The 76 years old 'Merry Circus' hadn't changed much since it was built. The walls, originally as red as a ruby, had lost its color with every year that went by and looked more like something brown at the moment. Several old coffee stains that couldn't be washed out were visible on the soft floor and the ceiling that was supposed to be white had been gray for a long time already, because of the spider webs. With every step one took it made a cracking sound, so sneaking up on people was not very simple. The performers would stay in a very long hallway with rooms that, without the personal stuff, all looked exactly the same with one small window that had a view over the nearby park of which the trees, flowers and other plants were well taken care of. But the places inside of the circus where the audience was allowed looked a lot better, cleaner and more modern, so that they wouldn't want to leave before the show had even begun. Those places had to be able to attract people to them.

That day the sun didn't come out in the morning like usual. The sky looked very dark with some raindrops that had already fallen down. Most of the people that lived in the city stayed inside their homes and wished that they didn't need to leave. The circus would probably not have many customers that day. The owner - a very old man who looked even older then he actually was, had a black mustache, not much black hair anymore and who always wore a very decent costume - had given a speech to the performers at 6am that they would have to go outside at 7am to spread the word that there was a show the same day at 1pm. Some had come to say to him that no one would be awake that early in the morning to hear about what they had to say, but the owner wouldn't listen and also wouldn't give out orders for how they would advertise the circus, so everyone had to decide themselves how they would do it. But the owner would check if everyone would be outside of the building at 7h30 and everyone who wasn't, would be punished.

Most of the performers were preparing themselves: choosing out nice clothes, checking their hair and how they looked in the mirror. Others were talking to each other about what they would do as advertisement, but it was very clear that everyone was still tired and annoyed that they were awake at that hour of the day. Suddenly a very soft voice, clearly a woman, was whispering something not understandable. It sounded like someone nice, but it wasn't loud enough so one could understand the words and stopped after some short minutes. Most of the performers seemed to ignore it and go further with what they had been doing before they heared the unknown woman.

Dana silently cursed the circus’ owner in French and Arabic after he left. She had come back to the circus only two hours ago from another night on the town and it had clearly taken its toll. Still dressed in her robe, Dana’s make-up was a bit of a mess, her long brown hair was hastily pulled into a pony tail, and she stank of booze and cigarettes. Dana had been looking forward to some sleep and a long hot shower before the afternoon’s performance began. Now she was stuck with this little chore, and was more than a little grumpy about it.

As Dana turned to head back to her room, the other performers knew well enough to leave her alone. The “Queen of Jungle Cats” was popular with the audiences, but a riddle to the rest of the performers. She was charismatic, extremely beautiful, and had a cat-like grace. Outwardly friendly, Dana was very private and her past was all but unknown. She also clearly preferred to be with her big cats. The other performers often wondered amongst themselves how Dana managed to go out like she did nearly every night, and still be one of the circus’ top performers.

“Damn fool,” Dana quietly muttered as she came back to her small room and shut the door. She shook her head angrily. “Who is going to be awake at this hour except crazy people,” she grumped. Dana opened up her wardrobe and began to rummage through it for something suitable for this morning’s task, but nothing appealed to her. After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Dana gave up and sat down on her bed.

She yawned and stretched. The bed was still warm, and very inviting. Dana was debating laying her head back down on the pillow and just forgetting about this morning’s tasks when she heard it…a faint woman’s voice whispering something. Dana hearing was considerably better than a normal human’s, but even as she concentrated on the voice, she couldn’t make out what was being said.

Abruptly the voice cut out as a loud KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK could be heard coming from her door.

“Dana!” The circus’ owner’s voice came through the door in a stern tone. “You better not be sleeping in there."

“I’m awake, damn it,” Dana yelled back. “Can’t you leave me alone for one minute so I look for something to wear in peace?!”

She heard him grunt in frustration and move on down the hall. Dana and the owner’s relationship could best be called a cold peace. True, Dana was a major attraction. But she could also be a major pain in the ass, especially after she came back from one of her nightly flings. Still, the owner put up with Dana’s antics as long as she performed well.

Realizing that she was not going to get any more sleep with him prowling around out there, Dana went back to her wardrobe and searched again, the woman’s voice forgotten. She finally settled on a red and black ensemble more conservative than her normal choices, and yet still sexy. Her choice made, Dana proceeded to get herself ready for this morning’s trek around town.