Utopia

Ignacio sits in his red cushioned seat, his friends beside him, mindlessly talking about school, relationships, and controlling parents. They raise their voices so they can hear each other over the crowd.
The lights go out and the spotlight hovers over a lone man at the center of the arena stage. He wears a top hat and a long red jacket. His gloved hands firmly clutch onto a long, thin cane. He almost looks like someone from a “Panic! At The Disco” music video.
“I'd like to thank all you guys, gals, and non-binary pals for coming to the Utopian Circus,” He says, voice booming from the overhead speakers, “I'm Dragomir and your ringleader today! First up, we have our Hoopers, Venus and Mars!” The crowd gives a small applause and the music begins. Dragomir walks off of the stage and two girls roll in. Quite literally! They enter in while rolling in giant hoops. They circle around each other, then firmly land on the ground with their backs to each other. The two girls are identical with only few difference between the two. The Native American girls are muscular with long hair down to their hips, but one girl has black hair with white eyes while the other has white hair with black eyes. Ignacio's heart beats a bit faster once he sees the white haired girl. He believes she looks like an angel.
“Pick your jaw off of the floor, dude,” His friend laughs.
“It's not like you to be flustered over a girl,” Another calls out. Ignacio ignores them, and instead focuses on the act. The girls both wear what looks like a sports bra, cheerleading skirt, and knee-high socks. All articles of clothing are black with speckles of glitter, resembling the night sky. When the white haired girl's suit hits the light just right, it turns a fierce red color. As for her twin, it turns a brilliant golden color. Scattered around them are twelve hula hoops. The twins cast aside their large hoops and walk forward. They each pick up a hoop and toss it into the air. They lean forward, balancing on one foot. The hoop gracefully falls and lands between their shoulder blades. They move down the small of their backs and even lower to the legs they have sticking out, where they catch them on their feet and begin spinning them rapidly. The crowd is amazed by their balance.
Within seconds, the twins flick their hoops towards the other, and catch the hoop flung towards them with their foot. They continue twirling the captured ring.
They toss the hoops once more in the air. The girls steady themselves on both feet and let the disks fall over their heads where they spin them around their hips. As their bodies twist, the rings go spiral up to their chests. The girls follow the beat of the music and dance along, their arms going in and out of the hoop as it spins.
Instantly, they both stop moving. The hoops drop to the floor and the crowd cheers, believing the act is over. Venus and Mars pick up the hoops that had just fallen. They twirl their fingers and jump through the hoops, looking as fierce as wild beasts. The crowd becomes silent, anticipating what their next moves are.
Each twin pick up two rings from the ground, now holding three of them. One twirls around their waists as the other two spin in their hand. They wait for an applause, then pick up two more.
With now five hoops, the twins put one at their waist and let it fall to their knees. They lift one leg into the air and put two hoops on their foot, turning them round and round while keeping it balance. With the last two disks, they carefully spin them with one hand. The crowd screams with joy and the twins pick up the last hoop off of the ground. For their last act, Venus and Mars use their bodies to evenly distribute the hoops across their bodies. The music stops and so do the twins. A loud clang noise is heard when each hoop falls onto each other. Venus and Mars take a bow. They take their props and go get ready for their next act. Dragomir walks onto the stage, feeding off of the audiences attention.
“That was a lot of hoopla, am I right?” Dragomir chuckles. Half of the crowd joins his laughter while the other half groans.
“Would you believe that you need more than two people for a trapeze act?” Dragomir asks, “I sure as hell didn't until I watched some youtube videos. Lets welcome: Camellia, Holter, Mao, and Seiichi!” The crowd cheers and anxiously wait. The stage goes dark and only small beams of light dance across the floor. Every now and then a glimpse of the stage crew setting up can be seen. Loud music makes it hard for anyone to focus on anything but the center of the tent. When ready, the room goes dark and silent. Spotlights turn on one by one. The first light shines over a woman with long, wavy brown hair. She wears a purple leotard with a short, glittery skirt. The second shines on a man. The sides of his head are shaved, but the top is a bit grown out and slinks to his right. He keeps a short, maintained beard and has nothing on but white pants. The third light shines on an asian woman with long black hair that is tied in a ponytail. Her bangs frame her face beautifully. She wears a pink leotard with a short skirt that sparkles with enthusiasm. The last light shines on an asian man. He has long dark blue hair that is also ties in a ponytail. He wears dark blue pants and a light gray shirt. He blows kisses to the audience, then one at the opening where the crew has been entering and exiting. The group of four climb the latter that reach higher than twenty feet into the air. The man wearing blue pants is by himself on one side of the stage while the other three huddle together on the other side.
Seiichi takes his swing from his side and jumps off the stage. He rocks himself forwards and backwards, gaining momentum to swing a wider distance. The woman wearing purple is the first to take the swing on her side. Camellia also rocks back and forth until the two get into close proximity. Seiichi falls back, hanging by his knees and facing Camellia. Camellia lets go of her swing whole rolling in the air. She catches Seiichi's hands, keeping her from falling onto the net. When she can, Camellia leaps back to her swing and rejoins her friends on their ledge. The man wearing white pants, Holter, does the same, as does the girl in pink, Mao, after him. Camellia jumps once more. While she swings, Holter and Mao climb onto the second level. Holter takes the swing and goes off. He makes large strides in the air, then lets go, spinning on the way down. Seiichi catches Holter and Mao takes the swing on the second level. Camellia climbs up onto the second ledge and Holter returns to the first swing. Mao releases her grip on her swing and her hands find Seiichi's. Camellia swings on the second handle and Holter climbs onto the second level. The pattern continues beautifully. The crowd holds their breath in both fear and awe.
When they finish, the three leapers jump to Seiichi, who catches them and lets them fall onto the net. One by one, they all dive into the safety landing. Then Seiichi allows himself to let go of his swing, smiling on the way down as the air hits his body. Everyone exits and stands together at the center of the stage. They hold hands and take a bow. A deafening amount of clapping and screams bounce around the tent. Ignacio considers covering his ear, but politely claps. The trapeze act walks off the stage and the crew hustles out, taking apart the playground that was just preformed on.
As they finish, Dragomir walks on once more. Ignacio notices the crew bringing new items onto the set. He wonders what will happen next.
“You all like that?” Dragomir asks. He waits for an enthusiastic scream before saying, “Me too! They did a wonderful job. I must say, it's trap-easier said than done!” Everyone groans, except for Dragomir who is cackling at the dismay of his audience.
“Please welcome Nahlah, our high-diver!” Dragomir says, clapping his gloved hands together. As he turns to leave, the set has finished.
A small, chubby girl enters the stage. She wears a royal blue one piece swimsuit. Her long, natural black curls reach down to her hips and bounce as she walks to the center.
“How old do you think she is?” A friend asks.
“She looks like she could be twelve,” Another says. Ignacio silently agrees. Where are her parents? Why is a child in the circus?
Nahlah excitedly waves her dark arms to the crowd. She climbs up the latter, which has three different boards protruding from it. Nahlah stops at the first piece saying “eight feet.” She gives a bow and jumps from the ledge, landing in a small pool of water. The water splashes and spills over the sides. Nahlah pushes her hair from her face and giggles. She climbs out of the pool and up the latter again. She stops at the second latter this time which is labeled “fourteen feet.” Water drips from the tips of her hair and the ends of her toes. Nahlah waves and jumps once more. Her body collides with the liquid, giving a significantly larger splash. Again, she goes to climb each run of the latter. Nahlah stops at the final level which is labeled “eighteen feet.” She blows a kiss to the crowd and leaps off. A few people gasp as she plummets into the water, a few select people yelling when hit with the water from the pool. Nahlah comes up, taking in a deep breath of air. She quickly exits the pool, bows, and runs off of stage. Dragomir jogs onto the stage. People give a confused clap due to Nahlah's speedy exit.
“Water you waiting for?” Dragomir asks, “Something else?” Everyone awkwardly laughs.
“Mao joins us again for our next act!” Dragomir says, “Watch as she walks the high wire!”