| A TWICE WEEKLY SERIAL OF BIG TOP FOLK BY
SIMON PARKE |
|
EPISODE 14
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
Daisy has made her way to the roundabout and doesn't see the figure approaching; she's too busy watching, caught up afresh in the scene. Under the painted curvy canopy, punters young and old mount wooden horses with vivid red lips; and then the ride, up and down, round and about, clutching the twisted rods of brass, while the blaring organ pipes play. Screams of delight and waves from the crowd! And then the voice:
"You couldn't fancy me, eh?
Daisy turns round in surprise, and sees no one.
"Too ugly," says the voice. "I'm much too ugly."
"Scuttle! You made me jump!"
Scuttle leaps towards her as a mock-monster, going "Grrr!"
"Oh I know, I know – too short and too ugly!"
"Scuttle – you mustn't think of yourself like that."
"It's how everyone thinks. So why not just agree with them, eh? Easier in a way; go with the flow."
"It doesn't matter how others think! And it's not how I think, anyway!"
"Really?"
"Not at all!"
"But then you care for all the animals, don't you, Daisy? I expect I'm just another."
"That's not fair, Scuttle."
"Then prove it."
"Prove what?"
"Prove you're different from everyone else."
"How?"
"How, my little lady?! Well, that's very easy to tell!"
Suddenly, Daisy feels fear.
"Hello, guys!" says Samantha, arriving unannounced with some candy floss.
"Look what the cat's dragged in," says Scuttle.
"Ah! Scuttle acting as your guardian angel, Daisy?"
"Sort of, yes."
"There's a lot of rough in tonight."
Dripping relief, Daisy looks round for Scuttle; but he had slipped away into the darkness and the crowd.
"You look like a ghost, Dee." says Samantha.
"Do I?"
"Come back to mine."
"Thank you," said Daisy, so glad to be led to safety. "I will."
More clowning around |
