The Giant
Page 5
Luc stepped up to the barbell, waved at the people in the stands, and then lifted the weight cleanly above his head. The clowns jumped up as if caught napping once Luc let it hit the ground.
“Luc, ladies and gentleman!” the ringmaster shouted. For an encore, he asked if anyone had brought heavy cargo along from home.
Later that night, as the show came to a close, Luc made his way out of the tent, toward the circus caravan. Gerhard the contortionist called hello from underneath the head wagon. This surprised Luc every time.
Thick fields stretched out in most directions, looking at sundown like bands of gold. Iowa was a nice place, Luc decided. Next week he would see Minnesota.
Past the last of the wagons, Luc found the animal pens and took out his key. With a grin, he unlocked the kangaroo’s cage.
The kangaroo had grown quickly in the months since they’d left New York, although Luc was still much taller. The move had been a good one, even if it started rough. Everyone on the caravan was very kind to the animal. Luc made sure of that. As he held out his sack of grass and shrubs, the kangaroo moved toward him on all fours.
Luc patted the animal on the neck and then opened the sack wide, letting the kangaroo nuzzle its way inside. He’d been worried at first when the animal’s gray fur began to grow coarser, but P. W., who trained the monkeys, said that this was just what happened. They grew up that way.
Luc laughed as the bag shook around in his hands. When the kangaroo finished eating, he patted it one last time. It lay down on its side, content, as Luc closed the cage again. He locked the door slowly so the animal could drift off without interruption.
“Dors bien, mon ami,” Luc said—Sleep well, my friend.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan Mary-Todd is a dream weaver from the Twin Cities.