Speedy Eagle

A New Hobby

Dear Wanda and Pietro,

          It's been three months since that day. My heart burns with the need to see you. I miss you so much. Clint is a great friend. I wish you could meet him. Over the past few months I have grown so close to Clint it's as if we were actual siblings. I think I might let him call me Anya soon. I still don't speak to anyone. I know sign language now and have been learning English. I love you both so much. Never forget that.

                              Anya

          I look up from the book as I hear some yelling from downstairs. It's probably Barney going at it with his parents again. I still don't consider them my parents. I stick the book in my go bag. Ever since that day, I stay ready to go in case something happens and they want to get rid of me. Clint runs upstairs.

          "Anastasia, we need to leave, now!" He throws some stuff in a bag and makes sure that I pack enough before we put them on our back and climb out the window. Barney comes running out with a bag as well. He grabs Clint's hand and we just keep running. Eventually, we reach the edge of town. I collapse to my knees, breathing hard. "Do you think we'll be alright here?"

          "I think so," Barney replies. "Let's set up camp." He grabs out a blanket and sets it on the ground. I follow his lead.

          I look towards Clint questioningly. "What happened? What's going on?" I sign.

          "Someone got in the house while you were upstairs. My parents told us to get out of the house and run. They were holding them off." Clint starts crying and I feel so bad for him. I wrap my arms around his stomach and he returns the hug.

          "It'll be alright," I whisper. He looks at me shocked. "I can't say it'll get better but you'll get used to it."

          "You just spoke. Why didn't you speak before? Shouldn't you have an accent?" he asks.

          "I just didn't feel there was a point. When I got here I had nothing left. My family was gone, my friends were gone. I was out of my country and I hardly knew the language. I was so scared and you showed me I had nothing to fear. I have been observing the way you speak and back in Sokovia i tried to learn English without an accent," I whisper. I snuggle into him as he cries into my shoulder.

          "Thank you." He says. I cover us with a blanket and we fall asleep holding each other.

          We wake up in the middle of the night and get ready to go. We walk for hours and soon, we come across a circus. We sneak through the fence and come face to face with the biggest guy there. "Hey, there." Barney says, "Can we please speak to the owner of this circus?"

          The man just grunts and walks off after motioning for us to follow. Eventually, we reach the largest tent in the center of the camp. Barney leaves us outside as he talks. When he comes back out, he's smiling. "Good news, I have gotten us all a place to stay and food. All we have to do is work here doing an act or cleaning up.

          Clint smiles and picks me up. "Alright. Where can we go for now?"

          "Right now, the ring leader wants to know our acts. Then we can sleep."

          Clint nods. "I can shoot really well. I'm sure I could learn a few tricks."

          "I can juggle and walk a tightrope," I croak. My throat is still very sore.

          "And how would you know that?" Barney and Clint ask, surprised.

          "My friends dared me to do it once. It was actually kind of fun. With some practice I could do flips and dance on the line too."

          They both smile at me. "We're gonna have a lot of fun here.

          Clint picks me up again and we head in. After telling the ring leader our acts, we head to our designated living area. I'm half-asleep as we get there. Clint lays me down on his bed and tucks me in. I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.

          We wake up in the morning with water being splashed on our faces. "What was that for, Barney?" Clint asks.

          "You need to get up. Practice starts now." He leaves us sitting there in a puddle.

          Clint stands up and pulls out our clothes. We change and I follow him out. They immediately hand him a bow and me some wraps. Clint helps me tie up my hands and feet before a man comes and takes me to the tight rope. I spend hours up there. My feet bleed by the time I'm done. I collapse to my knees in front of Clint. He picks me up and takes me to our room. I fall asleep as Clint re-bandages my feet.