The Tiny Ringmaster (8 page)

Ruth smiled excitedly. That was the easiest request of the day.  “Oh yes, yes - I can do that!” Tryfod beamed, “Alright then, off to the Banquet Hall!”

Eritol and Ginger led her to the Great Banquet Hall while Tryfod gathered the other Elders. She could tell Eritol was nervous, so she pulled on his pants leg.

“Yes, sweet Ruth?”

“Eritol, I don’t want you to get in trouble with Tryfod, but I know all about the story.”

Eritol’s eyes widened. “All about it, Ms. Ruth?” Ruth nodded.

“Even the terrible man Aluxdrov?” Ruth nodded again.

“Even how you have to help us? And the visioner?” Ruth nodded as relief washed over Eritol’s face. “And you’re still here?” Ruth smiled and nodded a final time.

“Well no wonder Tryfod wants to celebrate! We haven’t scared you away yet!”

Eritol pulled open the curtain of the Great Banquet Hall. Ruth gasped. She couldn’t believe how many people were there. They were all huddled around small circular tables that stretched on and on.

The velvet white table clothes were lined with silver and matched the white velvet of the chair cushions. The ornate silver chairs were covered in tiny crystals and sparkled brilliantly in the chandelier light. Large chandeliers hung from the ceiling above every table. Rows of waiters dressed in silver tuxedos lined the walls. Ruth wondered where the red carpet was hidden. These people definitely knew how to throw a party.

Ruth, Eritol, and Ginger walked past table after table, many of which were still empty. Ruth was puzzled and tired. “Where are we going?” Ginger and Eritol smiled at each other. Eritol chimed in, “To the Leaders’ Table of course!”

They finally reached the front of the room, and Ruth could see the table they were heading to. Tryfod and Eliza were already sitting down, across from another round table filled with the other Elders. “Why don’t Tryfod and Eliza sit with the other Elders?” Eritol answered again. “Well, the leaders of the groups sit at this table. I’m the Ringmaster, Ginger is the Head of the Dancing Ladies, Tryfod is the Head Male Elder, and Eliza is the Head Female Elder. You’ll meet a few of the other leaders also.”

Ruth was still confused. “But why don’t you sit with your groups?”

Eritol gave a big laugh. “Well, Mistress Ruth, we found it hard for our team to relax if we’re there.”

“But why?”

Eritol shrugged. “They leave the worrying to us, and we do all the worrying at one table so we don’t spoil the party.” Ginger playfully slapped his arm.

“You know we aren’t that bad, Eritol!”

Eritol blushed. “You aren’t, Ms. Ginger.”

They arrived at the table, and Tryfod stood up to greet them. “Ahhh! You’re here. Wonderful! Miss Ruth, a few introductions are in order. You of course know Eritol, our Ringmaster, Ginger, the Head of the Dancing Ladies, and Eliza, the Head Female Elder. Now I must introduce our other leaders.”

A round man with black hair and a goatee stood up. He was as round and puffy as a hot air balloon. His eyes were sparkly, and his cheeks were painted hot pink. He was wearing a red satin costume with pants and black suspenders. His bow tie was too small for his large frame and looked like it belonged on a doll.  “This is Boobamboo. He is the Head of the Animal Tamers.” Boobamboo made a deep bow and resumed his seat.

Tryfod pointed to the man sitting next to him. The man was extremely tall – though not as tall as Eritol, extremely thin – though not as thin as Eritol, and had a big nose, skinny lips, and a long forehead. His brown, wavy hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and he was wearing a black leotard.  “This is Reeceecee. He is our Master Tight Rope Walker.” Reeceecee waved his hand and made a short bow. He appeared annoyed.

Sitting next to Reeceecee was an exotic lady with wavy black hair. She wore a long, leopard print dress, and she had coffee colored skin, ruby red lips, and big brown eyes. She looked like a model, or maybe even a doll. “Ruth, this is Lady Karinza. She is the Mistress of the Acrobats. Next to her, you will see Sir Adalberto. He is the Master of the Flame Throwers.” Master Adalberto waved his red cape and made a big bow. He walked over to kiss Ruth’s tiny hand. He was handsome, and he spoke in a lovely Spanish accent.

“Miss Ruth, if there is anything I can get you, anything at all, please just let me know.”

Ruth blushed. “Thank you, Sir Adalberto.”

Ruth looked up when she heard a rustling from the back of the room. Frantically running up to the table was Pepé. Ruth was so ecstatic that she thought she might cheer. She was relieved to see him at the table. Tryfod sighed. He was not as amused. “And as always, running late, I think you’ve met Pepé, the Head of our Costume Department.”

Pepé kneeled at Ruth’s feet and kissed her hands again. “Mua. Mua. MuaMuaMua. You are ztill zo beeeuttiful. You look az though I juz took you out of Pepé’s majic chair.” Tryfod looked down disapprovingly while Ruth was trying to hide her giggles. “That’ll be enough Pepé. Let’s take our seat. Ruth, you’re in between Eritol and Ginger.”

Tryfod stood up and waved his hand. Tiny lights in the placed in the middle of all of the tables grew brighter and then dimmer. Everyone became silent.

“Good evening. As you all know, for many generations, the leaders table has remained one chair shy of being full. Tonight, that is no more. If you would like to pay your respects to Miss Ruth, I suggest you do it quickly. Miss Ginger is keeping her on a schedule. With that, I ask Lucin to bring around the dinners.”

The banquet hall erupted in a loud cheer. Lucin appeared with at least 50 other men pushing carts stacked sky high with plates. Ruth was the first to receive her plate, but the men worked so quickly that they were to the back of the room before she could blink twice. Ruth greedily devoured the first tiny course. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it was pretty and delicious.

The meal continued for an eternity - course after course after course. She eventually lost track of how many courses were placed in front of her. Lucin and his men delivered each new course with such speed that Ruth thought she was watching a food eating contest. The room buzzed with conversation, and the more Ruth ate of the delicious food, the harder it was to keep up with the talk at the table. She was becoming sleepier by the minute. As the table continued with their meal, Ruth’s eyes started to droop. Her head was too heavy to stay up, and she bobbed her head in exhaustion.

Tryfod and Ginger noticed the small child’s battle. Tryfod asked Ginger to take Ruth to her room. Ruth tried to stand up, but she found that she was just too sleepy. Ginger leaned over and picked her up. “It’s ok Miss Ruth, I’ll carry you.” Ruth dozed on Ginger’s soft arm and only awoke when Ginger placed her gently in the comfortable bed. The room was very dark, and Ruth went right to sleep.

“Go to sleep sweet Ruth. You’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

Ruth began to wake slowly. She had one of the most amazing nights of sleep, and she was in a wonderful mood. It was rare that she was smiling first thing in the morning. She slowly opened her eyes to greet the day. Her smile instantly faded. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing – staring right back at her were her glow-in-the-dark stars. “No!”

 She pushed the covers down to discover that she was still in the clothes she wore to school the day before. She was in her own room! In her own bed! She pinched herself. “Oww!” There was a knock at her door. “Please be Ginger, please be Ginger, please be Ginger,” she whispered to herself.

“Ruth, honey!! Wake up!! You need to get ready and come get some breakfast. You’ve got a long day today!” It was definitely her mom. Her heart sunk. She was in her house again. How did that happen? Last night was not just a dream; it was entirely too real.

Begrudgingly, she changed, brushed her hair, and headed downstairs.

“Ruth, honey, did you get enough sleep? I hope you didn’t stay up too late with those math problems. You look exhausted. Are you feeling ok?”

Ruth tried to nod. She didn’t want to cry, but she sure felt like it. How could something so real turn out to be nothing more than a dream? How would she go to school today? She didn’t feel like eating breakfast. She still felt full from all the food she had eaten in her dressing room and at the banquet.

After she moved her breakfast around her plate with a fork for fifteen minutes, her mom let her get up from the table. Ruth was in a daze as she trudged back upstairs to get her back pack. She knew that she had a tendency to daydream, but this was crazy even for her. Now, in a gray haze, she was back in the real world. She sighed and looked out of the window. It had just started to rain, so she would need her raincoat.

She crept down the stairs and told her mom she was leaving. She shut the door as she heard her mom ask about her raincoat. She pulled the hood on her raincoat up and walked out into the gray day towards the bus.

When she got to school, she waved at her friends from a distance. She barely looked up from the ground as she rushed into the library. If she could find a hole to disappear into, she would. She would blame it on math homework if anyone asked.

Later that day, Ruth sat in math class. She was miserable and fairly bored, so she started to write down what she could remember from her dream. She remembered Eritol and Ginger and Tryfod and the visioner. The city of tents –she remembered walking up to them from the forest, although she couldn’t remember how she got to the forest, she just kind of appeared there...