Freak Show

Title: Freak Show
Author: Lewis
Writing: spinoff
Word Count: 261

"Here we are," The ringmaster puffed himself larger, almost beaming with sick pride. "Here we are. This'd be one of our most popular exhibits- the Limbless Child!" The man drew back the curtain-

The audience drew a collective breath of surprised gasps and horrified shrieks. There she was. He had barely managed to keep down the meager contents of stomach through the past couple of exhibits so far, but this time he emptied them over the floor at his feet. "Hey!" the scandalized woman sitting to his right hissed. "You're blocking my view of-!"

-his girlfriend, glassy-eyed and looking quite pale- and much scrawnier than he had last seen her. Her hair had been cropped short, and true to her stage name, her arms and legs were indeed missing. At her arm and leg sockets, there was nothing but smooth skin. It was as if she'd been born limbless- but he knew otherwise. Only he, in this audience of jeering clowns, had seen this girl when she still had her arms and legs, when she was normal as normal as the audience was-- no, that would be wrong. People who only saw a spectacle in this tragedy of a girl were not normal. How could he be so stupid as to stand amongst them? He finally found his voice and stood.

"Camilla!" he screamed, his voice nearly hoarse from exhaustion. "Camilla! It's me, Ian! Camilla!"

But even as his voice valiantly rang out and faltered, the Limbless Child didn't bat an eye or even twitch to the unfamiliar timbre of it.