Circus Freak - Elephant Boy

2 - Olly the Elephant Keeper

Zach approached the foul smell of elephant fecal matter and a small man in overalls. He had shaggy blonde hair, dirty hands, and a stout face. He had a rake and a glove in his gloved left hand, and he was wiping the sweat off his face with his right bare one. He noticed Zach approaching, made some sort of huffing or groaning sound, and put on his glove and went bak to work shoveling hay and poo.
"E-excuse me..." Zach trailed off as the man looked at him angrily. The man soon realized this, and his face soften.
"Did Ring send ya?"
"Uhm, y-yes sir."
"Shy one, arentcha. Alright, grab some gloves from that crate over there, and ill getcha a shovel. Maybe i can even find som'n who'll give you some boots." He looks at Zach's inocent expression of confusion and chuckles. "I'm Olly. I work with the elephants before and after acts. You'll be workin' with me until Ring kicks ya out or you find an act."
"Wh-"
"This here's Shott. He's a bit of a shy 'un, but hes a hard worker." It was until this point that Zach had neglected to notice the even shorter man working a few yards away from them. At the mention of his name, he looked up sharply, causing his curly red hair to bounce, lifted his hand a bit for a wave, and went back to working.
"I know it all seems scary n' confusing kid, but you'll figure out the way we work soon enough. You've got potential. I can see it."
"Thank you sir."
"Oi kid, stop callin' me sir."
"Sorry Olly."
"'T's alright, uh,"
"Zach."
"Alright Zach. Now put on those there gloves and start helpin' me out."

***
The sun had set, the commotion had come to a gradual end, and the final animals were bing loaded into their respective train cars.
"Great work today kid," Olly said from on top of his crate, then taking a bite into his balogna and mustard sandwich. Shott nodded from his spot on the ground, and continued to eat his raw potato.
"Thanks." The atomosphere of a corcus packing up is nothing short of a letdown. You always imagine a circus at night to have bright lights and people playing games and laughing, but instead it was almost the opposite. The only lights were white or a soft yellow, and the only ones that werent shouting were Olly, Zach, and Shott. Everyone else was in a frenzy to get moving before midnight.
Earlier that day, Zach got to meet the elephants. There was Clara, the largest, oldest, and most popular, then there were the three boys, Tank, Gus, and Razz. He had a hard time telling the triplets apart, but Olly helped him out. Then there was Nala, an adolescent female, and Tim, the father. They all had their own odvious personalities, and loved to link trunks and tails. He couldnt help but feel a sense of connection with the animals, but he didnt quite understad why.
     "Alright everyone, lets get moving!" With the sound of Rings voice in te megaphone, everone was sent into action, but this time, more organized. The train started, and everyone was jumping into their respective passenger cars. Olly, Zach, and Shott were already in theirs, and their bodies were swayed slightly as the locamotive jerked into action.
     "So where are we going?" Zach inquired after finishing his peanut butter and honey sandwich.
     "Kansas," Olly replied.
     "What? Why kansas?"
     "Thats where are, um, 'base' is." He made air quotes with his fingers. "We gotta restock, give the animals a rest, get everyones' hygene back up to date, ya know, the works."
     "Oh." Zach had never thought of this, that the circus didnt live off of only the train. I wonder if I can shower there, he wondered.
      "This might not be so bad," he whispered to himself as he settled down against the crates in the compartment. Shadows of trees from station lamps and moonlight striped past the windows and over his new friends faces as they sped their way out of the city.