The Tiny Ringmaster

by Clark, Jennifer

  Ruth looked up at the other Elders. She could tell that they all wanted an answer right away. She knew that she wouldn’t change her mind, but she wanted to follow Tryfod’s instructions. She decided to just nod in agreement. Tryfod nodded in unison with her and held out his hand to help her off of her seat. Ruth hopped down and waved to all the Elders. She didn’t want to let these people down. She was going to try her best to do whatever it took.

  Tryfod led her to the doorway. “Alright Mistress Ruth, let’s introduce you to the flock.”

  Tryfod and Ruth walked out of the Elders’ room together into a small waiting room. A few dozen people were standing quietly and anxiously. Some jumped when Ruth and Tryfod appeared. Tryfod sensed the unease and made an effort to explain the situation. “Mistress Ruth has been told the great story.” Anxious whispering spread through the crowd. “She has been told the story, and now she must have time to deliberate. I beg that none of you inquire about her decision. She will reveal her answer in the morning.”

  Eritol walked over to Tryfod and winked at Ruth. Eritol stuttered quietly, “Tryfod… um… well… that… that… the, the thing that you asked for is ready.” Tryfod nodded and looked down at Ruth. “Ruth, I know you’ve had a very long day. I will ask one more thing of you tonight, and then we will leave you to your decision.”

  Ruth looked at him and asked, “What sir?”

  “Well tonight you can help by being yourself. You think you can do that?”

  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, bu
t 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...

  “Ruth! Ruth! Ruuuuttthhh? Are you with us?”

  Ruth looked up to see her whole class staring at her. Mr. Lucus didn’t seem very happy. “Would you please pass your homework up?” Ruth’s mouth turned dry. Of course, he had to pick up homework today. She was going to get in trouble, but she passed up her sheet anyway.

  Luckily, Mr. Lucus went right back to teaching. She tried her best to stay focused for the rest of the class because she didn’t want to get in trouble again. She sat and stared at the board while she watched the minutes tick by, and she was very grateful when the bell rang. She quickly packed her bags to head out of the class.

  “Ruth? Can I speak to you for a moment?”

  Ruth reluctantly walked to the front of the class as the rest of her classmates were leaving. Ruth stood nervously at Mr. Lucus’ desk while he started his lecture.

  “Ruth, this is the second time in a week that you’ve rushed through your homework. I’m worried that this talent show is getting in the way of your grades. You’ve dropped an entire letter since you signed up. If you don’t start to pick back up, I’m going to have to talk to your parents.”

  Ruth thought she might cry. This was the last thing that she needed today. “Mr. Lucus, please don’t, I promise I’ll do better.”

  He nodded with annoyance. “Meet me after your last class in here. I’ll let you re-do your homework, and I won’t take any points off.”

  Ruth began to protest. “But Mr. Lucus! I have practice!”

  “Well, you’re just going to have to miss part of practice – unless it’s more important than your math grade.”

  Ruth shook her head as she felt her eyes watering. “No sir. I’ll meet you in your classroom.”

  “Very good. You can go to class now.”

  Ruth let the teardrops fall as she walked slowly to the hallway.

  Ruth finished her last problem and put her pencil down. It only took about 20 minutes, so she was still making good time. She looked over her problems again and walked up to Mr. Lucus’ desk. She handed him the paper. He glanced at it quickly.

  “This looks much better. That didn’t take long, did it?”

  Ruth shook her head.

  “Next time you’ll do your homework at home so you don’t have to miss practice, yes?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Ok, go on.”

  Ruth grabbed her backpack and ran across school to the band room. She kept a careful eye out for any teachers that were on duty. Her band mates were already playing, and she couldn’t afford to miss another minute. She burst into the room and threw her back pack on the ground. Her band mates came to a halt as she tried to catch her breath.

  Ruth’s mom picked her up from practice. Ruth saw their van and barely contained an eye roll. Practice was lousy, and she saw her mom’s huge smile through the windshield. She took a deep breath as she opened the door.

  “How was practice sweetie?” Ruth climbed in the back seat even though she normally stayed up front.

  “Ok.”

  “Did your day ever get better?”

  “Not really.”

  “Well, Mr. and Mrs. Alberto are coming over for dinner. You and Charlie are going to eat early and then finish your homework upstairs. Daddy and I are going to have a grown-up dinner.”

  Ruth breathed a sigh of relief. “No problem.”

  Ruth ate quickly. She had received a get-out-of-jail-free card, and she was going to use it. She ate so quickly that she couldn’t even taste whatever her mom had decided to cook that night. It looked a little like spaghetti, but it had been baked or something. Ruth didn’t ask. She swallowed it down, thanked her mom, and ran upstairs claiming she had a lot of homework to do.

  Ruth rushed into her room and saw her drum sticks sitting on the bed. She didn’t want to practice anymore. She didn’t want to do anything but go to sleep and forget this day ever happened. She looked at her back pack and slumped onto her bed. The house was quiet. Charlie must have been playing video games in his room. She heard the doorbell ring and heard her mom rush to answer the door.

  Ruth looked up at the clock. It was 6:50. It was still way too early to go to sleep, but she didn’t feel like doing anything else. She could hear the laughs already from downstairs. She needed to brush her teeth, but that meant possibly disrupting Charlie without having any parental backup. It would have to be a sly operation.

  Ruth turned her door handle with the greatest of care. She knew that she needed an extremely gentle touch to avoid the dreaded door squeak. She breathed a sigh of relief once the door was opened wide enough to slip out. She walked across the hall deliberately. She could hear the video games coming from her brother’s room. She carefully brushed her teeth, changed into her pajamas, and crept back in her room. She quickly closed the door, turned off the lights, and slid underneath the covers. She stared at her glow-in-the-dark stars with distrust and angrily turned onto her side. She didn’t have any problem shutting her eyes and drifting off.

  Ruth opened one eye. She peeked around the dark room. She rolled over to her other side to get more comfortable. Her
bed felt a million times better, and she snuggled under the covers further. She thought she heard footsteps. It was probably her mom and dad finally going to bed. She felt someone smoothing her hair.

  “I’m fine mom,” she mumbled. A light giggle caused her to open her eyes. Ginger stood over her. Ruth sat straight up in the bed. “But... I was just at home and sleeping in my bed! My mom and dad were downstairs having dinner, and… I thought… I thought this had all been a dream!”

  Ginger smoothed her hair more. “Shhh... Ruth, it’s ok. You’ve had a difficult day and night. Everything will get better, I promise. Do you want to go back to sleep?”

  Ruth lied back down as she nodded. She didn’t remember falling back to sleep.

  Ruth opened her eyes. The room was still dark. She was afraid that she had only dreamed of Ginger. She didn’t want to be home in her room. She wanted to be in the tent with Eritol, Ginger, and Tryfod. She’d even take Lucin over Charlie. She heard a small knock at the door and held her breath. With trepidation, she mumbled. “Come in.” Ginger bustled in carrying clothes, obviously on a mission. Ruth beamed.

  “Up and at 'em! We've got to get you to breakfast!” Ruth yawned and slipped on her outfit. “Don't worry Miss Ruth; you won't be so sleepy after breakfast!” Ruth nodded through another yawn. She was thrilled that she hadn’t imagined being back in the tent. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but for now she was grateful and hungry.

  Ginger scurried her out of the room and into another tent that was set up for breakfast. It was cozy and warm with the smell of orange juice, bagels, pancakes, and bacon. Large plush red seats were scattered throughout the room, but no one was sitting in them. Everyone ran around from table to table eating and drinking as fast as they could before leaving the tent again. It was chaos, and now Ruth understood why Ginger was so jittery. Maybe they all drank a lot of coffee.