The Oddities of Life
Ever since I was six I've heard about The Oddities of Life. It was the sideshow that came to town every two years. The Oddities of Life was the event spoken about for months. Anyone who was anyone bought tickets days ahead. The sideshow was the dramatic thing that happened in the dull town of East Ridge, which was only a few towns away from Paris.
I figured the thrill for the sideshow came from the fact that it was a show of freaks. It gave people the opportunity to forget about their insecurities for a few hours. It gave them the chance to gawk at the faces from behind the red velvet ropes.
Despite my yearly plead, I never was allowed to go to The Oddities of Life. My parents had always said it was because they thought I was too young to be influenced by such madness. I reckon it was because my parents were afraid. Afraid of what they thought the freaks were, freaks of nature, demons.
Half of the kids who went to my Sunday School weren’t allowed to go. Their parents believed that the sideshow represented sin. They believed The Oddities of Life was something produced by the devil himself, creatures that came up from the grounds of hell.
I never read anything bad about the show in the newspaper. What I read was how grand it was. How every year there were people from across France that came to the small town just to have to the chance to take a glimpse of the unheard of.
It was the day before the grand showing at The Oddities of Life. I had been waiting to confront my parents. It was time to ask again. “Mama, papa, I want to ask you something.” I said, as I look to the both of them. My dad placed his newspaper on the table. My mom came over from the sink, wiping her hands on her apron.
I continued on, confidently. “Tomorrow is the opening of The Oddities of Life and since I’m twelve now I was thinking you will let me go.”
“Dennis…,” My mom started.
“S'il vous plaît. All my friends are going.” I told her. “Marcel, Alain, Sebastian...”
“But it is against our religious beliefs. We can’t have people from church seeing our son parading around freaks. We will be looked down upon and possibly shunned.” My mom said with the series of seriousness in her voice.
“Pourquoi? If they do choose to shun us then maybe they aren't such good people.” I told her. “Maybe, they aren’t your friends.”
“Frederic, parler à votre enfant. Talk some sense into him.” My mom muttered to my father. “We go through this every year with him.”
My mom was annoyed and there was no changing her mind. My last chance was my father. “Oh mon dieu, je suis douze.” I told them.
“It isn’t about your age. We don’t want you exposed to such nonsense. Those things aren’t people. They are freaks of nature. Ils sont mal...mal.” My mom inputed.
“Papa!?”
My father sighed. “I agree with your mother. It goes against our beliefs. Now, I think we are done with this discussion from now on. Go get cleaned up for dinner. ”
As soon as my dad ended a discussion with his final judgment it was hard to verse it. Even though my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye, I wasn’t going to let them stop me from going to the opening of The Oddities of Life anymore.
My friends had planned to meet at Leo’s Parlour for ice cream and milkshakes before heading to the grand showing. I parked my red Schwinn Speedster in front of the parlor, beside the other three bikes I recognized has my friends. I bustled through the door, hearing the friendly ding of the bell greet me as I walked in. I spotted my friends seated at the same booth we always sat at every time we came to the Leo’s Parlour.
I sled into the yellow booth beside Alain. “You’re here! We didn’t think you were going to make it.” Alain said, licking the ice cream that dripped onto his hand.
“I told you guys I was going to come.” I reminded them just as the server came to take my order. I told her I wanted a strawberry milkshake.
“Yeah, but we didn’t think you were going to be able to get through to your crazy parents.” Marcel said when the server left.
“I might have told them that I was going to be at the library studying.” I told them.
They laughed. “That’s the best you came up with. To bad it’s the summer. Who studies?” Alain snorted.
“Whatever, what is the plan for today?” I asked, not caring about the details on how much my lie sucked.
Sebastian pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Well, first there is the walkthrough where we get to see all the freaks and then there is the grand finale.”
Enticed by his words, I asked. “What is the grand finale?”
“It’s this power couple of a husband and wife. They do these ridiculous tricks and at the end of it all there is the big reveal where they do a new trick.” Sebastian explained.


After chucking my strawberry milkshake we are off on our bikes. Our Chuck Taylors pedaling wildly. The Oddities of Life was only a few blocks away but we knew there was going to be a huge line just to get in. So the earlier we got there the better.
The Oddities of Life was half carnival and half sideshow but on the first day everybody was there for the sideshow. We got in line at the door. My anxiety began to boil inside. It took a lot of nervous for me to sneak behind my parents back. It was worth it of course because I was going to get the chance to see what I never seen before.
After Alain, Marcel, and Sebastian handed in their tickets to get punched, it was my turn. I excitedly handed the ticket seller my ticket to get checked. As I stood there waiting for him to give me the okay to proceed, the ticket seller stared at me, awkwardly.
“Do I know you?” He finally asked. “I feel like I’ve seen you before.”
I thought about it for a minute and shook my head. “I don’t think so.” I didn’t ever remember seeing a man with thick black eyeliner and black lipstick in a bell boy outfit before.
He laughed, lightly. “Je suis desole. I thought you were someone else.” He handed me my ticket. “You may proceed.”
“What was that all about?” Marcel asked when I got closer.
I shook my head. “Just a bit of confusion, come on lets go.”
We walked through a pair of double doors which lead us to a whole new world that had been closed off to me for years. The lighting was dim, which gave the room this eerie feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand.
The first exhibit was of the four legged girl. She was so young and it shocked me. Second was conjoined twins Lola and Lorraine. Next was the 635 pound man. Then, there was the bearded woman. There was Monsieur Louis who was the half man. There was Amelia the Camel Girl. Her knees were turned backwards and she walked on her hands. Finally, there was the Wolf Boy and the Human Unicorn.
“Whoa, I’m mind blown.” I told my friends has we made our way into another room for the grand finale. “It’s all so...so...passionnant.” It had taken us about an hour and half max to get through the exhibit because I read about each person.
We entered the room for the grand finale. “You didn’t notice them staring at you weirdly? I mean they were staring at you pretty hard.” Marcel said as we found empty seats towards the middle. “It was like they knew you.”
“Did anyone else notice?” I asked.
“Yep, I noticed also.” Sebastian agreed.
I shrugged. “It’s whatever.” I figured it was no big deal. I was examining and staring at them pretty intently also. I probably freaked them out. “Hey, look its starting.”
The spotlights moved around in circles and the voice over filled the air. “Welcome to The Oddities of Life and here and now is what you’ve been waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Augustine.”

A surprisingly beautiful woman and good-looking man stepped onto the stage waving their hands. Their looks surprised me. They looked outstandingly normal. The show started off with them swallowing swords and then lighting the sword on fire and then swallowing that. The man then tied the woman on a spin board and proceeded to throw sharp knifes. The woman ate a piece of glass. The man laid on a bed of nails and the woman walked across him.
Finally, there was the big reveal. “Now we are going to pick a lucky person out of the audience for our next and final trick.” The man said as the spotlight scanned the anxious audience. “Who will it be?”
The bright light flashed in my face. “It’s you!” My friends said in unison, pushing me up out of my seat.
I hesitantly, walked down the wood bleachers and into the arms of the man. His smile was calming, so my nervous lessened. “Are you ready?”
I nodded. “I think so,”
“Please, follow my assistant to the cage,” He said, pointing to the large cage. “We are going to make this two disappear.”
I stood in the cage next to the beautiful woman who blindfolded me. I felt a warm hand graze over the birthmark on the back of my neck. “It is him,” I thought I heard her say.
I heard the loud uproar of the audience and then dead silence. I ripped my blindfold off, taking in my surroundings. I found the woman standing in front of me. “Where am I?”
“You’re home.” She said. She moved forward taking my face in her hands. Her eyes are rimmed red with tears. “Everyone around was saying you came but I didn’t believe them. But now I see it’s really you. I’m your mother.”
“Whoa,” I said, pushing her away. Not aggressively just so there was space. “My mom is Dorothy Alleman.”
“No, I’m you’re mother. She stole you away from me.” She said, grabbing my hands and clasping them in hers. “She was just jealous of me.”
“You know my mom?” I asked.
“Of course, she was my best friend before she ran away with that horrible man, taking you with them.” She said, touching my cheeks.
“I don’t understand,” I mumbled.
The woman’s husband came in to the room. “You’re parents were once part of this sideshow. We were all friends. That is until Dorothy's jealousy turned to rage because she couldn’t have children. Once she learned that Melody was pregnant her rage grew stronger. Once Melody gave birth to you, Dorothy and Frederic kidnapped you. They stole you from us.”


My thoughts raced. It all made sense. Everyone staring at me like they recognized me, the ticket guy. My parents hatred for the sideshow. Their countless protest to ban the sideshow from ever coming to town. Their secrecy about their past. The years of keeping me from the seeing the show. My parents were trying to keep me from being found by my real parents.