Six from the Circus

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8543116121986858859.post-5604960131253317912008-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:002008-01-28T10:13:11.173-08:00Six from the CircusOnce there was a circus that traveled from town to town putting on shows. They did not put on a show every night. Some nights it got dark while they were traveling and they would have to set up a camp in the middle of the countryside. This was not a problem because they had lots of tents. One night, as they were camped in the middle of a particularly dry and dusty desert, the Ringmaster spoke to them.“I am going away,” he said, “by a road you cannot follow.”“But who will tell us where to go?” said the Strongman. “And lead us there?” said the Juggler.“Who will take care of us?” said the Horseback Rider. “And keep us together.” said the Knife Thrower. The Mime was speechless.“Who will finish training me?” said the guy who pretended to be a gorilla. He didn’t like pretending to be a gorilla. He wasn’t very good it at either. He was new and he hadn’t learned a real circus job yet so he would dress up in a gorilla suit and jump around while people booed for the next act to come on. “You have many gifts,” said the Ringmaster. “They are not the same gifts, but they all are from me. After I am gone my Spirit will remain with you and you will learn more than I can teach you were I to stay behind.” The circus performers were very sad. When they woke up the next morning the Ringmaster was gone. His tent was gone and where it had been was a brown box. Inside the box was a note and a jar. The Strongman read the note aloud:“It is a long journey to the next city and you will need to use your special gifts to make it there. Inside the jar are six pieces of paper. The names of your special gifts are written on the papers. Use your gifts wisely and for the good of all and together, you will be well.” The Strongman reached into the jar and pulled out a piece of paper. He looked at it and it was blank. “Does this mean I have no special gift?” he thought to himself. He laid the paper face down and said, “My special gift is … Strength!” And everyone believed him because he was strong. The Horseback Rider took a piece of paper. It was blank too. She didn’t want the others to think she had no special gift so she said, “My Special gift is Horseback Riding”.The Juggler looked at his paper (also blank) and said “My special gift is juggling.” The Knife Thrower said her special gift was Throwing Knives, the Mime said nothing, but everyone knew his gift was Mime. They all set their papers face down. The guy who had to wear a gorilla suit took the last piece of paper from the jar.“Great,” he said. “My paper’s blank.” He put his paper down, face up. And everyone saw it was blank. And everyone felt bad. “Wait,” said the Knife Thrower. “It’s not quite blank. There’s a very faint line.”And there was. It went right across the piece of paper. She turned her own paper over and said, “Mine’s not quite blank either.” And it wasn’t. She had been too afraid that it was blank to notice the faint lines on her paper. She set it beside the other paper and the lines fit together. Emboldened by the honesty of the Knife Thrower, the other performers turned their papers over and when they fit them together, discovered that the faint lines made a picture. “What is it?” said the Juggler. The Mime scratched his head.“It’s a map to the next town,” said the Knife Thrower, for she could recognize the shape of the path they had taken in some of the lines of the picture. She pointed the direction they must go. The Mime was overjoyed. He smiled and clapped the Knife Thrower on the back and hugged the guy who had to wear the gorilla suit. After the Strongman cooked a big breakfast for them and made sure their shoes were in good repair, they packed up their tents and continued the journey. They came to a river. It wide and the water was very fast. Half of the group wanted to go upstream and look for a way to cross. Half of them wanted to go downstream and look for a way to cross. “No,” said the guy who had to wear a gorilla suit. “We need to cross here.” The others grumbled, but the Horseback Rider said “If we stay together we can make it across.” They all took hands and made a circle. And together, as they faced the water they watched it grow small and dry up. They walked through the mud to the other side. The Mime was delighted and clapped everyone on the back. They could see the next town on the horizon, but it was late. They set up their tents to camp, and as they sat around the fire they practiced their acts. But when the guy got out his gorilla suit, the Juggler threw it in the fire. “I need a partner,” said the Juggler. And he began to teach him the way of the trade. Each of the circus performers kept the piece of paper they had pulled from the jar. The next time they looked at it they were surprised to see that it wasn’t blank at all.copyright Andre Harden 2007 Andrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16626782654130983699noreply@blogger.com