Circus Performers Are People, Too [FICTOID]

“They treat us like we’re not human!” Ten-Ton Tessie Terwilliger, the bearded fat lady, wailed.  “They taunt us and mock us -- what did we do to deserve this?”

“We made ourselves targets,” said Puki the clown.  “We smear on greasepaint and don tights, we climb on tightropes and ride coaches, we sell ourselves cheap for a laugh or a clap.”  He spat on the sawdust covered ground.  “I’d like to kill ‘em, each and every last one of ‘em!”

“Hey, now, none of that,” said Leonardi the lion tamer.

“Don’t get sanctimonious on us!” Tessie shouted.

“I’m not,” said Leonardi.  “I just want to avoid a confrontation.

“You want to crack a whip to get their attention, you do that.  That’s how I control my big cats.

“But if I ever actually did hit them…”  He snapped his fingers.  “They’d zoom on me in a flash.”

“What do you suggest?” Gilbert the giant asked.  “I’m sick of ‘how’s the weather up there?’ jokes.”

“Spit on ‘em and say it’s raining,” said Puki.

Everybody laughed -- everybody but Sylvia the tumbler, that is.  

“They have no empathy,” she said.  “Don’t mar the rest of us by acting out in a way they’ll never understand.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Puki growled.

The tumbler scowled and grabbed the clown by his throat.

“None of that here!” Leonardi said.

Puki broke free clumsily.  “What do you want us to do?” he shouted at Sylvia.  “Write a nice long letter and have everybody sign it?  You make me sick!”

“And you make me laugh!” said Sylvia.

It took her a moment to realize how dumb that sounded, but after all, she was only human.

© Buzz Dixon