The crowd is still looking at one another like they can’t figure out how she did it, when we slip back outside.
We wander into a tent with Archie and his ventriloquist dummy, who seems more human than he does, and another with a magician who spends half his act pretending he has no idea what he’s doing, only to pull off the most incredible tricks, like cutting an entire orange in half to reveal a person’s card.
And then we pay a visit to Gwen, the fortune-teller, and it’s just the three of us in the room. She asks us a few questions, staying in character even though we all clearly know one another, and then she snaps her cards against her velvet-covered table.
She gets as far as “the musician” and “the lover” and suddenly Vas is pulling me by the arm to get us out of the room as quickly as possible, with Gwen’s voice singing after us, “The cards never lie!”
And because I don’t think either of us can recover from so much embarrassment, we decide to head straight into the big top.
It’s strange seeing Pia at the popcorn machine after all the nights I spent doing the same job.
I wonder if that’s what life feels like when you make a change—like you’ve jumped ahead in time. Like your entire life just feels different.
Vas and I sit in one of the back rows. I feel giddy watching all the people pour in, their faces twinkling with a nervous, excited energy. Kids are bright-eyed and curious, stuffing cotton candy and popcorn into their mouths, their parents struggling to hold on to all the balloons and flashing toys from the souvenir stand outside, all of them waiting in delight for the show that’s about to start.
They don’t know what to expect, and sometimes I think that’s half the magic.
When the lights dim and the music begins, Simon’s voice bellows over the loudspeaker.
“Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the most wondrous circus in the world… Maison du Mystère!”
When the crowd cheers, my skin sets on fire.
The lights flash every color of the rainbow, and the clowns bound in as the opening music plays. Some of them show off their acrobatics, others their comedic timing. One is on a unicycle throwing confetti into the crowd.
Simon enters next, his top hat and suit partially decorated in black and red crystals that command the attention of the room. His arms are spread wide, and the ends of his mustache are curled up like he’s an unforgettable character from a cartoon.
Except I can’t tell if he’s a villain or a hero, and I wonder if maybe that’s the point.
But I can’t deny that he’s captivating. He has the entire audience laughing until their sides are aching, and his stage presence, the way he moves around the room like he’s half cat and half man, is truly impressive.
When he asks the audience if they’re ready for a show, every person in the room goes wild. Even me, because I feel like I’m five years old again and the circus is full of magic.
I catch Vas smiling next to me.
“What?” I mouth.
He shakes his head, still smiling.
It only makes my stomach flutter more.
We watch the contortionists, the magician, and the high-wire act. Then the clowns come back in, and Simon infuses the show with sharp humor—some of it deceptively meant for the adults.
And then more acrobats come in, performing difficult routines and balancing on pieces of the set that make the audience wide-eyed with nerves. Vivien comes out next and performs her knife-throwing, arrow-shooting balloon act, which has the audience on their feet by the end.
There are more clowns, more magic, more jugglers. There’s Dexi on the tightrope, with Zhìháo and Guānyǔ.
And then the Terzi Brothers perform, and there isn’t a single person in the audience who isn’t beaming from ear to ear.
Everyone takes a turn around the ring in the closing performance, to take a bow and blow kisses of gratitude toward the crowd. When the music finally ends and the ring is empty, my face muscles hurt from smiling so much.
We’re the last ones in the stands, listening in silence as all the guests make their way back to their real lives.
Back home.
And I’m lucky enough that I get to stay.
“What is it?” Vas asks in the dimly lit room, the big top still filled with a slight haze from the smoke machines and littered with popcorn and