Blessed Virgin of the Circus- 22.

Some nights Mara would dream of she and Yana being the stars of the acro show. Glittering leotards, uncontrollable applause. Acro was their way of seeing God. But the Blessed Virgin was not forgotten. One night quite late, towards 3am, Mara visited the statue. Her eyes looked hollow. The blood looked dried and faint, the river of belief itself dried. Somebody had placed a tiny flower, now dried, at her feet.

“I know you’re still in here. I know you still watch us and care for us.” This time she lit a tiny votive candle. Mara kneeled in meditation. Space and time fell away; her mind drifted into the stars. Suddenly she heard a noise behind her. It was Mala. Both were startled.

“Mara. The spell. Did it work?”

Mara thought for several moments. Depending on how much she revealed, Mala might know immediately that Jerry was the subject.

“I don’t know yet, Mala. I guess I’ll find out soon.”

“Tell me when you do.” This was the most sincere that Mara had ever seen her. They both appeared vulnerable, and it was frightening.

Faintly, in the dead silence of the night, both of them perceived a small rumble of the ground.

**

The day of Jerry’s departure arrived, and Mara was watching the kids. They played kickball in the back field during class break, and Mara had taken over most of the school tutoring duties, allowing Mala some leisure time. That morning, Jerry had been seen scuffling around the outside of his camper, loading in lawn chairs and the last of his setup.

He hobbled on a cane, and Mara was not able to understand why. Neither did she understand why he chose to make his way directly near the lot where they were playing, nor how he knew that she would be outside the camper doing an activity on this day. When Mara saw him approaching, she confiscated the ball and told everybody to go play Hide-and-Seek for twenty minutes.

He walked up two feet in front of her.

“Please forgive me.”

Silence. For a full five minutes, their eyes locked. Mara looked over her shoulder, scanning, to check on the kids.

Mara turned her head back. He was gone. The day was so hot the waves radiated up off the ground. Faintly, in the distance, she thought she saw a speck of a man in a black cloak.