Sword Swallowing

Sword Swallowing

February 23, 2018

Pops was busy making sure the rabbit ears with foil pieces

were bringing in the reception of a small 1950's television.

Ma was making a lovely vegetable based soup with pieces of rabbit.

She and her friend Gladys were making a cornbread with

cracklings and had just put it in the old wood burning cook stove

in the kitchen to bake. Gladys's husband Glen was having a cup

of freshly made coffee with a big slab of Vinegar pie.

The daughter Carol Ann now was watching a Ringling Brother's Circus

show on television. She was thrilled seeing the elephants performing.

Trapeze artists were flying through the air. The women in gaily dressed

costumes and the men in black tightly costumes.

Soon clowns in gaily painted faces and wild baggy costumes were

performing antics with a small car and many horns honking.

The ringmaster came to the center ring and the whole circus tent

went silent. Ringmaster announced that everyone be quiet as a

feather while The Great Marhani would be performing and it must be quiet.

that performed this deadly art used mind-over-matter techniques to control his body

and repress natural reflexes to insert solid steel blades from 15 to 25 inches down

the esophagus and into his stomach. The Great Marhani had learned this

technique from his uncle when he was a small boy living in his native India.

Professional sword swallowers had to be right on as it was a deadly art

that would kill or maim you forever.

Carol Ann was all eyes watching The Great Marhani and carefully remembered

his every move. She watched the other performers in the circus ring but

never forgot the performance of The Great Marhani. Soon lunch was served and

everyone ate heartily.

Glen and Pops went to the back porch to roll a cigarette and have a smoke

while Ma and Gladys put the food away and washed the dishes.

Carol Ann went outdoors to play. She had the circus performance still vividly emblazoned

with gems and the golden luster of sequins and feathers in her six year old mind.

She tried performing some of the trapeze acts on her old tire swing but it did not suit

her well as she would need someone to catch her as she flew through the air while someone

caught her. The rope burned her fingers as she tried sliding down it like the performers had

so easily slid down. She dressed in a clown like costume and using her bike as a car tried

making her Pops and Glen laugh. Ma and Gladys came out to the porch to have a smoke.

Carol Ann discarded her clown costume for a cape. She went to the garage looking for a sword.

Her Pops kept the garage in neat order. She did not see a sword but she did find a set of old

umbrella ribs sitting neatly on the dusty shelf. This looked like a sword blade to Carol Ann!

She wiped off the dust on her new dress her Ma had made for her from an old flour sack.

She practiced inserting it into her throat. Just a little further down at a time.

Soon it went down as she thought it was necessary to be a sword swallower. She tried to

slowly pull it back out but it would not budge. She carefully walked to the porch where her

parents and their friends were sitting. Gladys jumped up saying: "Oh my God what has

your daughter done now?"

Glen was the calm one and said he would drive the child to the hospital and they should

keep her calm in the back seat sitting straight up. At the hospital the doctor took care of

the situation rapidly. Luckily Carol Ann did not hurt herself. Doctor handed her a lolly pop

saying he hoped she never tried to be a sword swallower again as she was a very lucky girl today.

Carol Ann had a venturous spirit as a child that stayed with her all of her adult life.

©Julia A Knaake