Freak Show (Read or listen)

Mr Arnaldo owned a travelling show. His attractions were the bearded woman, the man with the giant foot, the monkey boy and the man with eleven fingers. They were not the interesting part, though. They had something new now.

The bearded woman was Mr Arnaldo’s wife, and she wasn’t really bearded. He let his beard grow, they cut it, and glued it to her face. The monkey boy, on the other hand, was real. Well, he wasn’t a monkey boy, of course, but he was very hairy. They had bought him from his parents a couple of years ago, who were happy to get rid of him. Shameful, they had been. No wonder.

These monsters were human, there wasn’t really any doubt about it. But the fifth one was… different. Dark. There was something behind its red, glowing eyes. In the shadows that surrounded it. They hadn’t let it out of the cage.

It was perfect. Arnaldo was going to be famous.

Today it would be shown for the first time. They had sold out all the tickets.

-Come and see our horrible freaks! The man with the giant foot! The Monkey boy! The eleven fingered troll! And the beautiful bearded woman!

Loud applause from the public.

The four of them walked around for a while. People applauding, having fun. Shouting things. Ugly things. Dirty things.

-But, my dear spectators… This is nothing. He made a pause. -We have something you’ve never seen before!

In the centre of the stage there was a cube with a clothing over it.

-Now, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the big attraction! You think what you seen until now is disgusting? You think they are horrendous monsters? Behold, a creature of darkness. A demon of burning hells. The horrible! The Evil! Rangooooorrrr!

He pulled the cloth off. Inside they saw something moving. Something dark, like a shadow, darkness moving around where light should enter. It was moving back and forth, as in fear. Fear of the light. Fear of the people. Hatred. They could catch a glimpse of a face. A horrible, evil face. A sigh of astonishment went through the crowd.

-Amazing… Horrendous…. They whispered, they were too shocked to shout. Then someone started applauding. Everyone soon followed.

-Fantastic! Amazing! Hurray!

Mr Arnaldo was bowing to the applause. This was his great moment. From here everything was going to change.

People stopped clapping. Too soon, he thought. He looked at them. At their faces. They looked scared. They were not looking at him. They weren’t looking at the cage.

They were looking behind him.

He slowly turned around. The dark creature was no longer inside its cage. It was standing there, watching him. Arnaldo screamed in terror. The crowd understood this was not part of the show.

Panic broke out. People started running away, but the creature was everywhere. They were ripped to pieces by the dark shadows flowing around them.

Mr Arnaldo was paralysed. He wanted to move, to run. He couldn’t. He watched as his costumers were all murdered. Gutted. Flawed.

This was not good for business.

The creature turned towards Arnaldo. Moved slowly towards the scene.

Please… Arnaldo sunk to his knees, shaking, crying.

It lifted him up. He screamed as his body slowly dissolved into little, dark flying creeps, disappearing in the air as they flew away, disappearing with the monster.

It was over.

A hairy little boy, a man with a giant foot, and another with eleven fingers stood watching the bodies in front of the scene.

I guess we’re unemployed, Maxmillian the six fingered man said after a while.

I guess we are, said Jack the clump foot thoughtful. He shrugged. -There are better jobs.

Maxmillian looked towards the village. -There should be, he said.

There couldn’t be much people left.

(Story, illustration and voice are my own and copyright fictionspawn.com. Please share)