Gooliope Jellington's Freak Du Chic diary

5 April
'Family Night' at Freak du Chic is always a little bittersweet for me. On the one claw its a joy to sometimes see three or four generations of a family all sitting together and enjoying the show, but on the other, I know that it is something I will probably never experience. Of course, I never say anything to any of the other performers because I know it would hurt their feelings. In fact, just tonight I heard Jitterwing say to one of the customers, "Oh, that's Gooliope. She's the Ringmaster's daughter, but every monster on the midway claims her as their own." When I heard that it made me feel I was being ungrateful for the unlife I have, but when the show closed and everything was quiet and still, I came back to my tent and opened my trunk. There, inside the glass jar that was my first 'crib' is a well-worn note. I always expect it to say something different, to mysteriously change and tell me something it didn't before, but it never does. On one side is typed: Experiment 816 Batch 8708 And on the other is: To Whom It May Concern:

''A cold sterile world is no place to raise a little goo. I can give her everything, except a community where the only thing about her that will ever be measured is the size of her heart. I knw that you can give her the unlife I cannot.''

Sincerely R.S One day, maybe I will find R.S, or maybe R.S will come and find me. Until then the note goes back in the jar, the jar goes back in the trunk, and I will try and to go to sleep, for tomorrow everything must be broken down and packed to move. Then its on the the next location with my family.

9 April
I have heard that when unlife gets creepy crazy, some monsters threaten to 'run away and join the circus'. I think if they knew what unlife in the circus was really like, they would threaten to 'run away and join a team of dragon dentists' or something equally eventful. I guess I don't blame them though; the Freak du Chic really is quite magical when there are daring acts under the big top and the midway is hopping; when the cadence calls of the pitch monsters ring and the deadlicious smell of scarnival treats fill the air. Then there's the excitement of travel. Moving from town to town, seeing new scenery and constantly meeting new monsters does have an adventurous mystique about it. But.. it takes hours and hours of practice to make those daring acts look flawless, and our audiences never see the bumps, bruises and sprains that come before the perfection. Yes, scarnival food is indeed clawsome, but there are only so many fried cheese stuffed pies on a stick you can eat before all your really want is an apple. Travelling an be exciting, if you can actually stay awake long enough to see the scenery between stops. I mean, after we've finished packing tents and wagons and rides and concessions, and everything else that makes the Freak du Chic what it is, being able to sleep is a real treat. In fact, I think I'll treat mysef now before we go to the next location and the magic and adventure start all over again.

12 April
Today the show went 'dark', so some of the crew went into the local town to get some supplies. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I said I had homework to catch up on so I couldn't. When I was just a ittle goo I loved making those trips into town, but I wasn't very little for very long, and now that I'm 15 feet 2 inches tall, it's impossible to be inconspicuous. It was scary sweet of them to ask, bt I really never feel comfortable away from the scarnival. I guess I don't mind so much when monsters stare at me during the shows because that's part of the reason they come to Freak du Chic. Here, I'm a performer; out there I'm an oddity.

18 April
Today is my birthday and no one acknowledged it. I spent the whle day rying to convince myself that it was okay that no one remembered, but I wasn't doing a very good job of it. I just kept thinking that somebody would SAY SOMETHING, and when no one did I went back to my tent and threw myself a pity party. It was a good one too, complete with "No one loves me" and "Who needs a stupid 16th birthday anyway?" I was even getting eay to unwrap "If they don't appreciate me here I'll just go find someplace where they do" when the FDC emergency siren went off. It didn't take me long to forget about myself, because that alarm is only sounded when every monster's help is needed. I an as fast as I could to the place where we were all supposed to gather in an emergency, but when I get there no one else was around. The the lights went out and I was like, "What's going on?" That's when I noticed candles coming toward me through the darkness. The candles or course, were on a ginormous birthday cake. As it got closer I could see that Dad and Mom were carrying the cake, ad behind them came everyone else, and they began to sing "Happy Birthday." I was so surprised that I almost started crying. Dad and Mom said, "You didn't think we forgot your birthday, did you?" I had to admit maybe just a little bit. I got some scary cool presents too!" The scarousel monster gave me a killer pair of shoes with horses for heels and a calliope hair comb. The tent monster and seamstress used canvas and silk to create a beautiful dress and epaulettes just my size. The wagon monster and blacksmith gav me earrings made from wheels. The clowns got me two ginormous jars of my favourite gummy candy. Actually, only one of the jars had candy; the other was a trick jar that shot out spring-loaded bats. FInally, Dad and Mom gave me a necklace with a 816 pendant. Then I really id choke up. They are the best parents any goo ever had, and I'm so grateful to be a part of this family. It was the BEAST. BIRTHDAY. EVER!

1 May
Dad has a big map o the wall of his ringmaster's trailer. He uses different coloured pins to show where we're going, where we've been and even a colour for places on his 'casket list'. This year he was able to change one of those out for a 'place we're going' pin. The place is Monster High. Dad said he'd always wanted to take the show there, but the schedule could never be worked out. This year one of the towns where we usually play cancelled because a giant sinkhole opened up under their scaregrounds, so now we're going to Monster High! Dad says we'll be there for two weeks, and he things that we should make enough money to repair and upgrade a lot of our equipment during the off season. I really hope that it turns out like he hopes because I know he's been worried lately, although he would never admit it.

10 May
When it comes to working around here, there really can't be any dead weight; because if one monster doesn't do their job it means someone else has to work twice as hard to pick up the slack. That's never been a problem with our crew. In fact, most of the time whenever someone finishes the work they're supposed to do, they go and find someone else to help. So when monsters started coming down with the boo flu we all just did what was natural. Even so, we were down to a skeleton crew when we put up the tents this morning. After that they all pretty much crashed. This is the first time we'll be performing at Monster High and its a big show for us, especially since its the last one before we take a break for the year. I guess I should be thankful I was born in a lab, because I never get sick and I've been able to help take care of everyone. Only.. I'm starting to worry that without some help the show might not groan on. So I've made up my mind that in the morning I am going to go find some help. The very thought of it makes my entire body feel wobbly, but there are monsters that I love who are counting on me and I will not let my family down.