiglas ball to Timka, but from the outside of her cage and over the wire fence and they loved to watch her toss a ball and catch it and play with it like an overgrown kitty! They became friends with all the Circus crew and they even asked Madame Glenvira if she saw any other future for them that would be exciting but not QUITE so dangerous. But she didn't! ******************************************* Goessoftly Retired Therapist www.goesoftlyishere.com (No Copies Allowed) | PIGMUS STORY 1. Heather | PIGMUS STORY 2 Nancy | PIGMUS STORY 3. Drew | PIGMUS STORY 4 Holly | PIGMUS STORY 5 Nobody | PIGMUS STORY 6 Mollie | PIGMUS STORY 7 Heidi | PIGMUS STORY 8 . Veronica | PIGMUS STORY 9. Nichole | PIGMUS STORY 10. Stephanie | Sunny | Merry Flipper | | THE HEALING PROCESS | DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER | POETRY | Biographical Entries | THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE | STORIES FOR LITTLES (Pigmus and friends) | |
||