I have been following another blog, called "Round the Bend" and I have noticed each week this creative writing entry that seems to be set by someone else. Today, I am going to attempt to put all of the following words into a paragraph/short story. Wish me luck............

Ostrich, conga line, lucite, garish, pumpkin seeds, persimmon, autograph, naked truth, false teeth and merry-go-round.

It all started out simply. Mum had decided to take all us kids to the circus. I was a little scared to be honest, the only lions that I had ever seen were the ones on the National Geographic Channel. The ones that ate and devoured everything in site. I always wondered if the two were related, the ones that were wild and the ones in cages. So all four of us were off to the circus. Joe climbed into the front of the old Ford. He always said that being a boy that was he's natural position. I don't know why Mum let him get away with it, but as the rest of the excited and giggling girls got into the back I didn't for once let it worry me. Driving there, felt as though I was driving to my own funeral, those lions were definitely on my mind. The parking lot was packed and I was hoping that there would be no spots left here for us. Glancing out the window the first thing I saw, was an ostrich. "Mum," I questioned slowly "since when do ostriches live at the circus?" Maybe their would be no lions, ah I could only hope. Scratching around in her purse, I knew that there would be no point in asking for a ride on the merry-go-round that I had just spotted at the edge of the field. "Maybe next time, Joy." I whispered to my sister before she started asking. She looked up at me and I could see the hope in her face, that maybe just maybe we could afford a next time. Popcorn swelled around the tent seeping deep into our pores making our small tummies rumble. What happened to normal food, the ones that could be grown from seed. I mean pumpkin seeds are able to produce the most amazing food, but still at that moment, as I secretly kept my eye out for the lions all my belly wanted was the popcorn. But that was the naked truth of our situation, little money and thinking that pumpkin seeds made great food. Dad had left earlier in the year for a new set of false teeth and was yet to return. Mum kept the rest of us going and I knew that she was trying her hardest, but that popcorn still smelled damn fine. Entering the tent, my eyes still peeled for the lions, we made our way to the seats at the front, and with a hammering heart, I heard the Ringmaster start the great show.............."Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the greatest show on earth." Joy squeezed my hand and I could feel her excitment through her skin. "If you will just train your eyes to ring 1, you will see entering, the world's best monkey group." Joe's eyes opened wide with astonishment as he saw the conga line of small mammals enter the tent, and the "ohhs and ahhs" ricohet around the place. Mum saw that he was suitably impressed and plastered a smile on her face, she couldn't help but think that she had made the right choice with the grocery money this week. "Ladies and gentlemen," the voice of the Ringmaster started again, "train your eyes way above your head, where the men and women of the flying trapeze will now take your breath away." Joy looked hard and I could see that she was wishing that just for a moment she was up there with the rest of them, and while these thoughts were all for Joy I kept reminding myself that the lions still weren't around amd we were nearing the end of this ordeal. "Finally, ladies and gentlemen, the most fiercest and deadliest animal will now be entering the Big Tent. Be quiet please as Lucite, Garish and Persimmon enter............" My heart hammered in my chest, the sweat on the skin gave me an interesting aroma and the small hairs on the back of my neck grew about 4cm.....lions was all my brain could scream. When the lions looked semi secure in their cage, in walked the bravest man I had ever seen. Short, demur and seemingly with out confidence, he wandered into the cage, took up the chair and the whip and tamed the animals I always thought were untamable. Heading outside later, Joe talked nonstop about the monkeys and how he was wondering whether he could get the dogs to do the same thing at home. Joy was thinking about the trapeze artist and how she could almost get to the top of highest tree in the yard and if she just kept practicing she could only think about where she would end up. And I, well I was hoping to meet the man that had tamed the lions. Wrenching open the door, I looked around the circus one last time and thats when I saw him, over by the oldest looking Valiant I had ever seen. "Mum," I questioned for the hundredth time that day. She nodded, she had seen him as well. Racing over, I thrust out the pen and paper that had found their ways into my hands. Signing his autograph I believed in my still pumping heart that I had over come the fear that I had about lions.

Now that its done, what do you think???