Having done this before, I convinced myself that nerves were unusual but not unexpected. I practice for hours on end, hoping for the part, but usually behind the wings while the Acrobat King shined. But the Acrobat King, who was not the type to shy away from the stage, had called in to say he was sick with a tumour on the backside.

The Acrobat King was not human. Well, he was half human at least. His top half the face, chest and mane of a lion. The bottom half human. He was usually the headline act, the freak people paid buckets to see. Although I was well practiced in all his tricks and moves, I was fully human, and lacked the echoing roar that set the King apart from the other freaks.

I climbed up the rope ladder, poised and with well timed balance. As I did so, I thought to myself that the Acrobat King may want to take the opportunity he had always wanted - to escape this circus of frustration and captivity.

I stood tall as I stared down the twin wires that hung just below the big top ceiling. The spotlights shined in my direction, creating a diffused half on the left side of my face, the other in shadow. I let out a strong exhale, a mixture of readiness and nervous tension, as I curled my fingers around the swing.

“Ladies and gents, prepare to witness an incredible display of power and balance, as I defy gravity itself! As you are all aware, the Acrobat King is sad to inform you, he could not make it tonight. You will each be refunded half your fee as compensation, as per his request.”

“Refund them all!”

The roared comment echoed clearly over the gasping crowd, as they turned towards the circus entrance. That commanding voice was unmistakeable. There he stood, the Acrobat King, with a dark, menacing glint in his eyes, his mouth open while saliva rained down his jaws.

“Please, my friend, don’t hurt these people. Run before-“ I fell backwards down the rope ladder as I said this, after a net was fired over the King. I stopped, thankfully, just before the ground, hanging to the rope. The Acrobat was gnashing, clawing, desperate to escape. The crowd screamed as they ran outside.

“Kill him, now!” The circus moderators came in quickly, all with rifle in hand. I was just as swift, doing triple flips until I found myself standing between the moderators and the Lion Man. I could see tears run down his face, and I knew he wanted all this to end.

Pulling a smoke bomb from my hat, something that was not part of my routine but I had practiced as an understudy for a moment like this, I threw it on the ground. The smoke surrounded them. Unable to see, they wouldn’t dare shoot in case of wounding another. I cut the Acrobat King loose, and he ran for his life.

After much time had passed, no one ever found the Acrobat King, and the search was presumably abandoned. I was handcuffed, interrogated, kicked to the curb. And I never told them where he was, and took the secret to the grave in my jail cell. As I passed from age and weary, I could still see that strange creature - the one that was labelled “ The Acrobat King”…,