Poseidon’s Circus – Chapter 1 – The Look-Out

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“The circus is a jealous wench. Indeed that is an understatement. She is a ravening hag who sucks your vitality as a vampire drinks blood – who kills the brightest stars in her crown and will allow no private life for those who serve her; wrecking their homes, ruining their bodies, and destroying the happiness of their loved ones by her insatiable demands. She is all of these things, and yet, I love her as I love nothing else on earth.” – Henry Ringling North

The morning was no different than any other morning. The grey seas blended with the sky in the distant horizon and the salty smell of the water mixed with the pungent aroma of rotting seaweed. The sun had been up for only an hour but the morning’s bitter cold still gnawed at the young raccoon’s nose and he huddled deeper into his jackets. He was nestled between two rocks but could find no warmth from the slight but chilling wind. He could be home now, drinking hot chocolate or he could have taken up the offer by his friend at the lighthouse to watch the ocean from the enclosed light tower, but no. This was the best vantage for seeing incoming ships from the North and he wanted to be the first to see it. He wanted the glory of running back to town and heralding the news of the ship’s approach. He had been waiting for years for this day…his whole life even. What were a few more minutes, or even hours for that matter. Today, the great circus ship SS Paricia would arrive.

He had heard stories, read articles and even seen an occasional blurry photograph of the magic and mystery that he would experience today. The circus ship had visited his town years before but he had no memory of it…he was too young and his parents had not taken him but he would spend as much time on board as he could while the ship was in harbor. A few days earlier he had been walking down the street when he beheld the most interesting sight his young eyes had ever seen. A tiger on a great bipedal contraption with a front tire taller than himself went riding by smiling and yelling to all to prepare for the arrival of Poseidon’s Circus. He ran with the crowd following the tiger. The tiger only laughed and beckoned the crowd to catch up as he rode from sight. The raccoon had lost sight of the tiger but continued to follow the crowd until he could hear some mystical sound from the square ahead. As he rounded the corner he had run into the backs of onlookers watching the most extraordinary of sights. A large decorated wagon drawn by two unicorns was slowly being wheeled down the street emanating the most magical music he had ever heard. Both the wagon and the tiger stopped at the large park and while the music continued to play, the tiger began throwing three knives continuously into the air while balancing a ball on his nose…and smiling the entire time! The music stopped and a lion got on top of the great wagon and announced that the great Poseidon Circus would arrive 3 days hence and to prepare for the greatest spectacle their eyes would ever see complete with performances, wild animals, games, music and so much more. The young raccoon wasted no time, he ran home to count up his allowance, beg his parents to go to the show every day the circus ship would be in town, call in any debts he had (real or imagined) from his friends, beg for money from other relatives and try to do any odd jobs he could in the few days he had before Poseidon’s Circus arrived. He had gone to the harbor to take a closer look at the scout ship for the circus, the SS Pakhet. It was brightly colored and a flurry of activity. There was a long line of people talking to the lion he had seen before. Pawshakes, nods of the heads, he even recognized some of the people in line…locals always open for the odd job around town. He watched as the lion talked to other kids and gave them flyers and advertisements to post. The raccoon jumped at the chance and was soon posting bills all over town and telling everyone about the marvels that they would behold in a couple of days time. He would run across the path of the tiger on the wheeled contraption and would always wave and smile as the cat went pedaling by. He dreamed of the day his feet would be long enough to reach the pedals and then he could ride one too. Finally the day arrived and the raccoon was patiently waiting between his rocks for any sign of a ship on the horizon.

An hour later, he saw it. It started as a small speck in the far distance and he was sure it would be the steamship that carried the circus. Hardly any large ships came to this port anymore but all the same, he wanted to be sure so he waited. A few minutes later he was sure it was a larger ship, he could see the smoke billowing out of what had to be smokestacks and he knew his long wait was almost over. He continued to wait anxiously counting the seconds; he wanted to be the first to actually see the ship in its unearthly splendor and to see if all of the stories were true. Not long after, he could make out details; the ship was huge, resplendent, purples and reds; he could almost hear the laughter, the music the magic that was promised. He could wait no longer and ran back to town yelling at the top of his lungs, “It’s here! To the docks! The Circus is here!” He outran the huge crowd to the piers and waited on the wharfs for the ship to come around the bend and into view. The Pakhet was tied up nearby and the magical wagon was playing its music for the anxious crowd as the lion shouted out at the top of his lungs promises of magic, wonder and excitement, of death defying feats of courage, strength and magic. Laughter, comedy, toys, food…it would all be here in a matter of moments. A small group of foxes were selling real circus style popcorn and peanuts to the crowd as well as lemonade and a few toys for the younger kids. A huge roar of the crowd greeted the sight of the Paricia coming into view and it responded with blasts from its horn. The ship dropped anchor in the middle of the harbor and continued to blast its horn as a small flotilla of boats shaped like swans left the ship and began making their way to one of the piers on the wharf. The ship itself was beautiful, painted in a color scheme that looked enticing and dreamlike…not the dull gray or black color he had seen of most vessels. There were two smokestacks and somehow the smoke coming out of them was purple with tendrils of yellow and red mixed in! Magic! The crowd surged towards the pier to begin paying for swan boat tickets out to the Paricia from the bank of ticket sellers. The Raccoon ran home to fetch his parents, he knew this was going to be an expensive day and any backup he could bring would stretch his own savings over the next few days.

With parents in tow, the young raccoon made his way to the docks for what would be the greatest experience of his young life. His parents couldn’t move fast enough for him and he would continuously sprint ahead in the hopes they would hurry up. He had heard that the kick-off show tonight was not to be missed, and he only had a few hours before it would start and there was so much to see and do aboard ship. The swan boat deposited them at the start of a staircase that led into the structure of the ship. A clown bear greeted them at the top of the staircase ushering them inside. He wore a coned hat and had dyed his fur in a patchwork assortment of colors and tints. The room they entered was full of families buying food from a few of the vendors as well as tickets to enter some of the circus attractions and for tonight’s big show. The young raccoon wanted to see it all and begged his parents to buy tickets to the show and to see the animal zoo. They had a few hours to spend browsing the ship's many attractions but the boy wanted to start with the animals. He led his parents to the rear of the ship where a couple of uniformed workers were collecting tickets with smiles and warnings to be careful and good around the animals. Some of the animals were sweet and gentle but others, well, only the truly courageous could approach their cages and paddocks…especially the werewolf, he was someone you had to be very careful around (Or so the uniformed kangaroo warned him). They called it the Menagerie and it was huge, twice the size of the stage theatre downtown. The family walked past majestic and gentle unicorns…tame and beautiful. The boy’s parents paid the keeper to allow the boy to feed an apple to one of the beasts. The raccoon stroked her soft nose while the unicorn ate and then laughed as the unicorn nudged him for more (Which his parents obligingly paid for again). The two mammoths were by far the most popular attraction here. They were massive, beautiful and glorious. The male would let out a trumpeting roar once in a while to the delight of the crowd and for a modest fee; one could take a ride on the smaller mammoth. After a considerable amount of begging the parents of the boy relented and let him ride the mammoth with a group of other children. He felt the strength of the creature below him and could smell the rich earthy smell of the mammoth as they slowly walked around the small enclosure. He got a closer look at the bull mammoth in the next enclosure as they rode past and wished he could ride the more massive creature but sadly that would only exist in his fantasies and dreams. The boy could hardly contain himself as they walked around the menagerie; a family of amarok, basilisks, a herd of dahut, a group of huge aurochs, a solitary angha, a family of bugbears, fauns...one of whom played an odd woodwind instrument to the delight of the crowd, a sleeping matagot, a pack of shisa, a terrifying griffin, and all manner of exotic beasts from around the world. His absolute favorite though, and the moment that would change his life forever was when he came face to face with the legendary Werewolf of Erie. The snarling beast was in a cage with a uniformed guard nearby making sure everyone stood behind the safety rope that would keep them away from the sharp claws of the beast. The werewolf was huge, snarling and foaming the entire time. He would occasionally reach his paw through and swipe at the audience. His saber teeth were terrifying, long as swords and he was the tallest beast on two paws the boy had ever seen. Girls were screaming hiding their eyes while the boys would defiantly stand near the safety rope and watch the werewolf without flinching (well, the occasional boy would be overcome with fear and would run to his parents). And then, the miracle that would change the boy’s life forever happened. He made his way to the safety rope and stood watching the werewolf waiting for it to catch his eye and willing the wolf to be calm, that everything would be okay. The werewolf finally saw him and stopped snarling…the boy watched the wolf calmly sit down while looking at him, a sad look in the wolf’s eyes. The boy smiled at the wolf and waved at him and to his amazement, the werewolf waved back at him! He could hardly believe it, he had calmed the most ferocious animal he had ever seen! He ran back to his parents to see if they had witnessed the transformation but not long after he left, he could hear the snarls and howls of the werewolf start up again. Time was speeding by too fast for the boy to go back to calm the werewolf and besides, he was getting hungry and needed to eat before the big show.

After a quick bite to eat at the concession stands on deck above the menagerie, the boy’s family began making their way to the main show. They entered the main superstructure in a huge hallway lined with entrances to different sideshows. While the boy’s parents hurried him along he saw signs advertising arachnox…a part spider part fox…for the headless wolf who would talk to you, and a real live flea circus and torture chamber. Other shows included Silky the angora rabbit (along with a challenge to see if you could tell where her nose was), big bertha (The largest woman in the world), Si and Am (Conjoined twins who play the accordion one handed each while their other hands play cards), Madame Lyala (Famed gypsy fortune teller), the Museum of Wonders, The General and his wife (Advertised as being the smallest giraffes in history, no taller than the smallest child) and so much more. As curious as the boy was, he wanted to make sure he got a good seat for the big show and hurried along with his parents past the many Talkers trying to lure the family into each sideshow. They rushed past the massive stairway leading upstairs to the many games and challenges upstairs where you could win prizes and treats (There would be time for that later) and past the additional food booths stationed outside the main entrance to the show arena. They got in line for the yellow section (They had purchased yellow tickets which were kind of expensive but offered an excellent view of the show). There was already a line but it was going fast and the young raccoon hurried down the stairs to their seats. There were three rings in the arena below him and two tall masts that didn’t quite reach the glass roof above. Rigging was everywhere; wires and lines to the ground, a rickety looking rope bridge from the top of one of the masts over to the structure of the ship which looked like an entrance. The arena was huge…larger even than the huge menagerie and the roof was made entirely of glass! The sun was starting to set and the arena was full of amazing colors and warmth. There was a troupe of clowns on the arena floor inviting everyone to come down and play while they waited for the show to start. The young raccoon was content to watch from above as the clowns played and entertained the small children. A mysterious lynx dressed in a top hat and bowtie stood atop a barrel in the largest ring and started directing the clowns to quickly create a giant wall tent made of black material in the middle of the arena. The lynx yelled “Hupla!” and the material dropped off the skeleton of the hastily created tent to reveal the small mammoth from the menagerie! A staircase was quickly brought out by a troupe of attendants as kids began paying money to take another ride right there in the middle of the arena! The young raccoon had rushed down to the staircase before his parents could blink and used his own money for another ride.

After too short of a time, the ride was over and the young raccoon returned to his seat as everyone cleared the arena for the big show. What followed was two hours of eye dropping, heart racing, and mesmerizing performances. The raccoon was terrified, awed, speechless and it all passed by way too fast. His old friend the juggler, acrobats, the unicorns, trapeze, high wire, clowns, the magician…he saw the strongest bear that could ever have existed lift one of the aurochs on his shoulders and parade it around the arena, he saw one of the bravest shepherds get into a cage with the griffin that could surely rip him to shreds but allowed him not only to approach, but to hug the beast and then the shepherd turned his back on the animal! The shepherd later got in a cage with the family of Amarok and would sit and lie down with them even though there were 10 of them. The show ended far too quickly but the boy was emotionally and physically drained and he knew he would come back tomorrow. The circus would stay open for a few more hours but it was time for most of the families to head home and put the children to bed. As they made their way to the exit of the ship they passed by countless toy and food sellers. The raccoon shouldered his way into a crowd at the toy table to see dozens of colorful metal toys on the table. Cannons, unicorns, a hot air balloon, a mammoth, dolls, trains and so many others. He caught sight of a tiger on his pennyfarthing (He learned the word from the juggling tiger himself) and bought it even though it was very expensive. It didn’t matter though; he didn’t want to lose the opportunity only to have another child buy it first…maybe his parents would reimburse him. The family made their way down the staircase outside of the ship to a waiting swan boat. As the boat made its way back to the pier the boy never took his eyes off of the ship until he nodded off to sleep halfway to the dock. His father carried him home while his parents thanked their lucky stars that the circus was in town for only a couple more days and would hopefully disappear for a decade or so.