Every year we went to the circus. I absolutely loved the circus. In fact when we knew they were arriving, we usually crowded round the day before it started, watching them set up camp. The big top, the caravans parked at the back, the smell of the animals,the sparkly costumes, the sawdust and popcorn. I loved it all. It was a fantasy world so far removed from my sorry little existence and it gave me such an adrenalin rush, I felt I was floating on air for days. My favourite acts were the lions, performing in hastily erected cages, the clowns with the funniest one called 'Tickey' and the trapeze artists. We all expected one of them (or both) to drop out of the sky and fall at our feet.
But the one memory that has remained with me all this time, is the elephants parading round the ring (often there were three rings now that I think back). One of them would inevitably end up lifting its tail and peeing in my mother's direction. Oh yes,I forgot to mention, for some reason we always had ring side seats. I would start chortling and get a rude slap across the face, but it was worth it just to witness her astonishment each time it happened. I wonder why he chose her?
