You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul

But dreams have ways of turning into nightmares.

Her father picks different names for her as they change locales, but he uses Miranda often, presumably because he knows how much it annoys her.

The circus itself is my personal ideal entertainment venue.

Where do you get your ideas? people ask. Sometimes they’re at the bottoms of cups of tea. Sometimes they’re lurking in my shower. Sometimes they’re waiting patiently in glass cases in museums.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Even the air feels different on Halloween, autumn-crisp and bright.