• I was a little girl on the streets alone, my father went out to find a job, and mother went to play on the streets elsewhere to get money. I stay on the streets with my ‘neighbors’ and old men named ‘Heck’ and his friend ‘Numb-nut’. I always thought they were funny, but after a while they had to go out and gather food to eat and water to drink. So now I was alone.
    After a while a man in a funny suit wondered if I wanted a job. A job, I thought, a real job I bet it would help mommy and daddy a lot. I looked up at his kind eyes and held onto his hand getting help up. I climbed on board a truck; we were heading towards a colorful tent. The ‘Ring Master’ is what he called himself, he told me to lean backwards I did and fell. Boy did that hurt. He laughed and said, “Don’t worry we will take care of that I will teach you.” He taught me how to balance when doing the tricks he showed me.
    After a few hours I left and promised to come back tomorrow. I was skipping back to the ally, and when I had a chance I would balance myself on the curb or high ledge. When I reached ‘home’ I found Heck and Numb-nut standing together. Heck was crying into Numb-nut’s tattered coat and he saw me in a new set of clothing. Heck and Numb-nut both saw me together and they ran towards me, crying. I couldn’t get why they were crying at all so I finally asked what the matter was.
    “Shira it is terrible please don’t cry when Nutty tells you,” said Heck. Nutty is what Heck calls him.
    “Shira,” Numb-nut started. “See, um, your mother and father both died today. You father couldn’t take it anymore after his last reject and caused suicide.” Yes, he did say it this directly since I’m always used to disappointments in life. I wish he didn’t tell me this so quickly though, I wish that he would stop talking now. “And your mother died because of a shooting Downtown. She is the only one that died.” I really wish that I could have stayed, but I couldn’t handle this kind of news. I turned around quickly and ran as fast as possible in tears. The sky was crying too. Was that mommy and daddy?
    I heard them calling my name ‘Shira, Shira!’ but I couldn’t go back to that place, to many memories. Even though that place is so dirty it has the best memories this was not one of them. I ran back to the tent and found the Ring Master, crying, he caught me and ask me what the matter was. I told him the whole story. The suicide, shooting, everything. He was a second dad to me, he taught me everything I knew, and gave me an education. I was the best show in the world my act was always the best there for it was always last, but now I am sixteen, and now he is in the hospital with lung cancer. He did smoke a lot.
    I couldn’t cry when I saw that body on the bed. It seems that I have cried too much to actually cry for someone. I just looked at him, but my chest hurt a lot. I think that was my heart breaking.
    I left because I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I went back to the ally and saw my old friends, Heck and Numb-nut. They didn’t recognize me at first but then they remembered who I was they hugged me and I hugged back I told them I cannot stay long. I have a job to do. They understood and left me be, I gave them some money for them to get food and left a note too that said, “Remember the Memories” I didn’t know if they could read it or not but later they will find out what it means, and remember.
    I arrived at the tent and put on a leotard, and suit jacket along with the Ring Master’s hat I was now the leader of the Circus and keeping the Ring Master’s dream together. It was now my turn to give people a new beginning when they think it is their end.