Human Curiosities for Display!

"Oh, you're awake again." The boy let out shuddering breaths. This couldn't be happening. It could nev- "It's all real, you know. Everyone thought the same as you when they first came." The tiny girl whispered through the bars of his cage, eerily giggling intermittently. "You're

in an alien circus ship. They catch us, train us, then put us to work doing tricks. I’m getting quite good at balancing a ball on my nose.

I look up at the crude tallies etched into the ceiling. It must be 200 days since I was kidnapped by those intergalactic entertainers. Tomorrow, like so many days before, I will put on a brave face, walk onto that stage, and try my best to earn my freedom.

The theme was Tap Dancing with alien kitties! I needed to nail this. After practicing the steps in my intergalactic jail this was it, I knew it! I went to the stage and the music started, 1,2,3, twirl and let the kitties do their thing. But the smallest one went through my feet

the chubby one jumped gracefully into my hand, then flipped backwards on to my head. The rest formed a conga line and proceeded to pull in audience members one-by-one. When the song ended the crowd broke into loud cheers. But would it be enough to win the award?

The music ended. I looked at the judges. They wore cold, sober faces. "Chubby" on my head whispered, "Lord, if we get all 10s, I promise to become a nun." I thought that was extreme, but we'd soon see if the promise was worth it. One by one the judges revealed their evaluations.

The placards flipped up one by one: 10, 10, 10, and one lone 9. I heaved a sigh of relief, and Chubby laughed. “I guess I don’t have to hotfoot it to the convent,” Chubby whispered. “No, but that was enough to win,” I said, grinning. Someone thrust roses at me, and I beamed.