I narrowly avoid being crushed by the elephant on my way to the makeup room.

It is 88o Fahrenheit and the artists worry about how to avoid runny makeup.

The sun is shining extra bright today through the yellow and red fabric of the tent, but not as bright as her.

She is a trapeze gymnast. Her blonde hair looks striking with her dark features.

I think it looks amazing.

I go get my makeup done and I reflect on all the times I have invited her to my place for tea.

I have many different kinds of tea.

I also have various mugs to accompany the tea.

I don’t really collect mugs even though I enjoy them so much.

The porcelain handle and glossy finish always have served my fancy. She has never accepted, even though I have a sneaking suspicion that she loves tea. The artist finished my makeup and decided that using less makeup would help avoid running.

I don't want to look like the clown, right?

Before I can sit down I already hear orders from my boss. He tells me to go kill myself.

I oblige, of course, because I don’t want to lose my job.

He barks at other employees. “Kill yourself! Kill yourself!” They oblige. My makeup starts to run, and I get anxious. The juggler starts juggling faster, the fire starts going out. The clown walks in.

He dies. We laugh. The boss kills us. Her hair looks amazing today. My fingers run over my keyboard and I kill myself at the thought of her trapeze teammate, who gets to hold her every day.

I gulp down four cups of cold water to cool down. It gets hotter and hotter. It feels like I am in the center of the sun. The lion tamer gets eaten. We laugh. The boss kills us.

I invite her for tea, and she accepts this time.

I get even hotter.

My makeup runs all over my clothes.

I hurry back to set up.

I need music playing, right?

The boss yells at me.

“I need to focus more.”

She is coming at 8:30. She looks amazing.

I am crushed by the elephant.