There was a steady, low rumble of a crowd, their excited voices all blended together into a constant hum. It wasn’t quite a roar, but that was probably thanks to the fact that the Freak Show was shut off in a separate tent, separated from the open grounds of the circus by a thick curtain. The Freak Show’s tent was thusly advertised, a bright sign over the entrance in flashy font. Set to the side of the entrance was another sign propped up that looked much newer than the main sign; it had a mermaid drawn on it and “See the BEAUTIFUL MERMAID inside!” written beside it.
That was their newest attraction. They incorporated him into the show a few weeks ago, even though they only had him for a couple weeks before that. And… though he was a he, they figured a merMAID would sell more. Besides, he could easily pull it off – he was pretty enough.
It was pretty exciting having an actual merperson in their show – everything had been pretty mundane (well, as mundane as a circus could get); their Freak Show previously only showcased some run-of-the-mill freaks, including things like a bearded lady, a strongman covered head to toe in tattoos, and a younger albino kid. Having Adelanto there certainly drew more people in to the sideshow. It was exciting.
Finny was one of the sideshow attractions – he was the albino kid. Nowhere near a main attraction, but kids enjoyed him nonetheless. His place was towards the beginning of the tent, his stand covered in exotic looking rugs and pillows. The boy himself usually sat atop the pillows and attracted peoples’ attention with stories rather than what he was advertised as. He knew being super pale with near-white hair wasn’t that exciting. Besides, kids loved to hear his stories. In fact, he tended to become somewhat of a babysitter if parents ever wanted to wander somewhere else – to grab some drinks or go look at another attraction that the kids weren’t interested in. It was easy for Finny to keep any passing kid’s attention, and they often sat around his stand and watched with eyes wide with wonder. His tales ranged from exciting adventures to heartbreaking romances, and each one was imaginative and entertaining.
Lately, though, the kids have been more entertained by the merperson further in the tent. After all, why listen to stories about a mermaid when you can walk fifteen feet and see one? It didn’t bother Finny, though – he, too, was excited by the presence of the merperson. Even though it’d been about a month since Adelanto arrived, Finny was still a bit awestruck by him. It was a living, breathing, actual merman, after all! That was something he’d only told stories about before, and didn’t even realize existed. Since Adelanto’s arrival, Finny would try and talk with him calmly (though his excitement always showed through in his bright smile and shining eyes), asking about his home and what it was like, and what sort of sights there are to see under the ocean, and so on and so forth.
The hum of the crowd hushed as a loud trumpet sounded outside. The voice of the Ringmaster, Herr Dietfried, could be heard bellowing over the crowd, announcing that the main show was about to start. A few people inside the Freak Show’s tent pulled aside the curtain entrance to peer out and to start heading towards the main tent. It could be seen as people exited the Freak Show; the tent was significantly larger, and just outside of the entrance standing above the crowd, precariously balanced on several stacked items, was Herr Dietfried, waving his cane around in the air as he drew the crowd into the tent. He was brightly dressed in a flamboyant outfit of red, gold, purple, and white, his face painted white and red. His dark blue, near-black hair cupped his face in that odd little bob of his, making his white face stand out even more.
The smaller tent quickly emptied as the guests hurried to catch a seat for the main attraction. Finny waved goodbyes to a few of the children that bounded out, and they eagerly waved back before disappearing into the crowd. He was sitting at the edge of his little stage, his legs dangling off the edge and peering out the tent flaps. He was wearing his usual show outfit – which wasn’t much, since he was supposed to show off his skin – a simple pair of silken pants with a red sash around the waist. His feet and torso were left bare. Swept across his forehead and into his face were messy bangs, his hair thick and in a constant state of bed-head. His face was round and young – he was about seventeen, but could probably pass as a younger kid – and his eyes wide and pink-red. They squinted at the light from outside. He had a little trouble with his vision. Nothing too serious, just some light sensitivity and near sightedness (one of the reasons the lights inside the tent were on the dimmer side).
Finally, the tent was emptied of guests, and it was just the ‘freaks’ left. Finny smiled and stretched his arms up. “Hmmmm, that was fun tonight! There were some real nice kids, wouldn’t you guys say?” He looked over to the others in the tent. A few of them just grunted and moved on, slipping away to go to their trailers now that they weren’t needed anymore. The albino then peeked over at the large tank the merman was in. Unfortunately, the tank wasn’t moved immediately; it usually took a bit of time for the crew to come in and move it out of the Freak Show tent since most were usually too busy with the main show. Finny usually stayed around after to talk to him until it was finally moved. The poor guy probably was tired of the kid by now.