 |
| My Book Cover, made it myself! |
Here's a little overview of the book:
Connor the Con is an orphaned runaway. He has to steal food to survive, but the town doesn't understand that. When Cirque Periculum came to his town, he saw it as an opportunity of more stuff to steal. Little did he know that he would end up joining the circus he tried to steal from. Find out what happens to Connor below.
Note: This isn't a complete copy of my novel, it is just an excerpt. Please don't expect a full length novel below.
Chapter I
Connor tripped over a raised slab of sidewalk as he ran from the angry man
chasing behind him. The morning air pushed against him as he sprinted
harder. He would’ve been in school at that moment if it wasn’t for the fact
that he was hungry. Connor turned onto another street.
“Stop you little thief!” the man exclaimed as he turned the corner after him.
The street had the usual people on it, and they were used to seeing Connor
running past. Connor muttered greetings to people as he rushed past. Finding
his usual hiding spot, he turned and jumped inside. It was a musty crate
between two buildings. It was pushed back far enough that someone would have to
stop and look to see it. Trying to control his breathing, he thought of other
things as he held the package of jerky he stole.
It was getting increasingly harder for Connor to steal in this town because
everyone knew him. Greenview’s population was two hundred and ten, and they all
knew Connor the Con. He didn’t belong in the town, and yet there he was every
day. He didn’t have a family, but he didn’t live in the orphanage either. His
home was a small hole in the wall that a family was kind enough to let him
have, and his food was whatever he “earned”.
I’m going to get out, Connor thought to himself as he peeked out of his
hiding spot. I’ll leave this town and make something of myself.
He scanned the street. There was no sign of the man that had been chasing him.
Quietly, Connor climbed out of the box and walked back onto the street. He felt
a large hand on his shoulder.
“Got you,” the man said as he threw Connor onto his shoulder.
“No! Let me go right now!” Connor shouted as he punched the man’s back.
“Stop struggling! I’m turning you in. You’re going to the orphanage.”
As we passed a lamp post, I saw a poster that was posted on there. Without
reading it, Connor ripped it off the pole and pressed it against the man’s
face. The man shouted as he struggled, and the paper ripped.
Connor dropped off of his shoulder, two halves of the poster in his hands. He
sprinted away from the man, who had decided to give up for the day.
“If I ever see you again, I’m turning you in,” the man yelled after him.
Connor ignored him as he sprinted to the musty crate again. After picking up
the package of beef jerky that he had dropped, he climbed over the crate and
into the darkness. A sliver of light hit the dusty concrete, the only source of
light in the hidden corner.
Chewing on a piece of jerky, Connor looked at the torn poster. Curiousity got
the better of him. Shoving the rest of the piece of jerky into his mouth,
Connor pushed the two halves of paper together until they aligned into their
original form.
Cirque Periculum: A Show so Magical, You won’t want to miss it.
Connor laughed at the poster. The picture underneath the words was of a man in
a magician’s outfit, waving a wand. He looked at the dates on the bottom of the
poster. They were coming later that week. Who would want to go-
Wait a minute, Connor thought. This is perfect! I’m sure they have
some things of value. I could steal from them!
The idea raced through his head, making him feel giddy. He stood up. He would
go closing night so most of the town would have already gone. Then it would be
easy to sneak in.
Connor walked back down the street, the pieces of poster in one hand and jerky
in the other. It was still early. Maybe he would go to school. Then again, he
already knew how to read and write. His adopted parents had taught him that
much at least. They also taught him that people are liars, and if he wanted to
live in this world, he would lie as well.
He popped another piece of jerky in his mouth as he walked down another street,
nodding to whoever passed him. Although he stole from most of them, he still
tried to be friendly in hopes of them understanding that he had to steal to
survive. Of course, none of them did. They all saw him as just a thief, so that
was what he was.
The next street made him shudder. The Orphanage for Deprived Boys stood at the
end of the street, glaring at him. It was run down. Connor crossed the street
to avoid it as much as possible. He was almost past it when two boys dropped
down from a tree and onto the sidewalk.
“Hey fellas,” Connor said. The smallest out of the two orphans was Adam, a
blonde ten-year-old who looked like he was eight.
“Connor the Con,” the other boy, Sean, said. “We thought you didn’t like this
part of town.”
“I don’t. I’m just passing through. Say, why aren’t you guys in school?”
“Same reason you ain’t. We don’t wanna be,” Sean said.
“I thought the old man made you.”
“Nah. Not lately anyways,” Adam said.
“Yeah, he’s stuck in bed,” Sean added.
“That’s nice for you guys,” Connor said. “I gotta run, but it was nice talkin’
to you guys.”
Connor turned to leave.
“Wait!” Adam said. Connor turned back around. “Have you heard of the circus
that’s comin’ tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah!” Sean said. “It’s gonna be awesome. The old man said he’d take us on
closing night since we’d been so good while he was sick in bed.”
“Really?” Connor said. “I’ll be there too. I’ll see you boys there then!”
“See you Connor,” Adam and Sean said as I left.
A few minutes later, Connor got to the edge of the town. The old highway
stretched out like a black rod as far as the eye could see. Standing tall, an
old water tower sat at the edge of the road. Connor climbed up the rusty
ladder. The top of the water tower was where he went during the day. It was
quiet and isolated from the rest of the town. On the other side of the water
tower, somewhat further away than the road was, was a set of train tracks. He
wouldn’t go to school that day. Instead he would watch the train tracks for any
sign of Cirque Periculum.
Chapter II
The rest
of the week went by with a buzz in the city. All people could talk about was
Cirque Periculum. Connor waited patiently. If he stole from them too early,
they would have time to hunt him down. No, he waited until the very last night
the circus was there.
Night fell. The circus tent was lit with colorful lights on the outskirts of
the city. A stream of people was walking into the tent. Apparently Connor was
wrong. The town seemed to go almost every night to this mysterious circus.
Climbing down from the water tower with a backpack in hand, Connor made his way
to the large tent that was set up by the train tracks. Behind the tent was a
train, which most likely held the circus’s earnings.
Darkness covered Connor’s appearance. He was dirty and his clothes were worn.
Unable to buy clothes for a couple years, the ones he had on were tight against
his wiry frame.
The people barely noticed as Connor joined their ranks. He struggled to look
above their heads, watching for the tent to grow nearer. A hundred feet from
the tent, Connor split from the group and snuck around the colorful tent. He
could hear chatter of an excited audience coming from inside. A twinge of
jealousy ran through him. He wished he could be in there with them. It sounded
like they didn’t have a care in the world. None of them had to steal to eat or
sleep in a small hole in the wall. Just him.
The large train sat on its tracks in front of Connor. Checking to make sure no
one was in sight, he sprinted toward one of the cars.
“Stop where you are!” a man exclaimed behind Connor.
Connor spun around and was blinded by the bright light behind him. The light
dimmed enough for Connor to see who the voice belonged to.
Based on the man’s dress, Connor guessed he was one of the performers.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the man demanded.
“I- I,” Connor stuttered.
The man stepped toward me and put a hand on my shoulder. His hand was almost
hot in the cool night air.
The man stepped toward Connor and put a hand
on his shoulder. His hand was hot in the cool night air. He looked extremely
angry, so of course Connor’s heart was ready to leap out of his throat and
scurry away.
“Ah, Mr. Salam, I see you have found one of our guests,” a voice said behind
the cowering boy. Connor turned around to find a tall man in a magician’s
costume. He had a velvet top hat, robe, and a cane. The cane caught Connor’s
eye. It looked expensive, like it could get Connor a few meals.
Whom Connor presumed to be Mr. Salam, the man with the angry expression still
plastered on his face, stepped away from Connor.
“I caught this boy snooping around back here,” Mr. Salam said. “I thought he
was making trouble, so I confronted him.”
“Connor would never make trouble!” the man with the cane said. Connor’s eyes
widened at the mention of his name. “He’s just here with the orphanage to see
the show, aren’t you?”
It took Connor a moment to register that the man was talking to him. “Yes sir.”
The man smiled. “Go along then.”
Connor looked at both the men, getting a smile from one and a scowl from the other.
Without another word, he turned away from the men and headed back to the line
of people that was filing into the bright tent.
For some odd reason, the man standing in front of the entrance didn’t even ask
to see a ticket. He just told Connor welcome from Mr. Summertin and ushered him
inside. Whoever Mr. Summertin was, he seemed like he would be pretty nice.
Connor looked around the tent in awe. The ceiling was high above in bright
colors. Ropes and such dangled from the frame, most likely to be used by
performers later. Lights swirled around the buzzing audience. Connor looked
behind him to see more people trying to push into the tent, but the usher and a
couple other people blocked them off.
“It’s full! I’m sorry, but you can’t get in tonight,” the usher exclaimed to
the people.
Connor continued deeper into the tent until he reached an empty seat. He sat
down excitedly.
I’m not here to have a good
time, he reminded himself. I’m
here to steal. I need to find a way to sneak out of the show.
He looked around as the lights dimmed into blackness. People began to cheer and
applaud at the darkness.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” a voice exclaimed in the dark. Everyone went silent. “We
would like to welcome you to Cirque Periculum! At this time we will remind you
that everything you are about to see is staged. Our performers are well-trained
and have practiced. Do not try the stunts they are about to do for you, and
don’t fear for them. Without further ado, Cirque Periculum!”
No comments:
Post a Comment