Prologue
Sometimes Gabi Howard felt like she was living her own personal Groundhog Day. Such was the life of circus folk, and as a performer in the Grand Jimenez Family Circus it was all she’d ever known. Day after day, night after night, week after week she trained hard, worked hard, glammed up and performed the same acts over and over again.
Was it any surprise she occasionally felt a desire for more? An itch somewhere deep inside her to get out and see the world outside this bubble?
What would her life be like if she hadn’t grown up under the wing of the Jimenez family? Who would she be? What would she do? And what would it feel like to stay in one place, to have a home where you could put down roots? The caravan she’d shared with her boyfriend, Dante, for the last couple of years was comfortable, but too small for more than the bare necessities. Besides, they moved towns every couple of weeks—sometimes even more frequently—and too many things would take too long to pack up. For this reason, they didn’t accumulate ‘stuff’, which was what Dante called anything he didn’t deem necessary. Sadly, that included her favourite novels.
You’re just tired.
Usually, it was only on the exhaustingly long days that she felt like this. Days where they’d begun pull-down right after a matinee show, had hardly any sleep and then woken early to travel to the next town where they’d immediately start the build—two more days of hard yakka.
Today was their final build day—the Big Top, lighting tresses, seating, ring area, curtains, Globe of Death and Wheel of Steel were up—and tomorrow would be a full-on day of rehearsals before their first show that night.
Melbourne. Bright lights. The big smoke.
Everyone was buggered, so most of the circus had retreated to their trailers and caravans for an early night, but Gabi felt restless. Dante was already snoring when she emerged from their tiny bathroom, his arm muscles bunching as he hugged a pillow to his chest. He slept like the dead, but she knew the moment she climbed into bed, he’d sleepily discard the pillow and pull her into his arms, unconsciously spooning her body against his. Tonight, instead of changing into her PJs, she pulled on her black puffer jacket over her leggings and baggy jumper, slipped her feet back into her work boots and snuck out the door.
Leave a Reply