You step into the tent of the circus, the straw on the ground crunching beneath your shoes. You learn at a school for the performing arts, living in the dormitories of the Opera House. You were here on a trip to the circus that was in town.

A crazed looking man jumps in front of you and your friend, causing you to jump back a little bit. He ushers you inside another tent, the tent that houses ‘The Devil’s Child’. You slowly walk in, your hands trembling as you see countless people surrounding a small cage.

You dig yourself into the front of the crowd, leaning against the metal bars. There, a boy no older or younger than you are, sitting in the middle of the cage. Something about him feels tragic. He wears a hood over his head, holding a small tattered monkey toy in his bruised hands.

The man from earlier enters the cage, grabbing the boy by the arm and throwing him to the ground, kicking the monkey toy from his hands. He rips off the burlap sack, grabbing the boy and showing him to the crowd, the left side of the boy’s face gnarled and rough.