Caged Heart

"Rise and Shine moth!"
Cold water was splashed onto the young boy in a cage that was much to small for him, THe boy cried out in shock and sat up slowly, Pink wings flapping gently to dry, but there wasn't enough room.

"We've arrived!" THe man who had splashed him laughed "Its time to get dressed for your preformance!"

The boy looked scared, He said nothing. Just nodded timidly, Then looked past the man as a girl walked past each cage passing out food to the children inside. She came to the boy and laughed "Here we are butterfly.." She handed him a rose and a pot of honey then walked away. The boy sniffled, His stomach twisting painfully, He used his fingers to eat the honey he had been given, And tied the rose nicely up with all his others. He brushed blonde hair from his pale face and looked around him

"pssst, Loki!" Someone whispered in a cage beside him, Another pixie..."Nice wake up call?" THe pixie laughed

Loki ignored him, Eating his honey in silence, this was all he woud l get to eat today..he wanted to savor it right now. The boy continued to pick on him, "Your hair's a mess butterfly, Don't you have a comb somewhere to fix it?"

Loki finished eating his food and set the pot gently in a coner, And spread back out his thin blanket, Sitting on it, he waited for the costume and make-up artists to arrive to him, So that he could get ready, and get out of his cage, And sometimes Lillian had extra food for him...

Finally they came to him and opened the cage, letting the boy out, he winced in pain as he stood to full height and Lillian smiled softly at him "I'm sorry your stuck in htere..here" She handed him a cinnimon roll "Honey isn't enough to keep a boy standing"
He thanked her and ate hungrly, as She started on brushing out his messy hair "Its being sprayed pink today.." she said softly.
He sighed as he ate, Speaking through a mouthful "As long as I get fed and somewhere to sleep, they could shave it off."
She shook her head "its to pretty for that"
He shrugged still eatting, Hungry. "Maybe."
She pulled out a curling Iron and set to making perfect ringlets out of his shoulder length hair, he continued with eating his sweet, and once done with it she handed him another "THey only feed you that honey don't they?"
He nodded "And thats about 2 cups of it.."
She shook her head and sprayed the pink paint into his now curly hair. Then pulled it up into a fountain at the top of his head, Then washed his face while he ate hurriedly.

Once he was done eating, she quickly started on painting his face
"You'll do good today I am sure" She smiled, He smiled at her softly "I hope I do, we get more food when we do better."

She sighed "I wish I could get you out of here, This place so cruel to you."
"But its better than living no where"
"This is true" She smiled as she finished his face makeup, it was all pink and black, AS was his outfit that was hanging on a hanger. She made sure it was spotless then had him change into the outfit, Once changed he went to the tightrope to practice a while. Some people where already at the circus for the show tonight and sat in their seats to watch him. He ignored the yelling, The hushed whispering...THe sounds vanished, as he focused on the task at hand. Walking carefully along the rope, rolling across it, Tip toeing carefully, Dancing softly. His wings fluttered with his movements, their pink blending in with his outfit, One little girl in the crowd giggled and clapped as he flew back to the ground. He smiled at her then walked off, back stage to wait till it was time.

Several hours later the lits in the tent lit and people began to cheer, the circus had begun!

Acts went by, Clowns, Dancing cats, Lions and a lion tamer, Acts flew by, Loki paced back and forth, waiting for his turn, Wondering how big the audiance was this year, and If they all would enjoy it. finally his turn came, He flew to the ring, watching as the guards around the entrances of the tent closed the doors to prevent his exit
He sighed softly and climbed the ladder up to the rope, and the lights dimmed, And a fast happy tune played as he jumped onto the rope and danced upon it. people cheered and clapped then 'oooh'ed and 'ahh'ed as A hoop lowered to the rope, The boy jumped through it with ease, the edges of his wings brushing agaisnt it. He frowned 'they're using the smaller one' he rolled to the other side of the rope and ran back down it to jump through the hoop once more. Then he heard the voice of the ringmaster

"Death's Butterfly, Can last water and Air, But can he survive fire?"

The hoop lit. Loki paled. 'its to small!' he wanted to scream, But he knew he couldn't he couldn't ruin the show, not now. He took a deep breath and ran back down the rope and through the hoop...pain...White, Hot...Burning pain...As his wings where burned by the flames. He bit his lip and finished the jump with a roll, onto the wooden platform, ending the act, and the lights flared back on. And he climbed down from the platform and off the stage. Tears running down his face from the pain in his wings as he walked into the back, Lillian gasped "Loki!" She cried running to him "What happened?!"
"They used the small hoop and lit it on fire.." He sniffled.
She hugged him gently "Oh Loki"
Loki whimpered in pain as she hugged him close "Owwww"
She let go "Sorry, Come i'll find the first aid and put something on that for you."
She gently led him off, he followed silently behind. He glanced around them silently, Many of the performers stared at him, And he looked away. Lillian led him to a small table and chair and had him sit on table then dug around pulling out a red paste, She applied it generously to his pink wings, He whimpered in pain as it tingled and burned.

She sighed "You get into so much trouble.."
he smiled at her lightly "You know you don't mind it."
"Aye, your right, I still worry about you though, Such a young child in such a big world. "

'i've been okay for ten years, I'm sure i can last another few more." he smiled at her with his soft blue eyes.