Theme Thursday - Stage

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Intermission

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Joe couldn't wait to get home.

At the bus station, he passed the time in thought. The sideshow circuit was done for the season, his friends scattered to their winter haunts. He would miss them, and the audience. Oblivious to the people staring at him, or rather at where his legs should have been, he jumped at the sound of the horn from the truck. His family was here.

He bounced around the back of his father's old pickup. The road was rough, the ride was long. But soon they would be at the family's old farm, the place he grew up. It promised to be a long summer.

In the dusty driveway, the cab of the truck emptied. His mother into the house, his father to the barn. His brother stood for a long moment, staring at him. He climbed out of the truck and onto the dirt. His brother walked away. No one said a word.

Inside, his mother tended to chores, and only spoke to inform him that his bed was now located in the attic, for his brother was now the sole occupant of their previously shared bedroom. She said no more, and never looked at him. He left the kitchen.

His bag secured around his shoulders, he made his way to the foot of the stairs. Step after step, hand over hand, he ascended. He wondered if his parents sought to punish him, in their way, by moving his bed to the highest point of the house.

He was different now, though. They didn't know him anymore. His climb up the stairs didn't take any more time for him than it would have for his brother. Soon enough, he was at the top, three flights up. He pushed open the door, saw the dusty, dark room ahead. A bed, a chair, a small lamp. Nothing more.

On his bed, he rifled through his bag. He found the sideshow card, given to those who paid to see him. "Jo-Jo, the Half-Boy" it screamed in bold, block letters. Below this, a picture of him, balanced on one hand, grinning ear-to-ear. The back of the card gave a small, not completely accurate, biography. Putting it aside, he fished out a picture taken during the summer. Everyone was smiling, including himself. All the freaks assembled on the sideshow stage.

Joe couldn't wait to get home.

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Check out what the other Theme Thursday participants came up with this week for "Stage".

And congrats to Nicole for having her theme chosen!

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