Jack loaded the freshly sawed logs onto the back of his battered Dodge pick-up truck and drove down the winding, wooded mountain road into town for his monthly excursion into civilization. Wood Falls was a small logging town with a population of a few thousand, almost all of them involved in some way or another with the timber trade. Jack's plan was to drop off the wood with his friend Bill Shubagg at the saw-mill he owned, then get some provisions, then get back to the solitude of the hills that he loved. As he reached the outskirts of town, there seemed to be a buzz of activity in the air, and a strange unfamiliar liveliness about the sleepy hamlet that intrigued him, but the source of which he couldn't quite put his finger on. Pulling up outside the mill, he saw the smiling face of his old school buddy Bill waiting to greet him.
'Hey Jack, same time same place, you can set your watch by you man!'
'I like to be punctual, you know me, say Bill the natives seem kinda restless today, what happened, somebody win the state lottery or somethin'?'
'Nothin' that thrilling, just some tinpot circus is comin' to town and all the kids has got all their maws an' paws all worked up right to high dough about it.'
An odd look of apprehension and barely tangible terror fleetingly revealed itself on Jack's face. 'Right, so that's what all the fuss is about.'
Bill replied, without registering Jack's tortured expression. 'Well Jack you know this place, preety dull, yes siree, maybe 'circus'll liven them up a bit, you gonna go along, get away from them trees of yours for an evening?'
A weary look crossed Jack's face, 'No Bill, you know that me and the circus don't mix no more.'
'Jeez Jack, I forgot man, but that must have been nearly 20 years ago, surely you...' Jack cut his friend off abruptly, uncharacteristically for such a humble and pleasant man. '15 years Bill and I ain't forgotten it, that's why I had to go away, that's how I ended up overseas and because of that I can't live amongst folks no more, so I ain't going near no circus, no sir!'
Bill felt bad about forgetting about Jack's dislike of the circus, and changed the subject, but he knew the damage had been done.
'Them is sure fine looking logs you brought me this time, is there any trees left up there?' They both laughed, but laughed a forced, almost false kind of laugh, both trying to tell they other that they held no malice over the conversation that had passed.
'Say Jack, want to go to the Loggers Shack for a beer and a game of Pool or, say you know they got one of them limey Dartboards in there now, wanna try that out.'
'Sorry Bill, I think there might be a storm coming and I want to get back up home and tie everything down just incase it's a bad one, maybe next time.'
'Okay, don't leave it so long will, ya, it's been a while since we've had a good few beers.'
Yeah, it has.'
With that Jack walked off to get his provisions and a few minutes later drove off to his mountain sanctuary. Bill made his way to the bar for a game of darts
