The sun disappears completely beyond the horizon, and the remaining luminosity shifts from dusk to twilight. A subtle sweetness at the edges of the cold.

But you think perhaps you can smell caramel wafting through the evening breeze, beneath the crisp scent of the autumn leaves.

The only movement within the circus is the clock that ticks by the passing minutes, if such a wonder of sculpture can even be called a clock. The tents are still, save for when they ripple ever so slightly in the wind. The ticket booth clearly visible behind the gates is closed and barred. You stand in the fading light, the scarf around your neck pulled up against the chilly evening breeze, waiting to see for yourself exactly what kind of circus only opens once the sun sets. Your curiosity got the better of you, as curiosity is wont to do. No one has a proper answer, yet as dusk approaches there is a substantial crowd of spectators gathering outside the gates. 'What kind of circus is only open at night?' people ask. They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates that no one can properly describe.Īnd the black sign painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, the one that reads: People marvel at the staggering height of the tallest tents. It is impressive and unusual news, the sudden appearance of a mysterious circus. Word of mouth is a more effective method of advertisement than typeset words and exclamation points on paper pamphlets or posters. By afternoon the news has spread several towns over. Within hours everyone in town has heard about it. Even what little ground is visible from outside is black or white, painted or powdered, or treated with some other circus trick.īut it is not open for business. Black-and-white stripes on grey sky countless tents of varying shapes and sizes, with an elaborate wrought-iron fence encasing them in a colorless world. No color at all, save for the neighboring trees and the grass of the surrounding fields. The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers.

The night circus paperback