MADAME ANNABELLE, THE 700-POUND FREAK -FLASH FICTION

Will Burke be anything more than a 700-pound circus freak?

It began that usual way, with his face plastered in makeup. Heavy foundation caked on his chin to cover his five-o-clock shadow. Madame Annabelle pirouetted in the center ring, twirling his umbrella above him. The crowd heckled at the 700-pound man dressed as a lady. His skirt swirled above the dirt floor; his breath already labored. As he whirled, his head spun, and he stumbled from the dizziness. Madame Annabelle’s foot caught in a dirt rut carved by the previous clown show, and he tripped, landing his hand in the dung left by the elephant show.

“You are a freak!”

“Get out of the ring!”

The taunting happened during every show he did. That didn’t mean the words hurt less. Truth be told, the pain they caused him seemed to build like a compounding interest. Each grotesque reaction from the crowd felt like ice picks shot into his heart, never to be removed, left to fester.

Madame Annabelle stood up, swaying from his spinning head. His hand in the poop wasn’t part of the act, and he wiped it on the side of his dress, knowing that laundry day was still four days away. The rich aroma added to his lightheadedness.

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Madame Annabelle had said to the ringmaster a week ago.

“Burke, let’s be honest. You are a grotesque freak. Where you gonna go? Who would hire you? I am all you have.”

A tomato hit the side of Madame Annabelle’s face, splattering red pulp and seeds on his forehead. Then a squishy peach directly smashed into his right eye and cheekbone. The ringmaster conveniently left a box of rotten produce on each aisle, and the crowd always sent the entirety of the boxes at Madame Annabelle. That was the crux of his show. Tantor, the elephant, entered the ring and rammed it into Madame Annabelle. The crowd went wild.

Tantor’s massive head rammed into the freak’s side. For some reason, Madame Annabelle looked into the crowd, not what he usually did. But this time, his eyes caught the woman in the fourth row.

Emma Berger.

His high school sweetheart.

The emotion in her eyes collapsed Madame Annabelle’s knees, and he fell before her. It devastated him to have Emma see him. His fall wasn’t part of the show, and Tantor didn’t know how to respond. The massive elephant pounced its front legs into Madame Annabelle’s chest, and his rib cracked. The crowd roared in delight. The ringmaster ran in and pulled Tantor away before he did any more damage to Madame Annabelle. Madame Annabelle didn’t have the dignity to stand before Emma, so he crawled out of the tent, dragging behind the most humiliation he had ever felt.

As he slumped against a pole, Emma appeared. Tears ran out of her eyes. Her voice choked up.

“Burke. I wondered what happened to you. Don’t do this to yourself. Come back with me. I know dad will give you a job in security. You have more worth than this. “

Emma gently took Madame Annabelle’s hand, her softness a delight to feel.

She used the bottom of her dress to wipe the makeup off Madame Annabelle’s face. “Don’t let the world tell you otherwise. You are a beautiful man.”

The compilation of icepicks loosened in his heart. Madame Annabelle finally recognized his worth.

He allowed Emma to guide him away from his circus hell.