Alicia's
Circus
Adventure.


A circus coming to a small sleepy town like Darvel, would always be big news. Every child from 3 to 73 years old, would nag & nag for a chance to see an exotic animal like a lion or an elephant. Alicia happily skipped home from school unaware of the arrival of these exotic animals & their brightly painted tent.

A freshly glued poster was stuck to a wall just 50 yards from her home.
“ A circus, “ Alicia gasped, her eye's widely fixed on the wonders of the jungle. The poster was brightly filled with elephants, monkeys and all the big cat's. A clown was seen on a horse juggling a flowerpot, under a huge yellow tent. When she had finished reading it for the 10th time, Alicia sprinted for home.
“ Dad, Mum, “ she shouted as she crashed through the cottage door. Dad woke up with a fright and jumped from his chair, still half asleep. Alicia ran in to the living room with the poster she had torn from the wall.
“ Its a circus Dad, maybe like the one Grandpa worked in. “ Alicia's grandpa Eddie had been a musician and had played drums in a circus.
Dad laughed & started to read the poster.

The Greatest Show On Earth. Marvel at The African Performing Elephants.
The Flying Lady's Of Monaco.
And Many More.
1 Child Free with each adult.

“ Free dad, we have to go Please Dad,” Alicia begged. Dad thought for a minute and then said,
“ Sorry honey we cant, I don't have the money for my ticket. “
Alicia got cross with dad and ran up the stairs. She spent the rest of the night looking at the circus poster, wishing & hoping, she went to bed.
In the middle of the night a large shadow flew past Alicia's bedroom window. Her lace curtain fluttered in the wind as it flew past for the second time.


Thankfully she loved and understood her dad, as she woke early the next morning. Dad was still asleep, as she made her way down the stairs for breakfast. When she walked past the front door she noticed a piece of paper had been put through the letter box. Alicia didn't normally pick up the mail, anyway it was only 7am way too early for the mail man.
Dad woke up with a fright as he heard Alicia scream. She flew up the stairs and crashed on to his bed.
“ Wake up dad, look look,” she said giving him the piece of paper. Dad struggled to find his glasses but when he eventually did, he was shocked to find in his hand.
“ 2 Golden tickets,“ for the circus. Dad couldn't believe his eyes, all he could do was smile & say,

“ Were going to the circus. “

The circus tent was beautiful and filled to the brim. People of all ages swarmed around the Candy Floss & Hot dogs stalls. Alicia was glad they had 2 ring side seats, excited to be up close to all the animals. I'm really going to see elephants and lions performing right in front of me. Alicia held onto her dad 's hand real tight as the lights dimmed and the music started to play.

First to enter the circus ring were the Clowns, all brightly coloured and laughing. Followed by the Horses and then the huge ferocious lions, snarling loudly for all to see. After them were the Trapeze, the high wire gymnast that flew in the air without a safety net. Then the ground began to shake & with a trumpet blast the Elephants entered the ring. Alicia with her eye's wide, watched them run around & around. Each time the trumpets blew, it signalled to the Elephants to start a new trick. Alicia nudged her dad in the ribs laughing loudly. Each Elephant was holding onto the tail of the Elephant in front. They skipped and trumpeted as they marched in and out dancing to the music. A loud cry from the trainer signalled the end of their act. Then oddly a large male Elephant called Echo, stopped in front of Alicia. Gently Echo stretched out his long soft trunk and touched her hand. Alicia was amazed not only by the touch of his trunk. But also because she could magically hear the Elephant speak.
“ Don't be frightened little girl, “ Echo Said in a low still voice.
“ I was told by a friend your names Alicia, “ his low voice rumbled. A little stunned, she found the courage to answer Echo back.
“ I'm not frightened but, How do you know my name.” Echo knew he didn't have that much time, so he spoke quickly.
“ Come to my tent tomorrow morning & I will tell you how I know you, we badly need your help.” Echo's handler walked over and pulled him away, breaking their connection. Dad sitting next to Alicia hadn't heard Echo speak, he thought it was just a part of the show. This grand old Elephant had passed on a secret not many people know.

“ Elephants can talk.”

Going home with dad after the show, Alicia was so excited she talked non stop all the way back home. One things for certain, she would visit the Elephants tent in the morning.


Morning couldn't come quickly enough as Alicia lay on her bed. Today I will go see the Elephant, but I must take him a present. Dad was still asleep when Alicia left the cottage carrying a bag full of apples. Her garden was full of fruit & magical tree's of one kind or another. They had 4 apple tree's, 2 pear tree's & a honey tree full of bee's. In the hot summer days when the flowers bloomed & the bee's were active. Alicia would leave a clean empty honey jar at the bottom of their honey tree. As if by magic the Bee's would fly out from the tree, carrying with them honey. Alicia loved to see them flying to & fro, filling up her honey jar. When they had finished their work the queen bee would land on Alicia's shoulder & she would say,

“ Thank you.”

Echo the Elephant ate his breakfast of watermelons and rhubarb quickly. Coco the Gorilla was a big eater but very fussy. He would only eat candy floss, hot dogs and baked beans. The monkeys always complained about Coco the Gorilla. After breakfast he would stink out their tent because the beans made him fart, loudly & a lot. The Elephants did not find this at all funny. Elephants noses are very very long and impossible to hold.
The circus tents were quiet, only the animals could be heard moving around. Alicia stood in front of a hot dog machine wondering where to go.
“ Hello, “ the voice said. Alicia got a fright but realised that the voice came from a Parrot perched near by. A giant colourful Parrot strutted his stuff on top of the hot dog machine. Mr Parrot was 3 feet high with large red & gold wings.
Alicia said, “ Hello Mr Parrot, How are you.”
“ I'm hungry, is that food for me,” the Parrot asked. Alicia laughed & replied,
“ Its fruit, would you like an apple.”
Mr Parrot stuck out his tongue, coughed & replied,
“ Fruits horrid, don't you have any Guinea pigs, I like them, yum yum big hairy ones that tickle all the way down to my tummy.”
Mr Parrot shrieked & laughed, jumping up and down singing to himself.
” Big hairy ones, tickle all the way down, all the way down.”
Alicia didn't like the sound of that, she really wanted to leave. Thankfully for Alicia, Mr Parrot was there to show her the way to Echo's Elephant' tent. After 5 minutes of running around trying to follow a flying Parrot, she arrived at the animal tent.

A large painting of every animal in the circus, hung over the entrance to the animal enclosure. Alicia bravely pushed the door aside and walked in. The first thing she noticed was the smell of poo & the next was the smell of more poo. She had expected a lot of animal noise but you could have heard a pin drop. Alicia walked in a little further and when her eye's adjusted she stopped dead in her tracks.

“ Welcome little lady, “ Boomed the deep voice. Standing in front of Alicia was Echo the male Elephant. Spread around him were 5 other Elephants, 4 Gorillas, 5 huge shire horses and a collection of another 20 animals.
Strangely none of the animals were in cages, they were all free to move around their tent. Alicia smiled and walked up to Echo.
“ Hello Echo, nice to see you again.” Alicia said confidant she wasn't here to be eaten. Just as Alicia said that, Coco the Gorilla let out a howl of pain. The largest of the Shire Horses standing near by, had just decided to kick him on the head. This was a regular occurrence for Coco. All the animals were fed up with the smell from his diet of candy floss, hot dogs & baked beans. The troop of Monkeys standing near by him, fell about laughing. Aiden the lead Shire Horse sniggered loudly saying,
“ It gets funnier every time I do it.” Alicia held her nose & laughed along with Echo. The Monkeys started howling, imitating Coco. They held their heads and fell backwards laughing. Echo gave a loud trumpet from his trunk & the rest of the animals joined in, shrieking loudly. Coco managed to stand up, still holding his big hairy head. Just when he was standing up straight, a loud rasp was heard once again from Coco's bum. Alicia & Echo moved away from the smell once again. Aiden the Shire Horse once again trotted over to Coco. With just one kick to his big hairy head he was sent crashing to the floor. Mr Parrot flew over to Coco who still lay unconscious on the floor and pecked him in the eye.

Echo called the troop together & silence fell over the tent. Alicia was first to talk,
“ How did you know my name Echo, I couldn't believe my ears,” she whispered. The large Elephant seemed to clear his throat before telling her his story.
“ I was born & grew up in Africa, on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, which is a volcano.” All the animals listened quietly as Echo explained his life to Alicia.
Echo continued,
“ When I got older I had a son, whom I loved & taught him all that my father had taught me.” Echo paused for a minute as a tear rolled from his large glassy eye. Alicia pulled a hanky from her pocket and wiped the tear from his face. Echo sniffed, “ Thank you,” and carried on his story.
“ One beautiful day, we climbed to the top of the volcano Kilimanjaro, we could see for 100 miles. Suddenly the volcano started to shudder & shake. My son Rocky lost his footing and fell into the crater. I ran around calling for help and as if by magic this huge animal came screaming out of the sky. It flew down into the crater & picked my boy up. I saw my son fly out of a volcano and brought safely back to earth.”
All the animals in the tent, sighed with relief and smiled. Alicia jumped up and hugged Echo, shouting “ Brilliant, who was it, who saved him.? ”
Alicia & all the animals were on their feet, eager to hear who it was.
“ Who was it Echo,” they all shouted.
“ It was an animal I had never seen before, it was a Dragon, a bright red talking Dragon”.
Some of the animals asked, “ What's a Dragon.“ Echo smiled to Alicia.
Alicia asked,
“ A Dragon, my friend the Dragon, “.
Echo smiled & nodded his head slowly,
“ Your friend the Dragon, rescued my son.”
Alicia was shocked, “ My friend the Dragon.” The Monkeys got up and scratched there heads. Coco the Gorilla let rip another huge fart. Aiden the Horse clanged him on the head & sent him back to sleep. Over in the corner a huge male Lion licked his lips & sniggered,
“ Hope the Dragon ate him”. The Monkeys all laughed loudly shouting to Echo, “ Did he eat him, did he, did he eat him”. Echo roared from his trunk and it all went quiet. Lion got up and walked off but roared back, “ I would have ate him.” The Monkeys sniggered quietly, ” Hee Hee, the Lions funny.” The smallest Monkey with a tuft of red hair called Ann, gave a nervous laugh. “ That Lions not funny, last week he wanted to use my leg as a tooth pick.”
Echo wrapped his trunk around Alicia and took her to a quiet part of the tent.
“ So it all ended happily, you got your son back,” Alicia asked sitting on top of bundle of hay.
“ Yes I got him back & made a new friend, your friend.” said Echo. Alicia laughed telling Echo of her many adventures with Dragon.
Echo cleared his throat & said,
“ That's why I wanted to meet you.” Echo paused for a minute, then said. “ I was hoping you would have another adventure for me”.
Alicia a little puzzled asked,
“ What kind of adventure.” she asked. Echo then went on and told her the rest of his story.
My son & I were great friends, we played, raced and swam in the river every day. Then one day a large group of men arrived and stole him from me. They put him in a cage and when I tried to get him out, they put me in a cage as well. We were put in a boat and set sail for here. I ended up here but my son went to an animal park just 50 miles from here. Now Dragon has found him, but he wont go alone.
Alicia was a little puzzled & asked,
“ Why not, he could just pick him up like he did before & bring him here.? ”
Echo smiled, “ Well that's the plan but Dragon's scared.”
Alicia laughed, “ Dragon's scared, he's huge, have you seen his teeth, have you smelt his breath.” All the animals laughed & laughed. Ann the red Monkey said, “ We should get him to breathe on Coco, that would make the tent smell better.” The rest of the animals patted her on the back, “ Great idea, ha ha.”
Echo laughed with the Monkeys and started to explain about Dragon's. Its true Dragons are big and they have teeth 6 inches long. But like Elephant's are scared of Mice, people are scared of Spiders. Dragons are scared of, Ducks!!!
Every Dragon is scared of Ducks, no one knows why. When I asked Dragon for help, he went & flew over the animal park. When he came back he told me he couldn't do it on his own. It was Dragon who put your 2 circus tickets through your letterbox. He said he would only go if you went with him. So we agreed to bring you here. The success of this rescue is in your hands Alicia & in the claws of Dragon.
“ Will you bring my son home to me Alicia.” he asked.
Echo sat and waited for Alicia's answer.
After a minute, Alicia jumped up and said,
“ Let's saddle up & go get an Elephant.”

All the animals were excited and rushed out of the tent. Echo quickly scanned the sky, then lifted his trunk and roared. It didn't take long for a small dot to appear. Far off the dot got big very quickly, then big as a house Dragon flew over their heads.
Alicia was all smiles & happy when her friend the Dragon landed near by. She ran up to him and put her arms around his neck. “ I missed you Dragon, did you miss me.”
Dragon laughed, “ I missed you Alicia, so were going on an adventure.”
Echo walked over to them & helped Alicia get on Dragon's back. Alicia held on to his ears as before. With a nervous smile from Dragon they said there, “ Good Bye's,” and soared quickly into the sky.
Up through the clouds they darted, the hot sun warming them as the flew.
“ Are you all right Alicia, “ Dragon asked as he flapped his wings.
“ I'm loving it, “ was her reply. Dragon decided to tell Alicia about the Ducks. Alicia didn't laugh at her friend, she discovered she still had the bag full of fruit with her.
Dragon shouted,
“ That will come in handy with the Ducks, throw it at them.”
Higher & higher they flew rocketing through the clouds. Alicia was amazed to see that flying next to them was an plane full of people. The pilot sat stunned when they flew past him. He had been drinking coffee at the time when Alicia threw an apple at his window. They both laughed when he jumped out of his seat scolded by the hot coffee.
It wasn't long before Dragon started heading towards the ground. A forest came into view and in the middle of it was a large lake.
Dragon shouted, “ The Ducks live around that lake, hopefully they wont see us.” Dragon was flying really fast in the hope the Ducks wouldn’t see him. Alicia scanned the sky looking for any Ducks & shouted, “ So far so good Dragon, how much further to the animal park.”
The animal park came into view, a line of high fences surrounded the whole park. Alicia could now see that the park was in sections, with individual sections for each animal type. A line of cars could clearly be seen weaving along through the animals.
Dragon tried to hide themselves behind some low cloud as they flew overhead. But the cloud made it hard to pick out certain animals. Alicia shouted to Dragon, “ We need to fly lower, even if it means we will be seen.” Dragon agreed deciding to fly low over the park.
A Dragon the size of a house was now causing panic all over the park. Two Buzzards named Percy & Dinky were sat on a wooden stand, watching Dragon fly by.
“ Isn't that your x wife, “ Percy asked Dinky. Dinky squinted up to the sky and said,
“ Nope, she's uglier & fatter than that Dragon.”
Percy & Dinky laughed and hissed as he flew overhead.
One of the Lion keepers got such a fright, he accidentally crashed his Jeep through the Lion enclosure. The pride of Lions were now trying to catch & eat a lady in an electric wheelchair. People tried to warn her but, unfortunately for her she had headphones on. She never knew a thing until the Lion was chewing on her artificial leg.
Alicia shouted when she saw the Elephant enclosure. Thankfully there was only one young Elephant.
Rocky the Elephant laughed with surprise when he saw Dragon land next to him.
“ Hello my little friend, your dad sent us,” Dragon said. Rocky was excited to hear news of his dad, “ You came just for me, “ the little one said. Alicia climbed off Dragon & said,
“ We have come to take you to your dad.” The little Elephant started to cry saying,
“ I never thought I would see my dad again, I miss him so so much.” Alicia gave him a big hug, “ Well today you will see your old dad, but we better go now.”
Alicia got back on Dragon who flapped his wings, now hovering in the air. Rocky looked up as Dragon wrapped his claws gently around him. Rocky shouted, “ Good Bye,” as he lifted off into the sky.
Dragon flapped & flapped his wings to gain height. He was struggling with the extra weight of the baby Elephant. Alicia patted Dragon on the head, she knew he had to work hard to get them home. Rocky waved his trunk and shouted, “ I'm going to see my dad.”
Percy & Dinky looked up and saw the 3 of then go overhead.
Dinky laughed, “ That's more like her.”
The 2 old Buzzards laughed & coughed.
It wasn't everyday you see a huge Dragon carrying a baby Elephant.


Dragon hadn't forgotten about the lake. “ I wont be flying high enough or fast enough, to hide us from the Ducks,” he shouted. Alicia was the first to see the Ducks take off from the lake. “ There taking off, Dragon.”
100 Ducks had taken off from the lake & were heading towards them. Dragon shouted to Alicia, “ Do you still have your bag of apples.”
Dragon seemed to have a plan and he needed Rocky and the apples.
The Ducks were now closing on them fast. Unfortunately the speed Dragon needed to get away, was eaten up by Rocky's extra weight. Alicia took out an apple & put it on the end of Rocky's trunk. Rocky took a big breath and when a Duck got near, he fired the apple at him. Duck after Duck was knocked out the sky with Alicia's apples. Bang, Bosh, Bang, the Duck's fell out the sky.With Alicia's apples and Rocky's trunk, the Ducks gave up & fell away.

Echo walked in the grass outside the animal enclosure. A Lion lay nearby licking his lips, still with a wicked smile on his face. Coco the Gorilla was being pruned by the Monkey with a tuft of red hair. All the rest of the circus animals were close by, eagerly watching the sky. Every 2 minutes Echo would watch the sky, ever hopeful. An hour past, then another and just when Echo had given up hope. A dot appeared far off in the sky. Echo watched it intently as the dot grew and grew. All the animals roared with delight as the dot became a Dragon, a Dragon carrying a baby Elephant.
Dragon landed with a bump, tired exhausted from his adventure. Rocky ran up to his dad shouting,
“ Dad, Dad, I missed you.”
All the animals ran around to greet the newest member of their troop.
Echo said a big, ” Thank you, “ to Alicia & Dragon before they all went inside the Circus tent.
Lion grumbled to Coco, “ Father & son eh, they don't look alike, to me.”
After all the excitement had died down Alicia & Dragon decided to head for home. Dragon flew Alicia home, letting her off at the end of her garden.
“ Thank you Dragon, “ Alicia shouted. Her dad had seen Alicia fly over their house, happily he now stood at the back door waiting for his wee girl.
Alicia smiled & ran up to her dad. “ I've got a great story for you dad.”


The End.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.09.2011

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