Now, to be absolutely fair, it wasn't a circus either. It was a carnival. It's important to make the distinction between them. Carnies and circus people have always had their differences, to say the least. They hate each other. They're like two different tribes, they are. The carnival didn't have sappy clowns, boring acrobats and simple old sideshow freaks. Oh, no. Contortionists, fire-eaters, burlesque dancers, sword-swallowers, puppeteers, dwarf-strongmen, pedlars and hawkers, and many kinds of acrobats with many zany talent, even somnambulists, belonged to his carnival.
There he was now, standing right in front of the carnival manager, an unmeasurable giant -unmistakably a former carny-freak for presumably an exhibit show. "He must be at least three boys tall", the boy murmured to himself in awe.
The giant gestured for the boy to follow him and lead the way through the camp. They passed across all kinds of carnies, freaks and what seemed to him as fairy-tale beings. Even regular roustabouts.
Finally, the enormous manager disappeared inside a particularly big tent. The boy followed him in.
The atmosphere inside was more than welcoming. He felt as if he had walked in the coziest little corner of his own garden; in a hot summer night, too. The air felt thick, warm and wet. He looked up to find a big tank where a real-life mermaid waggled her fish tail at him. The boy had a flash of himself diving into the tepid water. A strong desire to look directly into her greenish eyes, without any layer of glass between their glances; and a sudden need to get closer, so much closer to her long pale neck. Her voice bounced off inside the tank and the whole tent shook:
- No way, boy.
He blinked, puzzled, and opened his mouth as if to protest.
- When I say no, it's always a solid no.
Before the boy could even react to his own emotions, the giant gently took him out of there with a soft push.
- I wish I could have spared you that, little one -the voice of the giant was surprisingly pleasant-. But since that's out of the question, now that you belong to the carnival, I thought it much better to do it as quick as possible. It's best she broke you before you even had the chance to hear that mermaids singing of hers. This way your obsession'll grow up with you, but with no hint of hope. It's best that you didn't have a chance.
- But, her eyes... How can it be best? How can you possibly know that?
- Once, she wanted to look into my eyes too.