RALF LIFSHITZ PART 1
This world is not Earth, but there are some similarities. For starters it’s occupied by humans. But there are other species who occupy this world along with the humans.
Exotic creatures once roamed this place. There were people who resembled reptiles, born with scales who were faster and could figure out how to climb a wall much faster than you or I ever could. There were people who could shape shift into bats, and needed to drink blood in order to survive, and could only come outside once the sun had gone down. There were people much larger, and hairier than anyone you’ve ever seen.
How did this happen you ask? Scientists were crossing human DNA with the DNA of different animals for experimentation purposes, long before the story you are about to hear. Lizards, snakes, bats, bears, etc. This became so advanced, that these beings began breeding and making a lifestyle for themselves, in this world they were created into.
The reptile people migrated towards the desert. The blood suckers ended up in the woods. They liked it there because there was less sun and lots of animals to live off of. They shared the land with the bear people, who thrived as well in the woods.
Just like today, society had its rules, and these people who were created into the world learned their place in it, despite the few bad apples.
As hundreds of years passed, these creatures became an established part of the society, of this world.
But there came a time where the humans wanted to expand their land onto the land of these creatures, they had created and brought into this world. These creatures were not happy and revolutionized, in order to protect their lands.
After years of war, the humans had won, declaring the extermination of anyone who wasn’t a born a purebred human.
Hundreds of years later, the only time you’d hear about one of these creatures was in old myths or horror stories, they were made out to be demonic villains.
There were creatures who still roamed the earth, but had to spend their lives in hiding
ACT 1: Ralf Lifshitz
Baba’s circus was located in a part of the country that didn’t get much light, this time of the year, so it felt like night most of the time. For about 10 hours a day, there was just a hint of light, which gave the sky a pinkish, purplish color, with just a hint of orange. We’d reached the desert region about 3 days before and papa said we were about 7 days away from babas circus. Although there wasn’t much light visible, the weather had become hot and humid when we entered the desert, making it difficult to fall asleep sometimes.
My mother used to be my caregiver but she had died a few years before my initial trip to Baba’s circus. My Papa told me that she was murdered by a deranged bloodsucker, but we’ll get into that later.
So I’d been traveling with my papa for close to 3 years now. We used to travel with 4 horses, 3 of them would pull the caravan and my father would ride the forth. The caravan looked like a little train. There were 3 carts attached to it, back to back to back.
Growing up, I would travel in the front car of the caravan, with the luggage and supplies, and play with my toys. But for this particular trip, papa told me I had to learn to be a man, so he’d bought a 5th traveling horse, so that I could lead the pack at the front with him. Besides that he’d got me a rifle and a holster.
FLASHBACK: I remember when my mother had first died and papa and I took our first trip together, my first time visiting a circus. Now this one wasn’t as grand as Babas circus, but it was still something spectacular. I was still about 5 at the time. On that particular night, we were camping in the desert. Most big scale circuses are located in the middle of the desert, because there’s nowhere to run to.
Papa was very tall. He dressed in all black, black cowboy hat, black collared shirt, coat, bolo tie, pants, holster, boots, you name it, it was probably black. And if it wasn’t black, it was silver, papa loved silver. He wore silver rings, had a silver gun, and a shiny silver spike on his boots.
We slept under the stars because it got too hot in the caravan at night. We were cooking a jack rabbit over the fire, when papa lit a cigarette and asked me. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want to be a clown!” I excitedly told him. We’d just delivered a caravan full of creatures to the circus. It was my first time ever seeing a circus, I remember the neon lights and the excited people who’d crowded the area anxious to see a show. The streets smelled of cotton candy, beer, and fire from the fire jugglers. It was so exciting, just from the outside. I remember seeing a clown out front who was telling jokes. He pointed directly at me and said “sir the monkeys are supposed to be backstage preparing for the show”, comparing me to a monkey. The small crowd around him erupted in laughter, including myself. It was the first time I remember smiling since my mom had passed. He proceeded to do a few magic tricks, which I thought was the most spectacular thing I’d ever seen as a young boy.
After that papa took me on a ferris wheel and we ate cotton candy together. I never really questioned why I was the only young child at the circus, but just knew it was part of papa’s job and I thought I was the luckiest boy in the world, for being invited to tag along. I remember asking my papa if we could see the circus and he just told me I was too young still. I was disappointed, but decided then and there that I wanted to become a professional circus clown. I wanted to make people smile as the clown I had met that night had made me smile. I wanted to spend the rest of my life at that circus, a little paradise, or so I thought at the time.
After telling my papa I’d wanted to become a clown, he simply grinned and let out a little chuckle. Papa rarely ever smiled, he was always serious and I remember feeling disappointed he wasn’t taking my dreams seriously. Did he think I wasn’t capable of making people laugh? He could read my disappointed face and responded, “son, you don’t wanna be no degenerate clown.”
“But I do papa!” I responded.
“Son, you need to understand the circus is full of creatures who would love to kill you and suck your blood.”
“That’s not true!” I responded “That clown was nice and funny!”
“Son these creatures I deliver to the circus, it was one of them who killed your mama!”
I burst into tears at that statement.
“Mama was killed by a clown”, I asked?
Papa was looking at the stars now, blowing tobacco smoke into the distance. “Your mama was killed by a blood suckin bat lady on the way home from worship.” He responded after a while. You ain’t seen what these creatures really capable of son. So enough of this damn clown talk! We come from a long line of bounty hunters. That’s what my daddy did, his daddy did, and his daddy before him did. And that’s what you’ll do. We deliver these pieces of shit, like the one who killed you mama, to the circus. And if it wasn’t for us they’d be dead!” papa said beginning to turn red, “But guess what?! you can say we’re doin them a service. They’d all be dead if it were up to me, but there’s good money in it and people will pay to see these crazy sons of bitches come out on stage. That’s all the circus is. Idiots paying to see these wild animals showcased on a stage. We just get paid to bring them in, and the money real good. My great grand daddy set us up right in this business, and you gone learn to be grateful for that someday boy! now eat your rabbit and get some sleep.”
I went to sleep disappointed that night, but as a impressionable young boy, I listened to my father. He knew what was best. Although it wasn’t how I saw my life, I knew I was destined to become a bounty hunter.
I wasn’t an impressionable little 5 year old boy anymore though, I was 8 and it was time for me to become a man. Although I didn’t help my papa capture the creatures for this trip, he said I’d be helping keep them in line for the remainder of the travel.
One afternoon, it had grown too hot to keep traveling so we set up camp with the caravan under the shade of a boulder we’d found. It was still only my third day and none of the creatures had gotten out of line yet, so I hadn’t had to much responsibility, but was waiting for the opportunity to impress my papa.
After setting up camp, I posted up on my horse alongside the caravan to guard the creatures. Behind the first caravan, which was for luggage, was the other two caravans where we kept the creatures which were basically large metal cells.
There were 5 creatures, a man and a woman who I believe were husband and wife, who were lion people stayed in the first cage, with a man who was a pig person. Who are apparently very large and smart.
Behind that caravan was a lizard lady who appeared to be in her late twenties. She spent most the day staring out the caged walls in a sad manner or sleeping. She shared her caravan cell with a boy who appeared to be around my age. This wasn’t the only reason I’d chosen him as my least favorite of the prisoners, but it was because he was a bat boy. And a bat person had killed my mom, so I made sure I kept a close eye on him. He wore a tuxedo and his eyes appeared to be empty. No light.
I trotted my horse up and down alongside the caravan glaring each of the creatures in the eye one by one. I mean mugged the little bat boy the hardest, hoping in my soul that he recognized how much I’d despised him in particular.
This had become my routine the past 3 days, guarding the caravans until my eyes got too heavy and I’d fall asleep. Although my papa didn’t seem concerned anyone was going to pull a fast one and try to escape their cell, I wanted him to be impressed at the fact I was taking being a man so seriously and working extra hard for him.
The 4th day of the trip went pretty similar to the first 3 days and by the 5th day, papa had some different plans, after our long day of travelling, when we hit camp for the evening.
“Alright you sons of bitches, today we’re gonna try something different. Baba not gone pay me none for a buncha cripples, so it’s your lucky day you get to stretch for a few hours. But try to run and these desserts will kill you faster than I ever could.” He then looked directly at the lizard girl and said, “And if you try to run off, thinkin you gone get off with your desert survival skills, I’ll make it my personal life mission to hunt you down and kill you slowly, you scaley bitch.” The lizard girl just stared at her feet.
“Little bloodsuckin bastard, you gonna go with my boy to look for some water, the rest you killers gone help me hunt some jackrabbits for the next week.”
I gave my dad a serious look and nodded my head. It was finally my moment to shine and show my father I was ready to be a man. He let all 5 creatures out of the caravan, and the little bat boy and I headed out into the desert alone to search for a stream.
As we headed out in the desert, I rode directly behind the bat boy who was walking, on my horse and watched his every move. I had one hand on the saddle and the other on my revolver, just in case he tried to pull a funny one on me. He walked quietly staring at his feet.
After about 30 minutes of walking the bat boy looks up and starts staring into the distance to the right.
I spat out at him, “Run and I’ll shoot you.”
He gave me an empty stare and responded, “Water, that way.” and points to the right.
“I don’t trust you bloodsucker!” I yelled, “Keep walkin.’”
We walked for about another hour. He stayed silent. I was getting thirsty and worried papa would think I was a failure.
The little bat boy was beginning to walk slow and started tripping over his ankles. “Pick it up!” I screamed trying to sound like my father.
He turned around and looked at me with pain in his eyes. Tears were beginning to form in the corners. “I-I-I can’t”, he sniffed, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I-I-I’m too hungry”, the little boy began crying. At the time I didn’t understand we were just little boys, because my father had told me I was a man already, but the truth was, we were just two little kids, who still didn’t know right from wrong. I was only 8 years old, and there was no way the bat boy was any older than 7 or 8.
“Quit crying and be a man!”, I yelled. We continued walking about another 90 meters through the desert before the little boy fell, flat on the ground. I jumped off my horse and examined him.
“Wake up bloodsucker!” I yelled. No response. “I said get up!” I yelled again. No response. I began shaking the bat boy but he was completely unresponsive. I checked his heart, but I heard no heat. Did bloodsuckers have a beating heart? I started to get nervous, and a million things began running through my head. Was he dead? Did he die because I ignored him when he communicated to me he was hungry? Was I a murderer like the bat lady who killed my mom?!
I started to panic, but knew if I didn’t come up with a fast solution, there’d be no chance of him surviving. What would papa think? What if he doesn’t get paid for this little bat boy and hates me forever! How would I feel having blood on my hands?
I started to cry as I struggled to lift the bat boy onto the back of my horse. I was hot, thirsty and scared. After about 5 minutes of struggling, I got the boy laid over the horse, his stomach facing down. I got in in front of him and thought to myself, what the hell was I gonna do?
Think. Think. Think. I had nothing. I wasn’t going to bring a potentially dead bat boy back to my papa just yet. Not without trying to keep him alive first. I had nothing. I was a failure, there was blood on my hands and then BAM! The bat boy had told me to go right! He was probably lying but what other options did I have left.
My hands were no longer holding the saddle and my revolver, but now the saddle and the back of the boy’s tuxedo coat. We were travelling towards the right now as fast as I could go on horseback. About twenty minutes had passed. I was starting to sweat harder at the thought that this was my last hope and the boy had probably lied to me. I would have rather died in that desert, then to face my dad as a failure, knowing I killed the bat boy.
I was about ready to give up, when I heard the buzzing of insects in the distance. What could it be? Was I now delirious, hearing things? and then I saw it. We had reached the end of the sandy desert and I was staring at a stream of water travelling through a steep canyon. I found a trail that went down and made our way to the water. I dived in taking in just a little water for myself, to mutter up the strength to pull the little bat boy in the water. Drink. Drink. DRINK DAMMIT! He would not swallow the water.
My body trembled as I realized I was slowly meeting my doom. A dead bat boy and a failed first mission.
I looked up and down the canyon. I noticed a gazelle drinking from the stream.
The batboy had told me he was hungry. Perhaps I could force feed him some raw meat. I pulled out my revolver and began running towards the gazelle.
FUCK! He sensed me coming closer, and started to run away. I fired off my revolver, miss. I fire again, miss. He’s getting further and further. I scream out in agony and fire the remainder of my shots off into the distance, towards the gazelle and fall onto my knees. I look up, and what do I see? A collapsed gazelle. One of my bullets had struck.
I ran over to the gazelle and attempted to drag it, but it was very heavy and I wasn’t making much progress. So I take my fingers and stick the directly into the bullet wound on the back of the gazelles head. I was going to try and pull it’s skin apart to rip it’s skin open, and find a kidney or something to bring to the little bat boy, but it was taking too long. To the left of me, right near the water bank, I noticed a pile of rocks. I ran over and grabbed the sharpest rock I could find. I stabbed it into the gazelles stomach, and pulled it through. Blood began gushing through it’s open wound. I reached in and grabbed whatever meat I could get my hands on, and rushed back over to the most likely dead bat boy.
I pulled his mouth open and made him bite down on the meat. Nothing happened for about 15 seconds and then his eyes suddenly opened. I let out a startled shriek. The batboy disregarded the meat I had brought him, and grabbed my bloody shirt. He began sucking the soaked up blood off of my shirt. As I stared in disbelief, the most incredible thing I’ve ever witnessed to this day happened.
The little boy’s bones started cracking and he shapeshifted his body into this winged creature. He leaped up into the sky and soared over to the dead gazelle’s body. He sat there for a long time taking in as much blood as he needed and I let him. I simply sat back and lay their in relief. I wasn’t a murderer afterall. I didn’t fail my father.
I was cleaning the blood off myself in the stream, when the little bat boy approached me, back in his normal state. He was wiping blood off of his face. We sat there for a long time staring at each other in disbelief and silence. I don’t know exactly what happened in that moment, but the batboy and I broke out into the most insane laughter I’d ever experienced. It was different than the time I’d met the clown. I couldn’t breath! But in a good way. I fell over into the stream. I got up and splash a wave of water onto the little batboy, he did the same right back to me. He instantly stopped and stared at me in deep regret.
“I’m so sorry. I never meant to disrespect you! I didn’t mean that like-”
I replied, “just.. Just don’t do it again”, remembering I was on a mission and the little bat boy was my prisoner. We sat there in a long comfortable silence.
“RALF!” I heard in the distance. “RALF!!!” The batboy quickly scooted away from me.
Papa pulled up at the edge of the canyon on his horse. “Ralf, what the hell is going on son, it’s been hours!”
It was as if what I’d gone through the last few hours, believing I killed the little bat boy, and finding out he just needed to quench his thirst for blood had completely freed me from any stress I had ever felt before.
“We found the water dad!” I looked at him.
“I thought that little blood sucking son of a bitch hurt you son! Now fill up those cantines and let’s get back to camp!”
I wanted to offer the batboy a ride back on my horse but knew father wouldn’t allow it, so he began walking again, as I trailed behind him on my horse. Father rode by himself far in front of us back to camp, but never out of eye shot, giving me my freedom, but being cautious enough to make sure nothing bad could happen to me.
I wanted to ask the batboy a million questions, where was he from? What was his name? Did he like to play? But I only asked him one question on the way back to camp. “How did you know there was water over there?”
I could feel the boy grinning, knowing he’d impressed me. “The insects by the water. Echolocation.” was all he said. Echolocation? What the hell is that?
We didn’t say anything else the rest the way, but one thing I knew for sure was that the bat boy was no threat to me. If he was, he would have sucked my blood when he woke up and had the chance after shapeshifting.
After returning to the camp, we found the other creatures back in their cages. My father handed the little bat boy a piece of overcooked jack rabbit and escorted him back to his cell he shared with the lizard lady, before joining me by the fire. He smoked a cigarette while I ate my portion of the jack rabbit that he’d saved for me. We sat in silence and I remember feeling grateful my father didn’t ask me any questions about my time with the bat boy that evening, because I didn’t want to have to lie to him. I was exhausted from the day and I drifted off to sleep soon after filling my belly with jackrabbit.
That night I dreamt I could fly. I had two black wings and was racing through the night sky. I wasn’t alone, there was another one flying with me. I remember we were racing through the sky, when the other winged creature broke out into laughter. I immediately recognized the laugh as the little bat boys. We began racing through the sky, and suddenly I recognized where we were, the canyons from earlier. BOOM. I heard with a loud flash in the night sky. I looked down and could see my father at the edge of the canyon pointing his revolver directly at me. “PAPA IT’S ME!” I tried to scream but nothing came out. BOOM. He shot again. I closed my eyes and let the panic possess my body, prepared to meet my fate. That feeling of panic was the last part of the dream I remember and the first thing I remember feeling when I woke up covered in sweat.
When I woke up the fire had died down to some red embers and my papa was snoring loudly on the opposite side. I was shaken up, but was grateful it was only a dream. It took some time, but I soon drifted off back to sleep.
The next day, my father woke me up early. He prepared the Caravan for the day’s travel and pretty soon we were on the way. The day was hot and the sky was the brightest shade of orange and purple you’d see it get this time of the year. I remember how good days like that felt being with my father. Leading the caravan, while he’d talk to me about the business. Being a man. We were only two days away from arriving at the circus, so I guess that’s why my father thought it was a good idea to explain to me who Baba was.
“ Son, there’s a reason I chose this trip to start teachin’ you how to be a man. Now I’m gonna be real blunt with you, and you listen closely. I ain’t scared of nobody, but I ain’t dumb neither. Now, this here circus business, Baba is the kingpin. He runs the whole show. And you know why that is? Cause guys like Baba don’t gotta heart and he’ll kill, steal or do whatever he gotta do to get what he wants. One little mistake around him that’ll leave him thinking you’re incompetent or he cant trust you, I promise you won’t live to see another day.” Papa explained to me in a very serious manner.
“Why would we want to work with someone like that papa?” I asked my father, confused.
My father took a few moments before answering that question. He took a moment in his head, twisting his hand around, serious but somewhat admiring the silver rings on his fingers.
“ Cause Baba is about his business. 5 healthy creatures like this will have us livin’ comfortable for a good while son. Now your mama ain’t around, so I gotta teach you these things early on in life, but these other bullshit circuses we deliver too just don’t pay me like Baba do. Now no need to worry son, fortunately for us, I’m a well respected bounty hunter throughout the circus scene. But when we arrive, I need you to stay on your toes and follow my lead, you understand me?
I nodded. My father was a very serious man. However there was something extra intense, almost fearful, in his voice when he spoke about Baba. I felt nervous. It was only the day before that I almost failed my first mission with my father and now I had to perform at my highest with the kingpin of the circus business. And not to mention the fact that this mission could get my father and I both killed. I felt tense after that conversation, but I trusted my father. I took a deep breath and we rode the rest of the day in silence.
When we were finished riding for the day, we set up camp in what seemed to be a little cactus garden. There were about 50 cactuses that grew in what looked like a fenceline, so we set up camp in this little cactus courtyard. I helped my father start a fire so that he could cook us up some jackrabbit Stew for the evening. The evening was hot and the sky was beginning to transition from it’s orange pinkish color to purple.
While father cooked, I did as I’d been doing the following days of this trip. I parked my horse facing the side of the caravan and held watch, eager to impress my father. He knew what I was doing wasn’t necessary, but that didn’t stop him from giving me a nod of approval every once in a while, for the sake of humoring me. It always felt good knowing I’d impressed my father.
While watching the caravan, I couldn’t help but make somewhat awkward eye contact with the bat boy every once in a while. We’d lock eyes, then immediately look away. I knew that the bat boy wasn’t a threat to me, but he was a creature and I was the son of a bounty hunter. Although we shared a friendly moment the previous day, that was just a moment and despite the dream I had the night before, I understood we were from two completely different worlds and were destined to be enemies. But I was having trouble seeing the evil in the little bat boy on that day. Dammit, we made eye contact again. I began to ride my horse up and down the side of the caravan, so I didn’t have to awkwardly stand there. Instead, I tried my best to maintain a hard cold face and stared each of the creatures down. I walked by the lion couple, who was cuddling in a corner of their cell, each head stuck in the other’s shoulder. I passed the pig man, who lay on his back and blankly stared at the ceiling in a sad tired manner. I passed the lizard lady, who lay on her side. She could’ve been staring at the wall or sleeping, but I couldn’t tell because she wasn’t facing me. And finally, I passed the little bat boy, who would lock eyes with me. His dirty tuxedo, sitting down, hands wrapped around, forehead pressed up against the cold metal. Every once in a while he’d lift his head up and I could feel his eyes watch me pass by.
After about twenty minutes, I was growing bored, and my curiosity had gotten the best of me. I knew my father was too into his cooking at that point to pay any attention to me. I passed each of the creatures as I had been, but stopped at the bat boy. I looked down on him, face still serious and he slowly looked up at me in a somewhat serious manner.
“What is your name?” I asked him after a long awkward silence.
He was looking back down at this point, forehead still pressed up against the bars. There was a long pause and I was starting to think he wasn’t going to answer. It made sense though, why would the boy ever willingly share his personal information with a bounty hunter who had him locked up in a cage? This boy and I weren’t friends, what was I thinking asking him his name?
“Ralf!” I heard my father call out from the opposite end of the caravan. “Supper is ready!”, he called out to me.
I nodded at the little bat boy and began to ride away, feeling dumb for asking such a silly unnecessary question.
I was about to make my way around the corner, when I heard the boy’s voice call out to me, “Wait!” he called out, trying not to be too loud so my father wouldn’t hear. I turned around and we once again locked eyes, but this time on purpose. “My name is Sven.” he said to me. I simply nodded and continued riding, to not keep my father waiting for too long.
I knew that the little bat boy and I were enemies, but I was beginning to feel a struggle with my animosity towards him. In fact, I couldn’t think of a single reason that I actually disliked the little bat boy for, besides the fact that all creatures were supposedly evil and a bloodsucker had killed my mother. But it wasn’t him.
That night, my father had some whiskey with his dinner. Whenever he drank he became less tense and serious. That night he was telling me about different creatures he’d caught in his career and some pivotal moments and life lessons he’d learned throughout his time as a bounty hunter, some being with his father. Both my father and his father were hard workers and liked to make money. Not only did they need the money to survive, but they had expensive taste for the finer things in life, clothes, guns, boots, silver, you name it. My father loved to spend money and that night the whiskey had him going on and on about the fortunes he’d earned in his days. The respect he earned.
I nodded the whole time my father talked, but my mind wasn’t really focused on the conversation. I loved when he’d talked to me like a man, but something about that night, I wasn’t feeling very interested. I remember feeling somewhat trapped. I loved the idea of growing up and becoming a bounty hunter like my father, but couldn’t wrap my head around the value of money over a creature’s life. I couldn’t understand what was actually so evil about all these creatures, even in that moment as a young boy. My father explained to me that Baba was a killer and he’s a human. What made him so different from the Bloodsucker who murdered my mom? That night I went to sleep feeling confused.
The next day Papa woke me up extra early. I was feeling extra tired. We had a long way to travel that day and my father wanted to camp about 2 hours outside of Baba’s circus so that we could arrive early the next day. I woke up feeling anxious about arriving at the circus, so I refused the jerky my father offered me for breakfast.
“Don’t worry son, ain’t nothin’ bad gonna happen to us at that circus. Just follow my lead, and we’ll be fine.” But my fears went beyond my father and my safety. The thoughts of what may happen to the little bat boy once he arrived at the circus had kept me up late the night before. I knew it was out of my control, but thinking about the torture he’d have to endure once he was there really bothered me. The way he cried so innocently before passing out from hunger. His sad eyes. I saved this boy's life a few days before, but for what? Maybe he would have been better off dead.
I decided I’d leave him with one last good memory. Although we could never be friends, I’d leave him with something he could play with and cherish, one of my toys.
The ride that day was long and tiring, which I was grateful for because it was a distraction from my anxious thoughts. We traveled almost double the kilometers that we’d usually do in a day.
We picked a boulder to camp near that my father said he routinely comes back to. The skies were already their purplish color; they became around that time of the day, by the time we’d arrived. My father was getting ready to set up the fire facing the creatures in the caravan, but I convinced him to start it on the opposite side. I told him I didn’t like feeling like I was being watched while I slept, and he said he understood.
“They can’t get you from inside son, but whatever gonna help you get a good night's rest”, is what he said to me. I could tell he was a little anxious about arriving at Baba’s too, so he was trying to make sure everything went smoothly the next day, for him and myself. I was about to pick out a spot to start a fire when my father said, “I want to show you somethin. Before you get that light goin.”
I followed my father around the boulder where we had parked behind and we climbed to the top. We sat down next to each other and he pointed into the distance. At first I didn’t notice anything, but then I figured out why he had brought me up there. Deep in the horizon, was a light, full of different colors. Red, purple, blue etc. “What is it?” I asked my father.
“That’s the circus we headed to son, some of the brightest lights you ever gonna see.”
He responded. From the distance we were, all the lights were truly beautiful. Some were flashing while some stayed still. I could only imagine how grand the place must have been, just based off of the lights. I smiled at my father and we sat there quietly admiring the view for about fifteen minutes or so.
Finally my father stood up. “Let’s eat, I’m hungry.” he said and I knew that would be my opportunity to give the little bat boy his toy.
When we got back to the camp, I helped my father set the fire. I then told him that I was going to stand watch like I always did. He nodded without giving the situation any thought at all and continued putting together his jack rabbit stew he was working on for the night. The action figure I was going to give the boy was already in my pocket. I had one for myself as well. I’d already planned the evening out. It would take my father about an hour to make dinner, so I’d give the boy his action figure and then we could play cowboys shooting each other from a distance.
As I trotted up to the little bat boys cell, I saw him sitting curled up in the corner hugging his knees with his face looking downwards. I knew we didn’t have much time so I cut straight to the point. “Sven!” I whispered loudly. The little bat boy slowly looked up looking a little bit confused. I saw the lizard lady on the opposite end, but she didn’t seem to move at all.
“I have something for you”, I said before retrieving the action figure from my pocket. I held it up proudly. I handed it to the little bat boy and said, “so you’ll have something to play with at the circus.” Sven still appeared to be pretty confused, but nodded to show his appreciation.
I trotted back to where I normally stood while standing guard. I pulled my action figure out of my pocket who had a shotgun. The one I gave to Sven had a revolver. I put my cowboy on top of my horses head and began pretending I was shooting at Svens action figure. After a while he began shooting back at me with his action figure in a pretty unenthusiastic manner. I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t a little disappointed he wasn’t more into it. But I held my composure and just kept smiling and playing and after about thirty minutes or so, I noticed a little smile beginning to form on Sven’s face. After another fifteen minutes or so, he appeared less enthusiastic again and I noticed him creeping back into the shadows.
Although I’d wished Sven was a little bit more pumped about the interaction, I considered that was my time to say goodbye before my father called me over for dinner. I trotted my horse up to the bat boys cell and thanked him for playing with me. He looked up at me like he wanted to say something but stayed quiet. “Yes?”, I asked him.
“It’s jus- jus- jus, I’m hungry again. I need to eat, please sir”, he said to me, tears beginning to form in his eyes.
“My papa would never allow that, I-I’m sorry. Besides who knows how long it would take to track an animal down”, I said to him.
He looked at me in a desperate manner. “I was born to hunt sir, it will take me no more than ten minutes. When he sleeps tonight, please sir, I’ll die.” He said to me, hiding his face into his knees, where I knew he had begun to cry.
I had no idea what to say? I couldn’t just let a creature out of their cage behind my fathers back, but I also didn’t want to see the bat boy die. I trusted the bat boy, but this just felt risky. I was conflicted. “I’ll see what I can do.” I responded to him. I then trotted away to go sit with my father while he finished dinner.
My father was asking me all sorts of questions to ensure I was prepared to enter the circus the following morning, but I was wrestling with thoughts in my head about what to do about the bat boy. When dinner was ready, I barely picked at my food, but didn’t have much of an appetite. I was nervous. On one end, I could go to sleep, he’d most likely survive until the following morning and I’d never have to face him again after that. On the other end though, he could die, and I honestly just felt bad for the boy. In the end, I decided that I trusted him. He’d been honest with me last time, and I’d listened to him. I decided I was going to let him go hunt, afterall it was probably the poor guy’s last time he’d ever known independence. What’s the worst that could happen? We were in the middle of the desert, where there was nowhere to run to, except the notorious circus we were headed to the following morning. What’s the worst that could happen?
After dinner, my father asked why I hadn’t eaten much and I just told him I was nervous about the following day. He nodded to let me know he understood and said, “Time for bed. Tomorrow’s a work day and we need a good night’s sleep if we gone perform at our best.” He smoked a cigarette and then lay down by the fire. Within thirty minutes or so, he was snoring.
I crept up to my dad's horse, where I knew the key was in a pocket on his saddle. I got the key and was going to wait another hour or so to ensure my father was sleeping deeply. What’s the worst that could happen? I kept telling myself over and over again.
When it was finally time I walked quietly over to the cell where the little bat boy was. The lizard lady was still on the opposite end sleeping as she was earlier that day. I quietly knocked on the bars to alert the bat boy I was there. He was tucked in the back corner where the shadows were, but I could hear him sniffling. “Y-Yes sir”, he said quietly while sniffling.
My heart was pounding. I wanted to walk away and never face the bat boy again, but knew I’d already made it this far, so i told him quickly. “You have fifteen minutes before I wake my dad up. Go eat.”
I then unlocked the door. The bat boy began to walk slowly towards the cage. Why was he going so slow?
“Hurry up!” I whispered loudly, but pretty much as soon as I got the word out of my mouth. I was picked up and thrown onto the floor. The wind had been knocked out of me and my vision went blurry for a few seconds before I realized what was going on. As my foggy mind began to clear, something jumped on top of me. I tried to let out a scream but I couldn’t. There was a pair of scaly hands around my neck strangling me. Trying to kill me. It was the lizard lady.
As she began to squeeze tighter and tighter, I felt myself getting dizzy again, and knew it was only a matter of time before I was dead. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate. Then I heard the little bat boys words in the distance say, still sniffling, “No! Let him live. Let’s just go please!” The lizard lady squeezed tighter for a second but then loosened up her grip. I stare at her in the eyes completely frightened, like a scared gazelle who’s just met its fate with a lion. She spat out next to my face and let me go. I was alive.
She picked up the batboy and threw him on her back. She began to run and then I did something that I will regret for the rest of my life. I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could. “PAPA! PAPA WAKE! PAPA!”
I jumped up and began chasing the lizard lady and bat boy. They were getting pretty far into the distance, she ran much faster than I ever could. Besides that, this was her natural habitat. She could survive in the desert better than almost any other species. Fuck, I thought to myself, how could I be so stupid.
Then I heard a rifle go off. The lizard lady tumbled. My father came speeding past me on his horse. My father had always had a great shot. One pull of the trigger and they were down. He’d struck the lizard lady in the leg and she fell immediately. I chased my father and his horse to the lizard lady and bat boy who lay on the floor completely terrified.
“Now how in the hell did this come about!” My father yelled loudly. I stayed quiet.
“Ralf! Answer me now goddammit!” he said.
“I-I was letting the bat boy out to eat, I don't know wh-”
“They played you for a goddamn fool, you son of a bitch! That’s what happened!” my father said to me. “You don’t think I noticed you and that bloodsucker smiling and playing and shit in the water the other day! You know what killed your mama, you asshole!” He said to me. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of my eyes.
“I-Im sorry pap-”
“And this bitch was the ringleader! Now you’ve lost me money Ralf, goddammit!” My father screamed out furiously.
He then looked directly at the lizard lady and said, “Stupid games, stupid prizes.”
I tried to scream out for him to stop, but there wasn’t any time. My father pulled the trigger, and shot the lizard lady in the head. I screamed, the little bat boy started crying, and I could hear the lion people roaring in the background.
My father pointed his gun at the little bat boy.