by Tara Ellis
Skipping into the ring and onto the podium was the ringmaster. In a smug gesture he raises his arms and the crowd erupts for its idol.
“You all look like beautiful stars tonight!” The crowd’s pleasure hit him with a wave of ecstasy.
“Ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages: you are about to witness the greatest acts of your entire lives brought to you by El Circo de Fantasias!”
The human cannonballs went off, firing men into the air and landing on safety nets. A burst of confetti showers the audience as a boisterous tune filled the big Top.
And in a blink of an eye they were all gone. Mr. Sebring and his dancing jesters were replaced with static on the family’s television. The circus melody that filled their living room snapped into an erratic blare.
And all eyes glanced towards Vanessa. Daddy waived his hand towards the TV suggesting “Little Ms. Fix it” to solve the problem. And thus she attempted so.
“Okay, I will try this for the last time,” she said.
“That’s what you said the other last time the TV went out, and also the time before that,” complained Michael, her little brother.
“Well, I wouldn’t have to keep up with it, if it weren’t for you breaking it in the first place!”
“That was an accident.”
“You were playing soccer in the house!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t mean to!”
“Oh, like when you broke the refrigerator or when you broke the air conditioner…”
“Shut up!”
“Or that time when you broken the coffee maker. Since you break everything I have to go right behind you and fix it.”
Daddy intervened; “Arguing isn’t going to make the TV come alive any quicker Vanessa.”
“I’m tired of his disrespect. I should have jurisdiction over him because I’m the oldest.”
The newspaper folded down onto daddy’s lap. “You both are right. Michael you do have a habit of breaking things. And Vanessa, you do need to shut up. Now, try to fix the damn TV.”
Now mommy intervenes; “You weren’t even watching it, you were reading the newspaper.”
“I was multitasking; you know doing two things at once,” he snapped.
The room paused. Then daddy turned to Vanessa, “Vanessa, my program.”
“First, I have to get my tool box from the shed.” And she went off to get it.
Upstairs on the second floor laid Brenda in a clutter of crumbs from various snacks. She was watching the latest installment of a vampire-romance series. Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide and glossy; completely absorbed and fixated on these characters. Brenda was so in tune with the movie that she imagined herself as the lead character, being swept away by the romantic vampire.
While her own reality melted, her older brother Jorge was writing an article titled ‘The effect of vampires on the teenage girl’s brain.’ Brenda was his muse.
Brenda witnessed the moment when the two love interests kissed; she moaned, as though it was her ecstasy.
She heard a giggle from her brother’s direction, she saw him put his eyes away from her and refocus back to his laptop.
“Whadya writing,” she asked.
“Oh, um, I’m writing another article for my blog,” said Jorge.
“Oh, that’s cool. How is it working out?”
“Very well, I’m getting a thousand views a month now.”
A couple of moments go by and she again hears here brother off with another giggle. She gets suspicious. “Do you ever write about our family?”
“Of course you guys are my focal source of inspiration.”
“Whoduya right about the most?”
“You.”
“Whadya say about me?”
“You should read it yourself. I bet you’ll be very surprised.” And she was very surprised, years later down the line, when she finally found the motivation to read anything that was not a teeny bopper magazine. She kind of stumbled on to his website from a Google search link. She showed Mommy and Daddy. They grounded him for all the scathing articles he done on his family throughout the years. He never touched another computer till he was nineteen, when he moved out.
“Okay, I will, right after this,” said Brenda.
Julio walked into the room and plops on Jorge’s bed. “Sup.” That was his way of saying hello (all the time). “Brenda you’re watching this again?”
“Yeah, so.”
“So? It’s like porn for little girls.”
“I’m thinking more like crack,” said Jorge.
“You boys don’t get the love in the story. It’s made for little girls, so little girls are going to like it. Doesn’t make me stupid,” Brenda fussed.
“Ya know Jorge she’s right,” said Julio. “These movies don’t make little girls stupid, little girls who are already stupid just so happen to like it.”
“That’s a brilliant observation Julio.”
Brenda rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’m still going to watch ‘em’. You boys are just being ignorant.” She licked the orange soot of Cheetos off her fingers.
Jorge and Julio were continuing to mock their baby sister, then the TV turned to static.
“Ha, the TV is dead,” instigated Julio.
“No, my Edward is gone,” Brenda sighed.
“And so is my WIFI, Brenda go and tell mom the cable modem must be out.” That prompted her to belt out from the top of her lungs for Mommy. “Momma!…..Mommy!.....Momma!”
“Brenda, GO and TELL mom the cable is out,” Jorge demanded.
A Reclusive Girl
