Opening Up to a Colorful World

Zeke and Amelia waved goodbye to Amelia’s parents and siblings as they dashed towards the cabin’s back door and whipped it open. Laughing, they then jostled their way through the screen door, letting it slap closed as they hopped out onto the sidewalk.                

Ready?” Zeke asked although he knew the answer. He moved his head so as to jerk a bang of his red hair out of the way, but the night’s cold wind swished it away for him. 

“Yeah.” Amelia agreed excitedly, scuffling her flip flops along the white pavement as his sneakers half-skidded towards the gravel driveway. “You have the map?”       

Zeke, now walking backwards in front of her, whipped it up into the air with two fingers and grinned. Amelia shifted her gaze towards the lamplight’s golden light. It pierced the cold, windy night, illuminating the start of the gravel driveway, the cabin and the two college friends who now stood in the middle of the empty road together.

 “Hey!” Zeke threw a freckled arm around Amelia’s shoulders when he saw her stare and shudder at the forest in front of them. Amelia folded her arms and took deep breaths, but Zeke squeezed her shoulders. “We’re in this together. Once we get this project done, the sooner we’ll be able to go adventuring in the woods.”

Amelia jerked an obligatory nod.    

“We can look at it as an adventure!” Zeke punched his best friend in the arm. When Amelia retaliated, Zeke just howled and shook his head.

“You’re full of contradictions, Me.”   

“Yeah, just like you’re full of—”

“Let’s look at the map and see what’s going on.”     

“I don’t want to present our project with the map anymore. We’re not in elementary school.” Amelia snatched the map from Zeke’s hand. Letting laughter ring out into the quiet atmosphere, Amelia waved the map away from Zeke, taunting him.     

“Give it to me!” Zeke lunged for it, but his hands were ever inches from it. Finally, when Amelia ran a few feet towards the forest, Zeke let his hands slap onto his black pants.

“Fine.” He crossed his arms. “I’ll stand here, and we’ll never get our assignment done. Then you’ll have to explain to Mr. Redness that we’re goners. Expelled!”

“We’re not going to be expelled over one missed assignment!” Amelia spewed out more mirth. “We’ll just tell him we’re done with school.”           

“We can’t just quit!” Zeke dashed up and ripped the map away. A sudden tearing stopped Zeke cold. He slowly widened his eyes as Amelia stared back at him in horror.

Zeke threw his arms up. “You don’t want the project done—” he crunched his way towards the trashcan and swung the lid open. “You don’t get to do it with me!”

“No—Zeke!”

He glared at her as she pounded down towards him and skidded to a halt. “You don’t have to throw it away. We can duct tape it.”

“We can also tell Professor Redness that we “accidentally” tore it!” The lid clapped shut. “Let’s give excuses, Me. Because we’re freshmen in college, not little kids.”    

“Okay, okay!” She threw her hands up. “I get it.” Amelia sighed and folded her arms around herself, shivering. “Let’s just...”     

But she didn’t get the chance to speak this possibility. A horrifying shrieking sound of metal grating against rusty metal split the almost silent camping ground. Zeke and Amelia immediately gaped into the darkness between the trees to witness sparks spitting and flashing intermittently. A spine-tingling scraping sound made both of them slap their hands over their ears. Fortunately, it stopped quickly, and Zeke and Amelia freed their ears.       

Various voices yelled a minute later. Zeke looked at Amelia and jerked his head over.

“No.” Amelia warned, shaking her white-blond curls. “We’re not going over there.”        

“Hey!” An authoritative, male voice hollered. “We need some help. Get over here!”               

Amelia and Zeke bounded towards the voice, pounding down the grassy hill. “Where are you?” Amelia called. Then she shot out an arm, and Zeke slammed his heels into the dirt. The man had lit up his face with a lantern.       

“Come with me.” He beckoned. “Our train needs to get up and running.”

“But—it’s dark. Can we wait till morning?” Zeke offered.

“No!” The man asserted. “Now.” More voices rose in the distance.

“Let’s go!” The man ordered, turning and commanding the voices to get to work as he sprinted down the hill.

Zeke and Amelia looked at each other and then studied the man. As he held out a finger and waved it around, the friends couldn’t help but notice that he was wearing something familiar on his head.

“Is that…?” The man’s hat, Zeke saw, looking awfully like…

“If that’s a train,” Amelia deduced, looking around. Some areas lit up from some shabby-looking men holding lanterns parallel to compartments. “Those cars sport animals, acrobats and other circus phenomena, probably. We’ve just ran into the ringmaster of a circus train!”

Amelia bolted down the somewhat steep hill as Zeke followed, and they soon caught up with the man. He introduced them to his crewmen once everyone had gathered all around, lanterns up high and shining.

“What’s your name?” Zeke held out a hand to the introducer.   

“RingMaster.” He stated and clasped his hand firmly. Then he bent over and snatched up some things. Tossing them to Zeke, RingMaster told him to go over with Cornfield—a man Zeke noticed in cotton pocketed trousers, a huge cheery grin and pudgy cheeks—and “check the compartments for any missing doors.”

“And then ask how you can help him get the train back on the tracks.” RingMaster chuckled dryly.

While Zeke and Cornfield headed off together with lanterns dangling at their sides, RingMaster turned to Amelia. “And for you, miss.” He motioned for her to come over, and Amelia stepped towards him. She received the lantern he handed out to her, but she desperately wished she had a flashlight or, better yet, it was daylight. Since RingMaster would’ve heard none of it even if she did speak up, Amelia just forced herself to listen to the ringleader’s instructions to go find one of his acrobats, Panzy, and tell her she would help her relocate the animals as well as get the train back in working condition.      

“I don’t—“

But RingMaster waved the matter aside. “No matter. Panzy will show you.”

“Okay!”

But Amelia ‘s teeth became numb as terror clogged her mouth and throat. Petrified of the dark, especially without Zeke by her side, Amelia almost hesitated. But she was also extremely polite towards authority, so she told RingMaster she’d do so. He tipped his soot-black top hat, and Amelia sprinted, taking deep breaths to calm herself. “Panzy!” she then called, expecting this name to be heard at once.   

“Come aboard! We’re going to track those horses and other huge beasts!”

“Are you Panzy?”

When the lantern showed a ladder bolted to the compartment, Amelia scrambled up it, her teeth chattering from the cold. “Yes.” She introduced herself.    

Once Amelia jumped onto something soft Panzy said was only one square inch of this train’s amount of hay, Panzy moved her lantern to grab another one. Her lantern’s handle slid down her other thin arm so it brought her fuchsia tights into sight.    

“Here you go.” Amelia took this one and held it up so Panzy could put her match’s fire into the lantern’s glass enclosure. Once lit, Amelia felt a hand press against her right shoulder blade as Panzy walked with her, helping her forget the blinkingly thick darkness. With their lanterns held out to guide the way, Panzy told Amelia how they were going to round the horses and rope the zebras. Amelia’s fear started melting away as she mentioned her project and video cameras…        

“Up and at ‘em!”

RingMaster’s greeting was more like a command as it not only rudely interrupted the morning birds’ songs and chirps but also woke Zeke instantly. He rolled out of his makeshift bed of straw, hay and leaves atop a neatly order of thick sticks, and raced towards one of the still-open compartments. “Amelia!” He called, throwing his feet up onto the edge and searching.  

“She’s still gone with the other acrobats. She’ll hopefully be back soon.”

Zeke whirled around. “Where is she? Where’s my best friend? I could’ve gone after her to help her!” He converted one of his hands into a fist.

“I’m sorry, but I told her to go with one of the acrobats.” RingMaster explained. He adjusted his top hat. “You’ll have to continue helping us with our train wreck.”

Zeke hurtled down onto the grass and approached him, almost swinging at his face. “I don’t trust you!”  

When the ringleader stepped neatly back and looked Zeke dead in the eye, Zeke calmed down and looked away to the crewmen. He then spotted a crane a few feet off, but first surveyed the sunburnt dirt land. Everywhere that was not occupied by little mountains of mortar, brick, sulfur and other elements of building and construction lay bare like an opened blister fresh from having its skin pulled back and its raw red skin exposed gapingly to the air.

“Good morning! Today’s the day we continue with this train!” one of the crewmen interrupted Zeke.

Zeke ignored him and looked back at RingMaster. He narrowed his blue eyes. “Hope so. If I help you, you’ll reward me?”

“Yes!” RingMaster looked behind him and waved a man over. “Hey, Randal, get over here! Give the boy his camera back.” When the trouser-wearing, sweatshirt-sporting mustached man had jogged up to Zeke and RingMaster, he smiled at Zeke. Zeke gave him a dry look.            

“Zeke—Randal.” RingMaster jerked his head commandingly towards Randal, and Zeke whipped out a stiff hand. Randal gave a cheery grin and a cheerier handshake, but Zeke threw his hands into his pockets and blinked at RingMaster.       

“So…we going to get this show on the road?”

“Or the tracks?” Randal threw out a wild laugh. Zeke watched him as he bent almost in half, almost dropping the camera. Zeke immediately bent over and took the camera carefully from him, mentally rolling his eyes at the man’s carelessness. Then he clicked and pressed buttons, and it flashed on to continue his new project idea of filming his work with the circus. He asked Randal for a stool.   

“Oh—right over here!” Randal waggled a finger towards the right. “Actually—“ He clambered up into one of the compartments behind him, shuffled between some empty crates and then emerged with the desired object. RingMaster threw a hand out and amazingly caught it. He swung it over to Zeke, who positioned it so the camera would be right in front of the train. He then told RingMaster he was ready to help.   

As RingMaster waved his top hat about and yelled responsibilities, Zeke and some other already ready men all carried huge wooden boards to the train’s still upstanding compartments. They nailed them into the train’s wood. Eventually, everyone tried hauling seven of the fifteen cars up onto the track to re-straighten them, but Zeke claimed the attention of some construction workers working on lifting and carrying huge logs. Their crane’s mouth dropped the logs and then opened again like that of a hungry T-Rex, biting one end of one compartment while a bulldozer’s arm slid a little under and picked it up. When all cars were connected again, Zeke checked his camera. Grinning happily, he saw that he had footage of all the work, including the construction workers’ assistance. While everyone let up whoops of congratulations to and for each other, Zeke pulled Randal aside and asked whether he could keep this camera until he could get it back to him. Somehow.  

“You know what?” Randal jabbed his thumbs in his big jean pockets. “You can keep it. A gift from us for helping.”

Zeke raised his eyebrows. “This is my reward? Thanks!”

Randal wiggled his thick black eyebrows. “No, but no problem, kid!” He chuckled and left. 

Loud noises distracted a confused Zeke, and he looked back to see acrobats, dancers, jugglers and fire breathers lead trotting horses, snickering zebras, growling lions, prancing monkeys and a host of other excitable but dangerous animals with pure white braided ropes clenched tightly in their fists. Zeke brightened up as he saw Amelia walking quickly among the throng. As the performers and their animals turned towards one of the compartments to enter into it, Zeke waved frantically at her.  

“Zeke!” She ran to him, embracing him with one arm and extending the other so she would not break her camera. And destroy her own part of their project. “Look!”

They came apart, and she showed him a little bit of her footage. Zeke watched in fascination at the ladies’ acrobatic performances and stylish costumes they showed off while dancing and spinning atop the white and pale horses trotting around in circles. After the camera froze and displayed a sideways triange, Zeke went over to the stool and grabbed his camera. He then held it up for Amelia to be amazed this time.

Amelia watched, gasping in awe at all the crewmen lugging mountainously heavy doors and pounding them to the compartments. She widened her eyes and exclaimed “No way!” as the construction workers maneuvered both a bulldozer and crane to haul the fallen cars back up onto the track. But her biggest grin was when everyone threw their hands up and cried victory.

“Isn’t that cool?” Zeke flicked his auburn eyebrows as he held the camera down.

 “Wow!” But Amelia then furrowed her brows. “That must’ve taken all day!”

Zeke shrugged. “It’s still daylight.”  

Amelia contradicted him when she studied her surroundings. “Uh…it’s getting close to nightfall.”

Zeke punched her in the arm with one hand.  

“Zeke.” Amelia grabbed his shoulder, and he stopped wheeling around.

“Yeah?”

“I want to go back. We can put our cameras away and then come back here.”

Zeke brushed some hay off his black spandex shirt. “Heck, they’ll even wonder why we are taking two cameras back with us, and where we got them.”

“Yeah…” Amelia listened. Then she perked her head up. RingMaster appeared, and held out two wide slips of paper with yellow, red, blue and light grey fireworks shooting up around the rectangle. Each side was cut off, like they were hole punched. As Zeke and Amelia each took one, he announced a show coming up his team and he were thinking of pulling off.  

“Really?” Zeke then worried, his eyebrows knotting. “How will we know?”

RingMaster wiggled his hand, and Amelia and Zeke flipped their tickets over.      

902-555-5555.

Zeke looked at Amelia’s ticket. The same numbers blared out in black permanent marker.

“Call us!” RingMaster smiled, and then waved all his crewmen over. He announced these kids were coming with him on their next circus adventure. Everyone whooped and clanked beer bottles together. Even the acrobats and dancers behind them in the nearby compartment made Zeke and Amelia turn around. They grinned as they let them know even the animals were excited while some lions roared and zebras neighed.

Heading back up the hill that was turning almost black in the semi-darkness, Amelia and Zeke were unable to stop chatting about this venturous day and wild yesterday.

“I can’t believe it!” Amelia threw an arm around Zeke’ s neck. “What an adventure!”

“What about those animals? And your camera?” Zeke wondered, and Amelia filled him in as they stepped silently through the front door. Waving Zeke goodnight, Amelia headed upstairs, stepping ever so carefully on the creaky stairs. Once having finally made it to her bedroom, she put her camera and ticket on the nightstand then switched into pajamas. She knelt into bed and scraped back the comforter and sheets, whispering goodnight to her circus ticket sticking out from the bedside table.

The next morning brought new action.

After hitting the On button and then a little picture of a video camera, Zeke turned the camera over to Amelia’s family all sitting on the big fluffy family room couch. Amelia’s sister arched her neck and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Then she shook her head.

“It’s not there.” She pointed. “Where’s the video?”

Zeke blanched.

What? It was lost?

He twisted the camera around and toggled wth it, pressing the buttons one after the other. It was no use. “What?” He panicked, racing his eyes everywhere. “What’s going on? My video’s been taken.”

“Zeke, calm down.” Amelia jumped up and looked at it. “Maybe…” she turned it off and then back on again. Pressing the video camera button, she held it down and then something flashed up on screen. “Is this it?”

Zeke threw his head back. “Yes!” He cried in relief and took it from her. “Amelia, you saved me.”

“Now,” Amelia fell back down into her seat. “Let’s all enjoy a nice part of a show.”

“Yeah!” Amelia’s sister rang out, punching the air with a fist.

Crickets chirped, their sounds keeping the cold night air from staying too quiet. Amelia pulled her plaid red jacket around her bare shoulders. “It’s pretty cold. Let’s go inside.” Handing Zeke another marsh mellow, Amelia marched the way towards the front door. Zeke and she microwaved S’mores. They ate together until everyone else went to bed.

As Amelia fell back against her pillow, she looked up at her ticket still loyally laying there. She grinned to herself, excited to share her wild day with her classmates next Monday. But she also couldn’t wait to escape to that wonderful world of the circus again. Sometime.

“Hope Zeke wants to.” She told the ticket. “Hope we both go again.” Then she flipped over and closed her eyes.

To wake up in her own bed—not on a mash of bumpy, stiff hay she had complained made her feel she had just slept on a mesh of plastic.