Wednesday Blog Hop Extra

A little extra treat for you all today, in the form of a belated Blog Hop entry.  Last week I decided to try a new strategy for writing short stories, by writing them by hand in my notebook first with the intention of typing it up and posting it before this weeks prompt.
Unfortunately I just didn't get the time to type it up and so missed the deadline.  But I have got the story ready so I'm still going to put it up for you to read.
As a result of this little mishap I am once again rethinking my writing strategy.

If you don't recall, these are the details for the prompt:

                                                      tar, lollipop, courage, figure, parasite

And here is my offering:

The Cruelty of Time

One of the highlights of the summer would always be when my big brother took me to the circus. It was always the same bank holiday weekend when all the tents would magically appear overnight, and the whole town would join together in excitement and anticipation.

When I was very small my brother always went along with his friends, but as soon as I was big enough he started taking me along too. He always used to take care of me and made sure I had a good time. The first time I was there I was amazed at all the sights and sounds. Different kinds of music came from all directions, enticing customers to the tents scattered around. All were brightly coloured and strings of lights swung back and forth between them, illuminating the network of paths. There were lots of colourful figures walking amongst us all. Some did magic tricks, some were eating fire, others carried huge trays full of various eats and treats. My brother bought me the biggest lollipop I'd ever seen, a huge globe of blue and white. My favourite act by far was the lion tamer. Every night he would show his courage, locked away in a tiny cage with the king of beasts. My brother and I would wave and cheer and talk about it for days afterwards.

When he went away to university I worried those days would be gone, but mum assured me he would be home for summer and we could still continue our tradition.

So he we were, on our way to our tenth annual circus trip. He was driving us in his banged up classic, his mass of keyrings jangling beneath the steering wheel. The heat of the summer had melted the road in places and the smell of tar filtered in through the open windows. Somehow I didn't feel quite as excited about this trip as I had all the others. Since he'd been home I'd hardly seen my brother and he'd only really brought me today at mum's insistence.

Once there, I trailed along behind as he went about with his friends and hardly spoke two words to me. When I pointed out the lollipops he reluctantly gave me some change and sent me off on my own to get one.

My heart sank as I heard his friends talking behind me. 'Give him some more money, and then let's ditch the parasite.' I felt crushed as my brother just laughed with them.

That was the day I came to realise just how cruel time could be, and how it had taken the best of times between me and my brother.

Word count: 445