I love fairs. They're always fun. The best part is the circus. Acrobats are magical and the mirrors that bend your reflection in different ways, always make me laugh. Today I'm at the fair in a small miner town in the Midwest, where I live. Hibbing. It's a quiet place. Always has been. It's normal that everyone come to the fair. I've been to all the booths already and now I head to a big tent, with a sign, written in red letters- ''FREAKS''. I enter. It's for adults and teenagers only, but I'm small enough, to move beetween them, unnoticed. There're lots of cages, tanks and pens in there. I didn't know that the tent was so big. I come to a large nest. There's a three-legged hen there, next to it, in the largest tank, I've ever seen, there's an enormous tortoise. It's eating lettuce and glancing at me, lazily. I go a bit further. I can see a bearded woman, a very short man, looking like a dwarf, a man, who is so tall, he nearly touches the tent's roof, two girls, twins I think, fused together. The further I go, the more terrifying it gets.
Finally, I reach the darkest and furthest part of the tent. I want to leave, but something catches my eye. There is platform with a cage on it. There're lots of people standing in front of it, waiting. I push my way through the crowd, to take a better look. I can see a big bird, laying on a rock. It is hidden between its wings. It's in a large cage, but not as large, as it should be for a bird in its size. Suddenly, a little door at the very back of the cage open and I can see two men, both dressed in protective coveralls. One is holding a weird looking spare with a blunt end and the other has a little bucket. I stand on my toes. The men come up to he animal. The one with the spare, holds it near the creature. The other one hits the bucket a few times, making a very unpleasant noise. The animal budges. Both men take a few steps back. The creature streches its wings and looks at the men. It's not facing us and it's really hard to tell what kind of a bird is that. The man puts the bucket on the ground and kicks it a little, so it'd be closer to the animal. It jumps back, a little and hisses.
-We want to see it!- a fat man, next to me, shouts.
-Yeah! Turn this filthy thing around!- a woman, holding a big bag, screams.
People around me start to murmur and whisper angrily. Some of them shout. I step to the side, not wanting to be in the middle of the crowd. The men in the cage step closer to the animal. It streches its wings and hisses louder, starting to growl. I feel a shiver run down my spine. The man with a spare points it at the animal. The end of the weapon shines for a second and the creature winces in pain.
-"Electric shock?"- I think.
The creature hisses and gowls louder, with every second. I close my eyes and try to block out the sound, by putting hands to my ears.
After about twenty minutes, everything goes quiet. I open my eyes and look around. I am alone. The crowd faded, as if it was only a bad dream. I can see the creature. It's face is in the bucket. It's eating something. I can see blood stains around the container. The thing is slurping very loudly. I look at it. Finally, it lifts its head and wipes its mouth. I come up a bit closer. Now, when everyone else is gone, I can finally see it clearly. It looks like... No. It can't be! It's a woman. A strange looking woman. Her bright, green eyes shine like stars in the darkest night. Her cheekbones are clearly visible, it's probably because she's so thin. Her skin is in the color of an olive tree, hidden in a shade. Her lips are in the colour of the sweetest raspberry... They seem to be very soft. I come a bit closer and touch the thick bars of the black, metal cage. She shows a pair of sharp, white fangs and hisses. I take a step back. I study her features. She's beautiful. Her black, curly hair look like a mane and instantly bring to mind the thickest and most mysterious forest. She's all dressed in black. I think it's a dress, but it's so torn up, I can't be sure. Her feet are bare and covered in earth and mud. She's crawling on her fours, probably finding it much safer, than walking. But the most incredible thing about her is... Well... She's got a pair of wings! Real wings! They're bigger than me. Even bigger than her! They're pitch black and I can see that every feather has it's own place on them. She must be an angel. Or maybe a fallen angel? Since she's black, not white... Once again, I take a few steps forward and stop, inches from the bars.
-Hello- I say quietly -my name's Robert. Robert Allen Zimmerman.
She lifts her head and fixes her eyes on me. I can feel goosebumps on my arms and nape. She tilts her head and crawls, carefully, closer to me. It looks kinda disturbing. I don't know what to do, so I smile a little, to show her I don't want to harm her.
-Don't be afraid- I say quietly. -I'm not going to hurt you.
She sniffs the air, not feeling quite safe around me, yet.
-Why are you here?- I ask.
She doesn't respond. I wonder why.
-Can you speak?- I ask and frown.
She still keeps quiet, sniffing around from time, to time and fluttering her wings.
-I'll take that as ''no''- I giggle to myself.
She tilts her head again, but the sides of her mouth curl up a bit, giving me the most beautiful smile, I've ever seen. I smile, as well. I can see her relax a bit.
-''I wonder if I could get her outta here''- I think.
-Who put you here? You didn't want to be here, did you?
She winks her eye and smiles a bit.
-Do you want me to get you out? I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'll try.
She sits down cross-legged and looks me straight in the eye. It seems as if she's trying to say ''you can do nothing about it'', or ''don't try, you can't succeed''.
-You can understand me, right?- I say and sit on a liitle bench in front of the cage, that I haven't noticed before.
She smiles and nods a little. I grin in response and look down at my hands.
-I think you're very pretty- I whisper and blush furiously.
I glance at her and see taht her eyes went wide. She wasn't expecting my confession.
-I'll do everything I can, to get you out. I promise- I get up and touch the bars.
She comes a bit closer to me and touches my cheek. A shiver runs down my spine and I blush even more.
-I'll see you soon- I say and start to walk out, I haven't noticed that the fair has been already closed for today.
I glance at her one last time. She's clenching the bars and looking at me, pleadingly. I smile one last time and wave goodbye.
-"I need to get her out, no matter what"- I think and head back home.
