Ben found a quiet area to practice his clowning on the other side of Miss Nancy’s trailer. He had a couple of curious lookers peeking at him from behind a large oak tree. Ben didn’t mind though, all he wanted was for people to respect his talent as a unique clown. Everyone has seen and been around traditional clowns before so some of what Ben was trying to do took courage. And I think Miss Nancy Fancy saw that courage in him.
As a boy, Ben was very nimble and liked to do hand stands and other acrobatic moves. This type of athletic ability he also did throughout high school. His friends just accepted him as the strange friend of the group while others thought he was weird. So, now with his audition this afternoon, Ben decided to incorporate tricks while doing hand stands. In his backpack that he brought with him, Ben pulled out a few tennis balls. First he went into a hand stand and bounced back and forth from one arm and to the other. He was strong enough to put all his weight on one arm at a time. This impressed one of the onlookers that was spying on him.
Next, Ben grabbed a tennis ball and tossed it into the air as high as his feet. When he switched arms, he caught the ball with that hand as it came down. He tossed the ball up again and switched arms. As the ball came down, he caught it with the opposite hand. Ben did that about five times and sped up his movement a little each time.
“Wow, that kid is pretty talented,” Seymour whispered to Luke.
“Yeah, maybe a little,” Luke whispered back.
The two of them continued to watch to see what Ben was going to do next. Ben tried to juggle with one hand but couldn't do that. So, he dropped the balls and then jumped three times on both hands. After that, Ben gracefully lowered his legs, jumped up, and then bowed as if he had an audience.
Ben then picked up the three balls and started to juggle them. Slowly he bent backwards until his back was horizontal with the ground while still juggling. Ben then slowly stood upright again and continued to juggle. Then he quickly put one ball under his chin and then caught the other two with each hand. Ben then took another bow.
“Bravo kid,” a tall slender man in a black Armani suit said as he walked over clapping his hands.
Ben was startled but smiled, “thank you sir.”
“You must be Ben. I’m Dave the owner of this circus.”
“Oh, nice to meet you sir. I was just practicing for my audition for you and Miss Nancy,” Ben held out his hand to shake.
Dave shook Ben’s hand with a strong grip, “well, it looks to me that you might have a job with us.”
“Really sir? I would love the opportunity.”
“Sure, but you have to do what you just did for Miss Nancy and I’m sure that she will like it too. And I hope that you have other tricks as well?” Dave asked.
“Oh, yes sir I do. But I have one request.”
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