Jean tried to stand in the shaking stomach as Nadia ran, but it was very difficult to stay on his feet with the stomach shaking like it was. Nadia’s footsteps and erratic movements as she ran, made her stomach shake around the ingested boy. The vibrations from Nadia’s movement caused Jean to keep stumbling around and falling back. Several times, he landed back into the pool of water in the center of the stomach that had originally softened his first landing. It was when he was wadding in the pool that he noticed that the level of the water had decreased from his first plunge. Looking down into the drinking water, Jean saw that at the bottom of the small pond was a tightly puckered hole of flesh that was slowly draining the water from the stomach. Using his understanding of biology, Jean surmised that this was the sphincter that sucked food from the stomach into the small intestines. Realizing that he was treading over the potential exit to Nadia’s, Jean quickly got out before he got sucked down. A blush formed when he realized what part of Nadia he would leave from if he got out through that route. Deciding to wait out Nadia’s escape by the side of the stomach, Jean kept busy by imaging the stunning girl whose body he was currently trapped in. His daydreams of her gorgeous smile and bright eyes, was broken when he heard his name called from all around him.
“Jean are you okay!” the voice of Nadia boomed all around him.
“Sorry, I was just thinking of this stunning acrobat I met today,” Jean shyly said. The complements were coming easier for him, now that he know the girl liked him a little, he felt that he could be more forth coming.
“Jean, your so funny,” Nadia giggled and blushed. Jean could swear that her blush caused her stomach to become hotter, but it could have just been his own blush that made things feel warmer.
“I managed to outrun that crazy lady and her two henchmen. When I get back to the circus I’ll make sure that no one lets them in again. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, those fiends would of gotten off with my Blue Water.” Of coarse she probably would of eventually fought them off even with out Jeans help, but Nadia thought that the boy could use the complement.
“Thanks, maybe I should stay with you until the circus leaves Paris. I could be your little voice of reason in bad situations.” Jean thought the last part was a good joke and waited for Nadia to say something back, but only silence greeted Jeans ears. Worried that he had said something wrong or not said the right thing, he quickly tried to apologize, but Nadia stopped him abruptly.
“Jean,” she said hesitantly. “The circus is leaving Paris tonight. You caught me after my last show.” Jean was about to say how great that was; if they left Paris, those thieves were less likely to follow. Then, he understood the meaning behind her words. He lived in France and the circus traveled all over Europe, once Nadia left it was very likely that he would never see her again.
“Jean, the life of a circus performer is about traveling all over. I’ve seen hundreds of different lands and been cheered at in a dozen different languages. The only real friendships I have are with the people that travel with me.” All this made Jean feel a deep sorrow that dug deep into his heart. He had only met this wonderful person for one day and had fallen so deeply in love with her that he was afraid he’d never get out. She made him feel a way that no other person had. It was not an attraction of bodies; it was an attraction of souls. This girl had opened his eyes to a new world full of love and hope; their meeting had changed his life forever. This amazing dark-skinned acrobat had not wormed her way into his heart; she became a part of his soul. But like all great love stories, why did this one have to be with a sad ending?
“I have an idea Jean,” Nadia’s voice broke through the melancholy that Jean was feeling.
“The circus is looking for something to make it unique to all the other circuses in Europe. We need a type of main attraction, which no one has seen before. The Munich circus has a woman that can breath under water for hours, in Greece a man can breath fire from his mouth; maybe we could have the smallest man as a main attraction?” Nadia sounded coy when she said it, but when she was done Jean was practically dumbfounded.
“You want me to join the circus?” Jean asked in disbelief.
“I care about you Jean and you say that you care about me. I don’t like sad love stories where the two lovers get separated or die at the end. Lets try to give this love story a happy ending,” Even though Nadia’s face was on the ether side, Jean know that her warm, loving smile was plastered on it. He did want to see the world and he couldn’t stay in France all his life. His aunt and uncle were great people and they loved him, but did he want more? He was being given a choice to see the world with a girl that he had fallen madly in love with. They could be together and find out where this strange love at first sight relationship could go. But could he leave his life behind and follow this mysterious and wonderful girl into the rest of the world?