Lise bowed gratefully to the crowd. Without hesitation, she began her ascent. The unicycle was waiting at the top in careful expectation. She smiled to herself when she thought of Edward biting his nails behind the tent. Each day he gets more and more protective. He always thinks something will go wrong, Lise thought smugly.

Nothing went wrong, of course, because despite what her husband thought, nothing ever went wrong.

"Wonderful job, tonight," someone whispered in her ear. It was too dark in the caravan to tell who it was. Until he breathed.

"Edward!" Lise breathed, when he'd turned on the kerosne lamp. "You know I hate it when you don't wash that stuff off!"

Edward began rinsing off the clown makeup in the basin. He smirked all the while.  "You know what you need, dearest?" he asked wryly. "You need a safe occupation; something that doesn't include the possibility of you falling to your death."

"And you need a job that doesn't require you to have red lips and a sad disposition," Lise replied curtly. She kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Edward?" someone called from outside the caravan. "I need your help with the elephants!"

Edward cast Lise an apologetic smile.  There were never enough of the performers to do much of anything. She often wondered how they had managed to stay on the road.

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Author Guidance for This Story

Lise and Edward are a married couple, currently touring with a circus in the French countryside just before the German invasion. Lise is Jewish, and so, when rumor of the invasion is heard, the two of them flee the country.

updated Dec 26, 2008 by LaineGrey