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The elegant muscles of the tigerclown are bands of steel as it makes its way down the main tent pole to where I’m held. There’s an almost mechanical ticking to its subterranean growl. Its claws slowly pluck and sink their way down the vertical oak like it’s creeping across a hardwood floor. Its grace is frightening to behold. Her bright white fur is patterned with polka dots and triangles. Her bright blue and green stripes criss cross in a deadly plaid that mix with the circus shadows in the abandoned tent as she slithers gleefully down. Slowly, she descends. I’m shaking. There’s another deep deadly purr and a second jestercat pads out from the shadows. This one’s a deep panther black with white zebra stripes. Its bright red nose is supposed to be comical but I can’t help seeing it as a blood stained snout. It has a bright gold earring. There are white triangles above and below its cold yellow eyes.
I’m twitching and staked out in the center ring. There’s Pedro tied to the seesaw over in ring one and there’s Jake chained to the low hanging trapeze in ring two. We all look at each other with the wild eyes of sinking horses and mute sweaty faces. We’ve been caught and it’s all over except for the screaming. And there will be lots of screaming.
I hear the soft pad of patient feet. There’s another harlequin hellcat with glowing white eyes looking at me from under the empty seats. It pads out into the light and I can see its little party hat and ruffled collar. Its retractable claws have razored through his little kitty clown shoes. There’s nothing funny about these animals. They’re bigger than bears from where I’m sitting. They circle.
A feline mime comes forward, low to the ground and teeth bared in a silent snarl. My bladder lets go. They seem to be concentrating on us one a time. It looks like I’m first.
A cougar with a top hat jauntily comes out the haunted black, tail swishing and bright plastic flower bobbing. She licks her long teeth and looks to her friends before looking back at me and standing quite still in anticipation.
Punch and Jaguar, the Bengal buffoon, Calico cutups, and Patches the Maneater. Alley cats the size of ponies with a raspy taste for meat surround us. We’ve been smeared with blood and cotton candy to further entice them. I can hear more behind. Laffy Leopard and the Lion King, I think. I swear to God they’re smiling. They’re waiting for their cue.
I give it to them.
I scream.
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I’m twitching and staked out in the center ring. There’s Pedro tied to the seesaw over in ring one and there’s Jake chained to the low hanging trapeze in ring two. We all look at each other with the wild eyes of sinking horses and mute sweaty faces. We’ve been caught and it’s all over except for the screaming. And there will be lots of screaming.
I hear the soft pad of patient feet. There’s another harlequin hellcat with glowing white eyes looking at me from under the empty seats. It pads out into the light and I can see its little party hat and ruffled collar. Its retractable claws have razored through his little kitty clown shoes. There’s nothing funny about these animals. They’re bigger than bears from where I’m sitting. They circle.
A feline mime comes forward, low to the ground and teeth bared in a silent snarl. My bladder lets go. They seem to be concentrating on us one a time. It looks like I’m first.
A cougar with a top hat jauntily comes out the haunted black, tail swishing and bright plastic flower bobbing. She licks her long teeth and looks to her friends before looking back at me and standing quite still in anticipation.
Punch and Jaguar, the Bengal buffoon, Calico cutups, and Patches the Maneater. Alley cats the size of ponies with a raspy taste for meat surround us. We’ve been smeared with blood and cotton candy to further entice them. I can hear more behind. Laffy Leopard and the Lion King, I think. I swear to God they’re smiling. They’re waiting for their cue.
I give it to them.
I scream.
Tags