Natalya Lamb

"The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones." -Unknown

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. -Erin Morgenstern

A week before, the flyers had been found when the people emerged in the morning to go to work. Stapled to telephone poles, littering the sidewalk, under car wiper blades, or even rolled up and tucked neatly into the door handle to be found in the morning. No one saw the person or people who left them or heard a plane fly overhead to drop them. They litter here and there, drifting on the wind and demanding attention.

A carnival is coming, they say. A circus for the curious. One week from today it'll be there, lasting only a week. Acts are listed. There's pictures of tents with animals in the background... the animals look normal but there's something off about them at the same time. You study it closer and realize your head hurts. Like staring at an Escher drawing for too long, something about it just doesn't make sense in a Euclidian world.

You can't forget what you saw though. It lingers in the mind. Demands to be noticed, to be thought of. What's the harm in going to see a show, after all? You work hard, you deserve some time off. Your parents took you to a circus once, when you were little, and a feeling of nostalgia worms its way into your heart. Or maybe they never did. They hit the bottle too much to think about such things. You'd always wondered what a circus was like, haven't you? You do now, if not. It's like a compulsion. A call.

Come to me, It says. I have such wonderful things to show you.

Tickets available on location.

Natalya is but one component of the overall Circus. She holds enough peculiarity to support a large range of acts but she's far from the only oddity that one can find while walking along its grounds.

One can see the workers of the Circus going here and there; men and women of all different races and backgrounds but all with their faces painted up like skulls. One looks like a Day of the Dead celebrant, another like they worked a cell block in San Quentin. All of them with images of death and all of them mute. They don't speak, not at all, but will communicate in hand gestures or by pointing. All of them seemingly human and hard at work putting up tents, running stands, or doing other miscellany around the place. They refuse to talk. If asked why, they made a warding gesture with their hand and continue on.

See the amazing Frosted Man, with his white skin, pale hair, and ice-blue eyes. Some joke he looks like a Winter Wight from Game of Thrones. Marvel as he freezes things with but a touch before your very eyes.

Behold the Juggling Brothers, twin males who toss knives to each other at a speed that should be impossible. Rumor holds of someone who insulted their act one night only to be trapped between the two of them, unable to move as razor-sharp blades flew past them at machine gun pace, slicing their clothing off but leaving their skin untouched.

Witness the Wraith, a woman whose form blurs before your eyes. See as she passes through solid objects right in front of you.

Cry out as Hercules, the Circus Strongman, lifts an entire car before your eyes. He's the largest man you'll ever see, nearly ten feet tall, and his limbs gangly beyond proportion as he easily hefts weights that should be impossible.

See the Soulless Man, who casts neither shadow nor reflection. Be delighted at his sleight of hand and parlor tricks as he puts on a kids-friendly show. You'll see him out and about as the primary barker.

All this and more await to delight, frighten, and inspire!