Smoke And Mirrors

The Tenth Room

It was set up for what would obviously have been the grand finale. There were even plastic seats arranged, for us to sit and watch the show. We sat down on the seats and we waited, but nobody from the circus came out, and, it became apparent to us all after some time, no-one was going to come.

People began to shuffle into the next room. I heard a door open, and the noise of traffic and the rain.

I looked at Jane and Jonathan, and we got up and walked out. In the last room was an unmanned table upon which were laid out souvenirs of the circus: posters and CDs and badges, and an open cash-box. Sodium yellow light spilled in from the street outside, through an open door, and the wind gusted at the unsold posters, flapping the corners up and down impatiently.

"Should we wait for her?" one of us said, and I wish I could say that it was me. But the others shook their heads, and we walked out into the rain, which had by now subsided to a low and gusty drizzle.

After a short walk down narrow roads, in the rain and the wind, we found our way to the car. I stood on the pavement, waiting for the back door to be unlocked to let me in, and over the rain and the noise of the city I thought I heard a tiger, somewhere close by, for there was a low roar that made the whole world shake. But perhaps it was only the passage of a train.