Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
Once upon a time there was a girl. She was one of 4 children. The youngest, to be exact. She spent her days staring at wheels. Watching them spin endlessly forward, over and over, day after day, minute after minute, spoke after spoke. Her dreams all seemed to go in a circular fashion – a roundabout of fractured ideas and pictures that never really seemed to have a beginning, a middle, or an end.
She lived with her 3 brothers in a small house on the outskirts of a large, blackened town. There weren’t many years between the boys, but she had been an after thought – arriving a good 6 years after the last. Subsequently she was left alone a lot with her own thoughts, left to her own devices as a small child. She would invent imaginary friends and acquaintances to play with, creating a thickly-woven fantasy world that made her feel at least a bit less lonely.
Every day she would use her mind to take her and her new friends on adventures that flew her far away from her monotonous real life. A life that saw her brothers go off to town to perform a lowly circus act for the townfolk in the streets. One day her friends suggested that they follow her brothers into town to find out what they did with their time, and what other delights they could uncover within the monochrome buildings. She packed a little bag for the day, complete with an apple, some beans from a neighbour’s garden and a pair of clean socks (just in case), and as her brothers got ready for their day’s work, she busied herself with tidying the kitchen and hanging out the washing.
Her brothers were none the wiser as they set off to town, walking in broken step towards the horizon. She motioned to her friends to follow her lead, and she quietly followed from a distance, making sure not to draw their attention. She needn’t had worried – they were far to involved in their conversation about the day’s plan to notice their baby sister trailing behind them.
She was able to easily make her way without detection, a quick shadow picking flowers along the way, watching her brothers closely whilst fashioning herself a floral crown. Her ever-present friends encouraged her along, renouncing all fear of being discovered with a skip in their step, no fear of being marched back home.
Finally, the town that had been slowly growing bigger and bigger on the horizon became all at once real, and the smell and sounds of a city filled her senses. Bolstering her confidence, her friends called her name and championed her on, pointing out where her brothers were turning corners and keeping her safe.
At last she saw her brothers stop and decide upon a place to set their wares down, which consisted of two bicycles, some thick sticks, plates and 2 wooden chairs. She watched with interest, hidden behind a shop-keep’s stall, as they set up a box with the words“The AMAZING Circle Brothers” emblazoned on it. Her eldest brother started to gather the crowds with a loud, booming voice, telling of the wonders that they would see should they stop for a moment. She stood, frozen with anticipation at what she would see, without understanding that she would be watching her future, and the wheels that would become her end.