Snippet #1441081

Terra, after taking a moment to consider the proposal, nodded. "I'm sure I can find something for you to do," she said, sweeping her bangs (which had, yet again, fallen across her face) out of her eyes. Scanning the tent, her eyes locked on the aerialist equipment on the other end of the tent. "Hey, you scared of heights?" she asked, smiling slyly.

Not waiting for answer, she headed through the crowd, motioning for Blake to follow. She paused beneath the main support pole of the tent, observing the work being done. The central support stood in the center of the tent, soaring up 35 feet, and smaller support poles held up the tent's sides. Various swings, nets, and ropes branched from the main pole, and the aerialist acts, having the most intricate setups in the circus, were now being tested and secured. High wires, the highest a staggering fifty feet above the ground, were stretched taught, trapeze swings locked into place. The maze of ropes and wires were intimidating to some, but to Terra, the crazy web looked just like home. The ropes were familiar to her. She knew their thickness, their weight, the way they felt beneath her fingers as she grasped them tightly and swung through the air. Unlike people, the ropes had never failed her.

Terra watched as a daring aerialist, seated on a swing, dropped from his perch, falling fifteen feet before hitting the net below. Giving a thumbs up to the aerialists above, he rolled from the net onto the floor, then returned to work, continuing as though nothing had happened. Terra smiled faintly before turning to the main support pole. Amongst the various pegs and loops used to secure wires was a wooden ladder, a series of boards nailed into the pole long ago. She climbed it now, thin fingers curling around the well worn wood. She looked down to Blake and raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd follow. When she reached the poles first platform, she stopped, hoisitng herself onto the flat, 3' by 4' board. "Come on up," she called, looking to the significantly smaller Blake standing below.