When the circus came to town, Leo just had to go! How could he not? The sticky food, the bustling crowd, and the performances! Oh, the fun he would experience.

But…

That was only true for only half of his time spent there. Because when he found the tent with a small, covered cage inside it. He got curious. Why was that there? And why was it covered?

So. The red-eared slider turtle mutant walked into the seemingly empty tent. Going up to the cage Leo inspected the outside of it, hesitating to look under the cover. The worn red fabric looked thick. But he could hear very faint breathing and movement from inside the cage. That made him pause. Could there be an animal inside the cage? If so, would it lash out at him? Leo hoped not. But the idea of being bitten made the turtle mutant hesitant. He wanted to look under the cover.

Leo took a small breath and slowly he lifted the cover of the cage. And there he saw something that made his blood go cold. His eyes widened at what he saw. There, on the metal floor of the cage is a small mutant, like Leo. They looked asleep but with the soft light hitting their body the slider could see their appearance more clearly. Their hair is matted, and their clothes look filthy. It made Leo’s heart break. No one should live like this.