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Marie Lloyd loved traveling with the circus. She loved seeing all those new and different places and learning about their culture. She loved meeting different people and hearing their stories but what she loved most of all was her family.
She loved the animals, loved feeding and taking care of them.
She loved the fire performers; they always had the best jokes.
The clowns always scared her a bit, but she loved them nonetheless. And when her smile was just a tad warmer, whenever they were out of costume, no one said a word.
They understood; after all, they acted the same towards the fortune-teller, even when Marie didn’t understand why.
Elianor was the kindest woman she knew. She is the one who always made sure Marie was alright, the one who always invited her to eat. She always told Marie that not everyone can do it, that you need a natural gift for it, but she still taught Marie how to tell someone’s fortune.
Sure, she may look a bit scary if you don’t know her, but everyone always told Marie to not judge people on their appearance. And Marie followed that advice by heart. After all, she loved Elianor like a mother.
The only thing that Marie finds a bit annoying is that Elianor refused to read her future. Apparently knowing how your life is going to play out only brought sadness. She says that when you wait for something specific to happen, you forget to live in the present.
And Marie understood that, but she only wanted to know a little bit. No one can blame her for being curious.
But no matter what Marie tried, Elianor kept quiet.
Marie loved traveling with the circus but after Elianor died it just felt different.
Everything kept reminding her of her almost mother. And the new fortune-teller seemed to hate everyone and everything. Marie still tried talking to her, even when the old woman kept throwing things at her.
That was until one of the elephants attacked a visitor. They sneaked backstage and kept poking it with a stick. Luckily, they only fell down and got away with a scratch, but the circus had to pay regardless.
So Marie decided to do what she did once before and ran away.
Marie loved traveling with the circus, so when she came across Haley and his circus she begged them to let her join.
They agreed under the condition of changing her name. Marie apparently didn’t sound american enough, didn’t sound normal enough. Mary would be much easier to remember.
She didn’t agree nor did she like it but if that’s what she had to do to stay with them, then fine.
It could be like a stage name. Maybe she could convince the others to call her Marie when not working.
Marie loved traveling with the circus, but she missed her family.
She still loved the animals and would never stop loving them. And she quite liked John, the guy she was supposed to perform with.
The other members of the circus were nice too, don’t get her wrong, it’s just that they were a bit ignorant.
None of them cared that her name wasn’t Mary. They told her that it’s not a big deal, that they all had to change their names, but it was so much more for Marie.
It wasn’t just her name that she lost, it was the last ties to her other family.
She tried convincing herself that it’s fine, as long as she remembers.
Marie loved traveling with the circus, but that didn’t stop her from crying herself to sleep.
Why did no one understand that English is so hard for her? Why do they all laugh without explaining what she did wrong?
The only one who tried was John. He smiled too, when she got something wrong, but it was a nice smile, not meant to make fun of her. And he always explained what exactly she did wrong.
And the most important of all: He calls her Marie. Not Mary, not May but Marie.
It made her feel seen. Made her smile. Made her look forward to talking with him.
She couldn’t wait to perform with him.
Marie loved traveling with the circus because that’s where she met John.
They ate together, they laughed together, they performed together. And performing with John felt like flying.
When she is up in the air with him, she never has to worry if someone is going to catch her. She knows John’s got her, so while up there she could forget all about her worries.
She really liked John.
Mary Grayson loved traveling with the circus because that’s where she got to build her family.
It didn’t take long for them to realize that they were in love, so Marie and John got married. And Mary loved it.
She never felt happier. It felt like she was right where she was supposed to be.
She loved John endlessly.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because it’s the reason she has her baby.
She had to take a break from performing, it was just too dangerous for her and the child, but it was worth it.
Because soon there would be a third member joining the Flying Graysons.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because it always put a smile on baby Richard’s face.
She thought Richard sounded too mature for a baby so no one really referred to him as anything other than Dick. But Mary knew that he would take to flying like a duckling to water. That’s why he was her little bird, her little Robin.
She just couldn’t wait until he was old enough to join his parents to fly.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because her Robin is meant to fly.
He was a natural, and it was almost impossible to get him down.
She was sure there were a few gray hairs more than before Dick first started to practice, but she couldn’t bring it over herself to stop him, not when she had been the same.
She understood; when you’re in the air, it feels like nothing else matters.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because it meant she knew that her dreams were trying to tell her something.
She wasn’t sure yet what exactly was going on, but she knew it was nothing good.
At that moment, she wished she had Elianor with her. She always helped her with things like these, but explained the motives to her.
It hasn’t bothered her before because it was always just trivial stuff, but this time her family was involved. She just didn’t know how exactly.
Mary loved traveling with the circus, and she was sure she would die within it.
She always thought it would be because she got old, but now she wasn’t so sure anymore.
And right now she was scared her Robin would die with her.
She wished she could talk to John about it, but she was just so scared.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because it’s the memory of Elianor that gave her the courage to talk to John.
She was sure that the owls would take Dick, would take her Robin from her if she didn’t do anything.
So she talked to John and explained it to him.
She told him how they would get Dick, how they would do things to him, take away his smile, would make him into a weapon.
John looked at her with tears in his eyes. They both know they couldn’t let that happen.
Mary loved traveling with the circus because she was sure that in the crowd was a man that would take care of her son.
She looked at Dick, trying to put on a smile. It was the first time he was wearing the family colors, the first time he would go out with them. And at the same time it was the last.
“I love you baby, ok? Don’t ever forget that.”
It was hard for her to look into his eyes. He was beaming up at her, still excited that people were asking for photos with him.
“Now go out there and fly, my little Robin.”
Mary loved the circus because she died flying, but she loved it even more because she knew her little Robin would be loved by so many people.