The Cryptic Circus

I have to give much credit to Chelsea Up-North, the amazing co-author of this story.

Crack! The whip sounded loudly as it snapped upon his skin. Pain blasted through Jaunde’s nerves as blood rapidly pulsed in his veins. Unbearable pain overcame him every time.

            “Imbecilic creature!” Egor cried as he kissed Jaunde’s flesh with the lash once more. As the weapon pierced him sharply, bolts stuck through his body and his long neck.

            “Foreign freak! Your abnormally tall height, your ungodly colors, those pathetic-excuse-for-horns upon your dense head!” The whip came down upon the victim repeatedly as Egor proclaimed his cruel words. Jaunde stifled his cries within, and longed for thoughts of comfort. Fantasies of a joyous, peaceful, world, one to which he belonged…     

            “Why do the people like you?! I don’t understand. You’re nothing special, nothing worthwhile. It’s just because they consider you “mysterious”, but I know better. I know what you really are. You’re just NOTHING!”

            Jaunde lay weak and exhausted, his body absorbed in anguish. His mind, however, lay peacefully in another place, one he dreamed of at night and dwelled on in day. The world, he knew, to which he truly belonged.       

            This place he dreamed of was one of warmth and beauty. Light blue, cloudless sky reigned over top of luscious grasses on the sandy earth. Slabs of stones shone bright in the glorious rays of sun, and overwhelming joy surrounded everything. He knew, without a doubt, that this place existed-someway, somehow-and it was here, he wished to someday call home. It was this inspiration, this hope and dream that kept him going and alive.

            Snap! The whip greeted him once more. “Rise, beast!” the ringmaster blasted, the red of furious insanity pulsing within his eyes. Suddenly, his expression turned angry. “I said, get up!”

            Jaunde’s vision of his realistic nightmare slowly returned and he viewed his current setting. He lay is a circular room, consumed by a wretched smell and an obvious feeling of horror and suffering. Torture cowered all along the perimeter as the others lay in utter fear. It was a dark, cold, bare world that consisted of nothing but pain and seclusion.

            “Centaur! Sphinx! Pegasus!” Egor shrieked as he spun glared around the room, his long finger jabbing toward each one in turn as he called their name. “Dragon! Acromantula!.. Gangly freak!” His hand stopped last on Jaunde and paused for a moment, taking in the madness. Yet, Jaunde simply remained still, his thoughts dwelling in a better place far from here…

            “Alas,” he began somewhat calmly, regarding all who would listen, “The show is about to begin! The crowd has arrived at last! As always, you will do what I say during this fine ritual of performing. You all know what must be done tonight! Do well, my friends. It is all you were made for and all you are permitted to do in this life, so fulfill your only worth!” the ringmaster cackled and laughed in madness, then turned and walked out of the dark, captive hell, leaving them all in his wake.

            Jaunde finally sat back down against the far wall away from the exit, hiding behind his bloodstained tears as they rolled down his cheek. Dirt was caked in his cracked hooves and any attempt to stand was painful. Looking around him, he saw the other broken creatures and knew that they, too, must long to be free. They were meant to fill up a sunny world, not to be caged in shadows of misery.

 

            The crowd outside waited in loud anticipation as Egor appeared outside the worn tent. “Ladies, Gentlemen, Children!” he roared to the people. “Welcome, all, to the show! See fantastic beasts other than man that you won’t find anywhere else, and feast your eyes upon their beauty.” A smirk of madness crossed his jaw as the reflection of his unhinging mind flared through his eyes.

“Now come one, come all,

 to the show of mystery…”

All suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned their undivided attention to him.

“See all the beauty,

 of the creatures hidden deep…”

All eyes in the crowd glazed over and stared.

“So enter, come one, come all.”

The crowd silently filed into the tent, paying fee to Egor along the way.

            Egor grinned in bleak satisfaction as he took the money from each zombie-like passerby on their way to the stands. After the last of them entered, he shoved the chunk of money into his suit pocket, placed his top hat upon his long, greasy hair, and headed to retrieve his first victim.

            “Centaur! Come!” The ringmaster fetched the copper key from the hook on the wall to unleash the beast. Once freed, he still refused to budge.

            “I said COME!” The whip harshly slapped the Centaur’s cheekbone as Egor threw it madly. He bellowed in pain and crossed the room obediently and unwillingly with the madman, who still held the weapon threateningly.

            Peeking through the concealment of darkness, Jaunde watch the two of them exit, and heard the crowd roar in delight as Centaur appeared before then in the adjacent tent. How is it possible, Jaunde wondered, for the pain of the innocent to be their pleasure?

“Ladies and Gentlemen, see the Centaur gallop! Watch his grace and magical elegance!”

Limping and wincing, Centaur circled the ring…

The crowd “ooo-ed” and “ahh-ed” as they took in the sight…

Truly, he was screaming, his face still streaming with blood from that last lash…

“Isn’t he gorgeous?!” Egor shouted to them all, and they applauded in agreement.

 Only the view of him skipping and prancing was seen by the fans, his skin a healthy glow…

Centaur was glad to see the exit so mercifully before him, looking forward to hiding in his prison once more.

Clapping and cheering reverberated from the audience, as Centaur made his final leap and departed from the ring, closely followed by Egor.

“Pegasus! Let’s go! They’re waiting for you!” After being unchained and released, she feebly moved from her place of refuge out into the open, helplessly following the ringmaster in a desperate attempt to avoid a lashing.

“You’re next, freak!” he shouted back behind him to Jaunde as he left.

Jaunde curled up where he laid, his head hidden between his front feet. Life can’t go on like this, he knew. It just wasn’t meant to be this way. Who is Egor, to say what we do and how we live? Perhaps he is wrong, and we were, in fact, meant for more than this. The humans run free, so why can’t we do the same? I don’t understand it! Looking around, Jaunde saw the faces of all the others, sad and hopeless. Dragon was scorched and black; Sphinx was apathetic and cold; the Acromantula was missing three legs. It’s just so unnatural. Why hasn’t anyone tried to stop it, to make things right? The whole thing is unjust; something must be done, and I refuse to wait any longer for someone else to do it. I will not die in chains!    

            Next door, in the main arena, Egor’s voice could be heard exclaiming “Look at this Pegasus! Isn’t she a flawless beauty?”

            She crawled around the stadium, half of her left wing was missing, her tail hatched off…

            Whistling and shouts of joy echoed from the audience as they watched her prance and fly…

            Her skin hugged her broken ribs tight, as she used all her remaining strength...

“Isn’t she just unbelievable?!” their master exclaimed to the crowd, as they stood and clapped at his words.

Radiance glistened from her pure white coat, and the eyes off all the children glowed in awe…

It was over at last, at least for now, so Pegasus could hide her scarred face and rest…

Sad to see her radiance disappear, all eyes watched her go until her last hair was unseen.

“Have no fear, good people, for there is more to come!” he shouted quickly behind him as he departed from the tent.

 

            Fear embraced their holding place and Egor entered to fetch Jaunde.

“It’s your turn, thing!” he growled fiercely as he reluctantly removed the shackles. “Come please the crowd with your useless façade!”

            The whip licked him unnecessarily as he managed to stand and cross the room and enter the arena, anger and anguish filling him as he commenced to trace the ring. 

            “This next creature,” Egor began, “is one of a kind, never seen before.”

            The crowd remained speechless and motionless and Jaunde appeared before them.

            “An animal foreign to our world, from a place far from our own…”

            Anger pulsed through Jaunde’s veins uncontrollably as he neared the ringmaster…

            Excitement reverberated from the watching audience as they intensely observed him…

            “This beast is known,” he continued, “to be violent and temperamental. Beware his wrath! Have no fear, however, for I am here to control him.” The grin that slapped his face was sickening. Insanity bellowed in those eyes of envy and fury.

            Jaunde hated his lies, his false statements, and his vicious myths.

            With a flick of Egor’s baton, the crowd knew the magic would truly begin…

            With the lash pulled back, the madman was ready to strike, his expression covered in demented excitement…

            Desire and determination raged through Jaunde, wanting to end this vendetta once and for all…

Crack!

Egor body crumbled along with his neck and Jaunde slammed his foot atop his master’s skull. He collapsed clumsily in the center of the tent; the ringmaster was dead.

Jaunde stared at the corpse for a moment, waiting for it to move, to strike, to kill him. Yet, the body remained immobile and lifeless. Lifting his head to view the crowd, Jaunde watched them begin to shake their heads violently and stir. The glazed look disappeared from their eyes as though life was restored to them. They looked around as though they were truly seeing the whole place for the first time. Some even began to stare at Jaunde, confused and shocked by his withered appearance. Then the eyes of some caught sight of Egor, and realized what he actually was- a tyrant, a scam artist, a sick man. Realizing how horrible the concept of the circus realistically was, the people decided it was unfit and inhumane. Without Egor around to enforce it, there was nothing upholding the rule, either. Let the animals run free, they decided. So, one man went to the neighboring tent, took the copper key off the far wall, and unchained every creature. With one last look around, the people slowly left.

Even as dusk crept over the tents, the sky seemed brighter than it ever had before as Jaunde looked around for the first time with free eyes.

The mythical creatures headed to the west, and beckoned Jaunde to follow. Yet, he felt obliged to object, for he had other plans and a different fate ahead of him. So, the animals said good bye and thanked him for his bravery as they left in search of their new lives. As for Jaunde, he headed off solo toward the north, toward the unknown, in search of his dream, his true place to call home.

 

Author's Note

comments and critiques welcome!

Reviews

[John]

That was really a unique idea I loved the line you used to describe Jaunde's dream world. "Light blue, cloudless sky reigned over top of luscious grasses on the sandy earth." That was beautifully written. Plus I also liked that Jaunde was some form of unique creature not in our mythology. I'm curious what exactly he was but I think that mysterious aspect adds to the story in some ways. Personally I enjoyed the use of the word "maddness" to describe the ringmaster. One of my favorite describtures as you may have noticed. lol. but yeah that does trump Dan and I's story pretty well. Good job. Very different then your reignbo story by the way.

[Darth]

This has to be one of the most amazing stories i have ever had the plessure to read, this blew john and my story out of the water. WOW i dont even know what else to say congratulations, that is the best story i have read all year...its a millon...no a billon times better then twilight!!! lol but anywho great job a brillant story by a brillant person!!!

[Wildfleour]

I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR TEACHER!!!!!!!! YAY for our class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Becca]

This is good. I like it. It's has a lot of descriptive action, so you can see it in your head as you read. It makes it more than a story. Almost real.
Good job!!!

reflectionstories.blogspot.com

[Jen]

Beautiful descriptions and word choices; they painted a clear and perfect image in my mind. Lovely ending my dears. I really liked reading this and I'm kinda speechless you and chels write so well