Galaxy stretched and yawned. He padded out of his room, into the circus ring. Wave, his best friend, smiled at him as he walked up. Lily scowled, and Volcano waved politely. Breezy flew excitedly around him. “Galaxy, guess what?” She didn’t give him time to guess; she was already meowing away. “Ringmaster said we’re getting new friends after today’s show!” Galaxy felt his smile fade. He glanced at the others. They knew all too well what new friends were. New names to be added to the show. New acts to top. New freaks to train. Like Galaxy and the others, they will be the first, the last, and the only ones. Ringmaster’s booming voice rang through the tent. “Almost showtime!” He roared. Galaxy nodded to the others and flew up to his perch on one of the beams in the tent roof. Breezy walked into the shadows, her wings too small to do any stunts. The others sat in the ring. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, animals of all ages! Welcome to the one, the only, the best circus in the world!” Ringmaster rumbled to the crowd as the curtains pulled back. It was a small crowd, and this was usually such a big circus. The crowds at this old circus had dwindled and Ringmaster made a habit of taking out his anger on the cats. “Our first act tonight, Lily!” The spotlight shone on the small green cat as flowers bloomed and vines twirled around her. She flicked her tail and petals exploded and scattered around the crowd as they cheered with excitement. She always enjoyed the attention and the cheering fans. “And now, Volcano the fire cat!” Ringmaster boomed. Volcano sat as the spotlight shone on him. The crowd went silent. The deal was you never knew if Volcano would go all out or not. Usually not. He was the oldest cat at the circus, besides Ringmaster, and he always seemed like he knew things he didn’t want to know. Volcano did a circle motion with his paw and a ring of fire blazed around him. They crowd leaned forward expectantly. When Volcano did no more, they sighed. It was not their night. Ringmaster will probably talk to Volcano about that later, thought Galaxy, still on his perch. With a sudden whoosh, the fire went out, and the next act stepped up. “And now, we have Wave, a cat that can control water!” Wave smiled in the spotlight from her spot on a diving board. The crowd had seen this many times before, but they still giggled when they saw Wave grinning goofily on her perch. With a flying leap, Wave was plummeting towards the ground, shooting mist from her paws too the crowd. The crowd gasped as Wave neared the ground. Galaxy flexed his wings, then leapt off of his beam. As he fell, he stretched his wings, and soared. He flew to Wave, and yanked her up before she hit the ground. The crowd cheered. Galaxy soared over the crowd, his flapping wings scattering feathers as the crowd scrambled to catch them. “You saw it with your own eyes tonight, folks! The one and only Galaxy, soaring feline!” Galaxy landed and set Wave down next to the others. They all bowed as the crowd cheered and squealed and clapped. After the show, when we were cleaning the ring, Galaxy noticed Breezy looking excitedly at the beam and at Galaxy. She was obviously thinking of when she’ll be able to add her act to the show. Galaxy looked away. She didn’t know what happened if you didn’t follow the rules of the circus. She didn’t have family here, but maybe that was for the best. In fact, Galaxy was sure it was for the best, for she didn’t have to go through what he went through. She would just have to clean up her act. Or Ringmaster would kick her out, or worse. “That’s right, Galaxy,” said Ringmaster, walking past. “Let’s hope these new friends will pick up the business, or you’ll all be out on your tails.” He grinned, flashing his long fangs. Galaxy went back to sweeping dust with his tail. But his mind raced. He knew for certain, that these cats couldn’t suffer the same fate the others had. The same fate as his sister. He promised to himself that he could change things; that he WOULD change things. He would change everything. And he had plenty of friends to help. These new animals would not be the first or the last. They would not be another one and only.
Click to see the characters! ————————————————————— Hey! This is my entry for a fantasy writing contest! If this gets enough likes, I might make another chapter. Btw this takes place at a circus in case it’s hard to tell. I really think I might continue this. It’s fun. Also, Ringmaster is NOT a lion, he is just a cat that looks like one.
