Two

The clowns turned out to be grumpy, pot-bellied, middle-aged men, smoking cigarettes while complaining about their low wages. Fanny covered Julie's mouth before she can grab their attention. "Julie! They don't look so happy."

"Ah, what's there to be scared of? They're just a bunch of clowns."

"I think I want to see the animals first."

Julie rolled her eyes. "Fanny, you've been blabbering about those clowns for ages, now you don't want to meet them?"

"They look different from last year."

"They're not always the same people"

"Well, I think I hear the dancing bear calling for me." Fanny quickly walked the opposite direction, ducked under a ladder carried by two staff members, and disappeared into the pink and purple tent. Julie puckered her lips and squinted her eyes, then walked towards the group of people attempting to put up the yellow tent. 

It was dim inside. It took Fanny's eyes a while to adjust. The cage in the center was empty, and the lights were darker than usual. "Those clowns were creepy," she muttered to herself as she walked towards the steps. She slowly climbed to the top. The red bleacher seats cooled her bottom. The chill of a night was slowly seeping into the tent; Fanny rubbed her hands together and shoved them into her armpits, waiting for the dancing bear. A while later she gave up."Tomorrow I will be able to see the dancing bear." Fanny assured herself as she got up and started towards the steps. 

Just as she hit the bottom step, the other side of the tent flapped open, revealing a silhouette of a man holding a leash. A bear wearing a green party hat lumbered after the man, completely harmless. Fanny quickly stepped into the shadows, not wanting to disturb the training. The man turned out to be a boy, or a very young man. He had cropped brown hair, sad grey eyes (at least they looked sad under the dim light) emphasized by peaceful eyebrows. A slight smile touched his lips as he led the bear to the center. He had a light build, with thin arms and legs. Fanny felt afraid for him. "Come." The thin whisper of command, which Fanny strained to hear, caused the bear to stand on its rear legs and hop towards the boy. The boy burst out laughing, and tossed a slice of apple to the bear. Fanny could feel the heat spread to her cheeks. She had to cup them with her hands in order to cool them off. The laugh had embodied pure joy.

"Fanny! We have to go home! It's so darn dark outside now." 

Fanny quickly darted out the tent as soon as she heard Julie calling, not turning back to see if the boy had noticed.