 |
 |
| VANESSA CARLISLE is a professional dancer in Los Angeles. She studies fiction at UCLA, teaches story writing to late elementary students, and performs nationally with the jazz cabaret The Toledo Show. |
| "the flying butcher" The butcher brought scraps for the lions. He walked through the big tent and watched the acrobat in the air. She was walking the tightrope. At night he dreamed of her red glittering tights, her perfect feet in her satin shoes, her bow mouth. He did not speak to her. She was never on the ground. He heard that she slept in a hand-woven hammock suspended from the trapeze. He fantasized her quiet breath. On the last day of the summer circus he decided to proclaim his love. He brought a fancy filet, as a gift. She jumped from the highest tower, practicing a breathtaking swing on a rope that brought her around the entire circle of the tent. The butcher tucked the filet in his jacket and began to climb the ladder, breathing slowly so as not to panic. He got halfway to the top, his heart pushing adrenaline, when he felt dizzy and swayed. She saw him waver, and knew he was the man who had watched her from the ground, holding white wrapped packages in his thick hands. He moved ahead, sweating on every rung, until he was three away from the platform. She leaned towards him. "Why have you come?" she asked. "I love you," he answered. "How can that be?" she said, and pushed him. He fell without struggle, too stunned to feel scared. She caught him with her legs just before he hit the ground and placed him softly on his feet. "Do you love me still?" she asked. "More than before," he answered. She took the filet from him and ate it raw. "I may not catch you again," she said. "I will climb the tower," he said, "and catch myself." "All right then," she said, and smiled. ### |
 |