The Tiny Ringmaster (4 page)

Ruth eagerly walked over to the buffet. Her stomach screamed in hunger. She looked down at the long line of treats and felt like she could eat it all. She grabbed one of the pink porcelain plates and began to pile on the goodies. She decided she would eat the real food first. Cookies and cake could come later. She was more excited about the spaghetti and meatballs and fried chicken. It looked better than anything her mom ever cooked.

Once her plate overflowed, she sat down on the pink velvet couch and inhaled the delicious food. Ruth wasn’t sure if she was just really hungry or if the food she was eating really was as delicious as she thought it was. The fried chicken was juicy and crunchy, the spaghetti and meatballs were messy and sweet, and the mashed potatoes were light and fluffy. She didn’t even look up from her plate to see if anyone else was eating.

She ate to her heart’s content, and she ate some more. After she finished her third plate, she put it on the table with the other dirty dishes and contemplated another strawberry shortcake. Just as she reached out to grab one, she realized how sleepy she was. She noticed that she was alone. She wasn’t sure when the room had cleared out because she was too focused on her amazing dinner.

Since she was alone, Ruth decided that there wasn’t any harm in taking a little nap. She strolled over to the large pink sofa and pulled a plush pink blanket around her. She’d let herself sleep for just a few minutes, and she would get up. She was so tired now...

“Ruth? Ruth‚ honey, wake up. It’s time for you to get ready.”

Ruth was awake but hadn’t opened her eyes yet. She figured that she must have slept really well because her mom’s voice was more pleasant than usual. Ruth slowly opened her eyes, and she sat up quickly. She wasn’t at home! She hadn’t woken up yet! She was still in her amazing dream!

Ginger laughed lovingly. “No need to rush, dear. The Elders have been waiting many years for your arrival, so they can wait another hour or so. Did you have a good nap?”

Ruth rubbed her eyes and nodded her head. She slept so peacefully on the couch with the wonderfully warm, snuggly blanket. She slept so hard that she forgot where she was! And that pillow! She didn’t remember going to sleep with that pillow. Maybe someone gave it to her while she slept. After pondering on the pillow for a few more seconds, she realized that she hadn’t responded to Ginger. “Oh yes! It was wonderful. Thank you.”

Ginger reached down and smoothed Ruth’s hair. A huge smile came across Ginger’s face. “Alright, Ms. Ruth! Time to play dress-up!”

Ginger led Ruth off the couch to one of the salon chairs. Ginger had to lift Ruth because the chair was too high. Ruth was a little embarrassed at her tiny size, but Ginger didn’t seem to notice. One of the other ladies draped Ruth in a shiny pink cover-up. In a flash, ten women all fussing and combing and oh-ing and ah-ing surrounded Ruth. From somewhere in the back, they heard a loud voice.

“SILENZE!”

Everyone dropped what they were doing. Ruth was frozen in her seat. She heard the clicking of shoes as the voice slowly approached her. The footsteps were steady and slowed down to a frightening pace as they reached Ruth’s chair. A skinny man with slicked-back black appeared in front of her. He was only about as half as tall as Ginger, but he was still tall enough to reach Ruth. He dressed in the finest cream-colored velvet suit lined with silver, and a glittering tool belt hung around his waist.

“Mz. Ruth! I am ze stylist! My name is Pepé! Oh my goodnez! You are zo vary beuutiful! Juz like my lovaly Ginzger! Zo eazy to work with!” Pepé covered Ruth’s hands in kisses. “Mua. Mua. Mua. Mua. Mua. You are zo lovaly. I kizz your handz. MuaMuaMua.”

Ruth giggled hysterically. She liked this Pepé character. He wasn’t frightening at all. Ginger laughed as well. “Alright Pepé, that’s enough. We’ve got to get to work.”

“Of courze, my dear. You knowz best.” Pepé looked at the crowded room and furled his eyebrows. “Pleaz, pleaz dearz, Pepé needz zome room to workz.”

Ginger gathered the ladies. “Come girls; let’s stay out of Pepé’s way.” Before Ruth could tell anyone goodbye, a thick cloud of white air and silver glitter enveloped her. Pepé was all over the place, working 100 times faster than Ruth thought was humanly possible. He yanked on her hair, rubbed junk on her face, and talked to himself while he fluttered. He reminded Ruth of a spastic hummingbird.

“Pepé iz going to make youz zo vary beuutiful! Pepé iz a maztermind! It iz zo eazy to workz with zuch beuuuty! Pepé iz happy and he knoz it! Pepé iz vary happy and he knoz it!” He spun round and round, and Ruth began to get dizzy from watching him work. The silver glitter was so thick that Ruth couldn’t see a thing. She closed her eyes and yielded to Pepé’s brushes. Pepé didn’t seem as though he could be persuaded anyway, so Ruth figured she might as well enjoy. As quickly as he started and as soon as Ruth began to relax, Pepé stopped dead in his tracks. The cloud of silver dust settled to the ground. Ruth was afraid to move a muscle or to even breathe.

“There, my beuuuty. Pepé iz finizhed!”

Ruth looked in the mirror and had to blink twice. Pepé had sprayed pink glitter in her hair and pulled it into a magnificent bun with a sparkling tiara. She had silver glitter around her eyes, bright pink cheeks, and a little bit of pink lip-gloss. She looked like a princess. Ruth reached out her arms to give Pepé a hug. Pepé returned her embrace and lifted her from her chair to place her gently on the ground.

“Oh thank you, Pepé! I love it!”

Pepé pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. It sounded like a horn. “Oh, my dearz child! You are zo beuuutiful!” He began to wipe away flowing tears. “It waz zo eazy for Pepé! Pepé iz zo happy you likez it!” He dropped to the floor and proceeded to sob at her feet. “I’m juzt zo happy to zerve zuch a beuutiful prinzess! Pepé iz zo lucky! I kizz your feetz! Mua... Mua... MuaMuaMua.”

Ruth was relieved when Ginger magically reappeared. Ginger gently rolled her eyes as she spoke. “Ok. Pepé, that’s enough. Let’s not scare the poor child. You’re finished. We’ll see you again later.”

Pepé stumbled to his feet and wobbled towards the door. “Yez, yez. You will zee Pepé later!” He marched out of the room, continuing the conversation with himself.

Ginger looked at her watch hurriedly. “We’ve got to get you dressed!” She immediately ran over to the leopard print curtains and drew them back. Ruth gasped and wondered at the hidden treasures. Behind the curtains was the largest closet she had ever seen, full of clothes in her size. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

Ginger grinned proudly. “We’ve been waiting on you a long time. Pick anything you want, Ruth.”

Ruth strolled slowly over to the closet and gently grazed the many different fabrics. Everything was so soft and so shiny. How was she ever going to choose? She wandered row after row, soaking in all the fantastic outfits. Her brain was on overload. She would never be able to choose just one, but the Elders were waiting on her. She had to decide quickly.

She rounded another corner, and her dress appeared. It was the softest white with black velvet stripes circling from the neck to the hem with a black velvet bow across the waist. Ruth approached it slowly. She ran her fingers over the soft fabric carefully and felt excitement bubble up from her toes. She carefully removed it from the rack and found her way back out of the closet to show Ginger.

Ginger beamed. “Now let’s get that dress finished off just right!” Ginger hustled Ruth into a fitting room in the closet to change. Ginger began handing her lots of accessories as Ruth tried to put the dress on quickly.

“Ok, now here are some earrings. These should match your tiara… Oh! And here’s a black petticoat… it’ll make your dress even poofier! You’ll be like a tiny little fluff ball!” Ginger continued to giggle as she passed Ruth everything she needed to get dressed.

Ruth finally put herself together. She tried to remain calm, but she had a feeling that things were about to be different. She didn’t know what the Elders were going to tell her, much less what they were going to think of her. Ruth straightened her dress. Was she dreaming? Things were feeling very real all of a sudden. She peered out of the dressing room to find all the dancing girls waiting on her.

Ginger smiled so wide that Ruth thought she might cry. She composed herself once she caught a glimpse of Ruth’s bare feet. “Oh! You need shoes!” Ginger scurried and disappeared in the back of the closet. Ruth scrunched her nose. She didn’t like wearing any shoes except for her sneakers.

Ginger called out to her from the back of the closet. “I think I found them!” Ginger walked over and handed her a pair of black patent leather Mary Jane’s. Ruth slid them on hesitantly. She paused when she realized that they felt like her sneakers, and she looked up at Ginger in wonder. Ginger winked. “Ok... I think we’re ready!”

Eritol returned to escort Ruth and Ginger over to the Elder’s Lobby, and they were now waiting anxiously to be ushered in. Even though everyone swore it was a grand occasion, they were all quite somber, and the room was eerily quiet. It felt like a doctor’s waiting room, and Ruth wasn’t very fond of doctor’s waiting rooms.

Eritol had lost a little of his shimmer. He was obviously nervous, but Ruth saw that he was trying to hide his nerves for her sake. Ginger kept shifting her weight uneasily. Ruth finally gathered enough courage to break the silence. “Ginger?”

“Yes dear?”

“Why is everyone so nervous?”

Ginger bit her lip, contemplating the correct answer. “Well... the Elders are quite... peculiar... They are very proper - not that you have anything to fear. They, they... they just have a low tolerance for nonsense, so we try not to waste their time.”

Ruth nodded. The Elders sounded a lot like her grandparents. Her mom got anxious every time they came around too, so Ruth understood the fuss. Ruth heard someone clearing his throat from behind the curtain, and everyone stood up a little straighter. A bald, pudgy man, not much taller than Ruth, gingerly slid out from the side of the curtain and cleared his throat again.  A large golden mustache swallowed his face. His navy blue suit and polka dot bow tie were perfectly pressed. His eyes were mean and squinty, and his cheeks were a deep, painful red. Ruth didn’t like the looks of him.

He walked up to Ruth and bowed deeply. “Mistress Ruth, would you be so kind as to follow me?”

Ruth nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”

Eritol let out a nervous sigh. The short, pudgy man glared at him. Eritol blushed deeply. The little man held the curtain back so that Ruth could walk underneath it. She waited for him to give her further instructions.

“This way, Mistress Ruth. Please, follow me.”

Behind the curtain, an endless hallway loomed. This hallway reminded Ruth of the hallway to the dressing room, except it was older and more refined. This hallway was filled with red and furniture that looked about a million years old. The paintings that hung looked like they had been passed down from generations and generations of great kings. Ruth noticed immediately that the dull, gold carpet was flat with almost no cushion. Every few feet, she caught a glimmer of sparkling gold on the floor. As soon as she caught the glimmer and tried to locate it, it would disappear again. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched and decided that this hallway was her least favorite.