Lux couldn’t believe her foster parents had kicked her out of the house. She just had her eighteenth birthday and was informed that she had to leave the foster home she had grown up in. She knew this day would come, but she was hoping for at least one more month before a decision would be made.

She travels down the highway in her rebuilt 240Z Datsun thinking about where she was going to go. She had seen an advertisement on the job board in the counselor office at school for a performer at Chaplin's Circus. She was funny and comical, plus she was very acrobatic and loved animals. Even if means cleaning up after them.

She had contacted the owner of the circus and was willing to give her an interview and see what she had to offer. So, here she was driving to where they were currently performing in her ugly looking Datsun. The body of her Datsun was ugly looking where she had patched and sprayed primer on the car. She had body parts from several different models that she had managed to salvage from several junkyards over the past four years.

The motor had been completely rebuilt, along with the transmission and rear axle. The old carburetors under the hood had to be rebuilt from the ground up and came from two different years. She found them buried in a junk pile and was full of gunk. It took her a whole two weeks to clean them and rebuild them. She thought about putting an old style fuel injection system on the engine, but she wanted to keep the car original.

Lux reaches into the cooler sitting on the batter passenger seat and grabs a sandwich out. At least her foster family allowed her to make a few sandwiches and take a few snacks with her, before she left. She couldn’t blame them for not adopting her. She has been a handful since she came to live with them.

No one knew who her parents were or where she came from. She had been found abandoned wrapped in a tatter greasy blanket in an old Pennzoil box at the sheriff department in Waxahachie, Texas.

It was a nurse at the hospital she had been taken to that had named her. The nurse would have adopted her, but another couple had wanted a newborn and didn’t care if the baby was a boy or girl. A smirk appears on Lux’s face when she thinks about how life had thrown a curve ball at them.

Lux covers up a yawn as she pulls into a rest area and gets out to stretch her legs. She raises her hands above her head with her fingers interlaced and stretch. She feels the muscles in her back tighten as her back cracks. She winces when that happens. Her back still gives her problems every once in a while.

She shouldn’t had never helped Robert moved a heavy piece of furniture that was older then her and made of oak. They had to move it up three flights of stairs and she had the heavy end. She managed to throw her back out doing that and it hasn’t been the same since then.

After stretching for a few minutes, she walks around the parking area and then head into the women’s bathroom to pee. It was a good thing she passed for a girl, otherwise the new laws covering gender would cause her to be arrested or fined for using the wrong bathroom. She exits the stall and washes her hands. She checks her appearance in the mirror and adjusts her ponytail and leaves the bathroom. She still had another two hours before she arrived at the circus.

Lux walks out to her car and gets in. She adjusts the seatbelt, and start the engine. She installed a remote start to make things easier, but she loved turning the key to start the car. Once the car was running, she backs out of the parking spot and leaves the rest area. She looks at her cell phone gps and it was saying she still had two hours and fifteen minutes left.

For the next two hours Lux follows the direction on her phone. By the time she arrived at the circus, it was six in the evening. She locates a parking space and grabs her small backpack that held her wallet, rapid charger and other personal items a girl would have.

As she walks towards the entrance, she is amazed by all the attractions and the crowd. She pays to enter and calls the owner to let him know she had arrived. She listens as he gives her directions to his office. A few times she makes a wrong turn, but eventually finds the trailer that acted as the owner’s office. She knocks on the door.

“Come in.” Rossi looks up when he hears the knocking sound.

He watches as the door to his trailer opens and a young short slender teenage girl with short purple hair comes walking into his trailer. She was wearing a long sleeve blouse that came down to her mid-thighs and black tights. A pair of purple tennis shoes covered her feet and she was carrying a small blue jean colored back pack with her. She had silver stars earrings in her earlobe.

Lux turns and spots a middle aged man that was around her foster father’s age sitting behind a clutter desk. A smile appears on her face “Hi, Mr. Goldman, I’m Lux Dax. Sorry, it took me so long to arrive.”

Lux walks over to Mr. Goldman’s desk. She extends her hand to shake Mr. Goldman’s hand.

Rossi stands up and shakes Lux’s hand. “Please have a seat my dear.” He motions to the kitchen chair sitting next to her.

Lux sits down and put her backpack down on the floor next to her feet. She looks at Mr. Goldman and couldn’t believe he was the owner of the circus. He had an aura about him that said he would rather be somewhere else or would feel more comfortable in a high power business office.

“Now, Ms. Dax, why don’t you tell me, why I should hire you?” Rossi wanted to see why this girl drove so far from home to join his circus.

“Well, besides liking the circus, I think I would be a benefit to you. I know how to sing, dance, ride a unicycle and I nearly won state with my acrobatics skills. Plus, I can act, I was a member of my drama club and I love to show off.” Lux knew her foster parents got a lot of complaints from her school about her clowning around and tricks she would pull on students who picked on others.

Rossi was making notes on a sticky pad to add to Lux’s file. He stops and looks up towards her at the note he put down about her age. “I see you just graduated from high school and that you just turned eighteen years old. How do your parents feel about you joining the circus, instead of going to college?”

“Well, actually Mr. Goldman. I was just told this morning before I left to come here that I couldn’t live with my foster parents anymore. It seems that I have aged out of the system.” Lux couldn’t believe the foster family she has lived with for the past eight years would kick her out.

“So, you have nowhere else to go, then?” He looks at her.

“No sir. If you don’t hire me, I’ll have to find a shelter or something until I find a job to earn enough money to find a place.” Lux crosses her fingers for luck.

“I see that you drove all the way from Texas to get here. What type of vehicle do you own?” Rossi was curious.

“I’m restoring a 1972 240z car, sir. Right now she looks ugly, but purrs like a kitten.” Lux was proud of it.

“You’re a mechanic as well?”

“Yes sir. I took three years of automotive training. I was working on getting some of my ASE certifications.” Lux liked working on machines.

“Why don’t you show me some of your moves?” Rossi motions his hand to her.

“In here, sir?” Lux was curious.

“I see what you mean, dear. Let’s go outside, so you’ll have more room to perform.” Rossi stands up and watches as Lux walks in front of him.

Once they exited from Rossi’s office. Lux stretches before she starts and puts on a little show for Mr. Goldman. After she is done, she twirls on one foot and look at Mr. Goldman.

“Very nicely done, Ms. Dax. Do you have a problem embarrassing yourself?”

“What do you mean, sir?” Lux was confused.

“I’m going to place you with the clowns and if you don’t mind having cream pies and such thrown at you.”

“No sir, I don’t mind.” A smile appears on Lux’s face.

“Good! Now, let’s go back inside and do some paperwork, and afterwards I’ll introduce you to our head clown Slappy. He’ll get you all set up.” Mr. Goldman turns and leads Lux back into the trailer.

She follows him to his desk, and is handed a bunch of papers to sign. She doesn’t sign them right away; she scans them first before putting her signature on them. Once the paperwork is signed, Mr. Goldman takes Lux to another tent.

When they walked into the tent, there were various people changing into their clown persona. Mr. Goldman looks around and spots who he wanted to talk to.

“Slappy, I have a new recruit for you to train.”

Lux looks towards the man Mr. Goldman was talking too. He was an older gentleman dressed as a hobo clown. The clothes he was wearing looked like they came from an actual hobo.

Slappy looks towards Mr. Goldman when he hears his voice. He was almost done putting on his makeup when he heard Mr. Goldman’s voice. He noticed a teenage girl with shoulder length purple hair following beside him. The girl was a foot shorter than Mr. Goldman.

“I see, and does she have any experience as a clown?” Slappy hopes the girl has some talent.

“Does acting like a fool in a Shakespeare play, count?” Lux looks up at Slappy. He was a foot taller than her.

“Depends. Can you juggle and do tricks?” Slappy liked the spunkiness of the new girl.

“Yes. I can juggle flaming batons and I’m very acrobatic too. Lux could think of a good routine for the circus.

“Well, I’ll let you two get ready for the performance.” Mr. Goldman looks at Lux “break a leg, kid.” As he walks off.

“Gail, I have a new recruit for you to train.” Slappy looks over towards a woman dressed as a doll.

Gail looks over at Slappy when she hears her name. She spots the teenage girl standing before him.

“Okay, send her over and I’ll get her ready for tonight’s performance.” Gail hated doing last minute makeup, but the girl looked like she was going to be easy to do.

Slappy looks towards Lux “go ahead and get ready. You’re going on tonight.”

“Thanks.” Lux walks over towards Gail to start getting ready for the performance.

Gail motions Lux to a chair “take off your makeup, so we’ll have a clean slate to work with.” Gail hands Lux some wipes to clean her face.

Lux takes a few sheets of tissues and cleans the makeup she had put on before she left home. She also takes her hair out of a ponytail. She straightens her hair out.

“Okay, let’s get you ready. Just do what me and Gofer do tonight, and do you have a problem being hit in the face by cream pies?” Gail looks into Lux’s purple color eyes. She couldn’t believe how they looked like sapphires.

“No ma’am. I don’t mind.” Lux wonders why people keep asking her that question?

Gail is quick as she does Lux’s face and picks out a clown suit for her to wear. She turns Lux around “what name would you like to call yourself?”

“How about Yoyo?” Lux liked the name.

“Yoyo is fine.” Gail continues making Yoyo makeup.

After Gail is done, she leads Lux out towards the big tent and keep Yoyo near her and Gofer.

Walking on Sunshine starts playing, filling the interior of the 240 Z car. Lux reaches for her cellphone and turn the damn alarm off. She opens her eyes and look up at the ceiling in her car. She still needs to redo it. The white piece of cloth she used to cover the ceiling shell, was all she had on hand.

Since she arrived and accepted the job as a clown and maintenance helper. She has been living out of her Z car. Lux knew she was going to need to get another vehicle to tow her car and to live out of. Sleeping in her Z car day in and day out was going to give her back problems, plus she hated living out of her car.

She checks how much money she had in her bank account. With the deposit the circus made last night, she had close to four thousand dollars. She had to spend some of her money to buy food and personal hygiene items.

They were in a new town, and she knew they still had to set up the tent, which was going to be several hours’ work. Plus, she needed to get with Frank and Victor to help them set up and run power to everything. She was starting to hate traveling from one town to the next town.

Lux grabs a honey bun and chocolate milk from her cooler. She takes a quick wet napkin bath and throws on a clean t-shirt and farmer bib coveralls. She likes wearing them to work in. She sits on the passenger seat and put her work boots on. Normally, she wears tennis shoes, but Frank and Victor told her she needed to get a pair of work boots if she was going to help them.

She grabs her tool belt and five-gallon bucket with more work tools in it. She makes sure she has her safety glasses and put on her fake glasses. She does need to wear them, but she found a pair that she liked and wanted to wear them.

Lux waves to other members of the traveling circus as she heads towards the box trucks that had all the equipment they used. When she arrives, she notices she was the first one there. She climbs into the truck and get the coffee pot going. She knew Frank and Victor liked drinking coffee throughout the day.

Twenty minutes later “that better be fresh coffee, Lux.”

Frank walks up to the truck and spots the back door already open. He spotted Lux in the back of their work truck sipping coffee.

“It is, and I made it like you and Victor like it.” Lux knew Frank and Victor loved their coffee strong enough to strip paint.

“Good! Because we have a lot of work to get done today.” Frank climbs into the back of the truck and fixes himself a cup of coffee.

Victor shows up a few minutes later. He just waves as he climbs up into the truck and fixes himself a cup of coffee. After he has a few sips of
coffee, he looks at Lux “let’s get to work.”

Frank, Victor, and Lux start grabbing power cables and other equipment. They loaded up the trailer being pulled by an ATV. Lux rides with Victor as they head to their first job.

The sun was high in the sky, and the temperature was climbing as they worked. Lux was glad she wore a muscle shirt under her farmer coveralls, because the bra she had on under her shirt was getting soak from sweat. Her foster parents had been surprised when Lux started developing feminine features when she was just ten years old.

She had been born a male, but she hadn’t developed as a male. She had a penis but was diagnosed as having ovotesticular disorder. Which meant she had ovary and testes tissue combined.

The three of them work all day long and well into the evening to get everything set up. It wasn’t just them working either. It was everyone who worked at the circus. They all helped to get the circus ready for the next day’s performance. Luckily, Lux didn’t have to perform the next day. So, she could check out the local car lots and salvage yards to see what she could find.

By the time Lux retired for the night, she was worn out. The last few hours before they called it a night, she was dragging ass. She strips out of her work clothes and toss them into the bin in the trunk.

Lux leaves the next morning to see what she could find. She stops at a convenience store and buys ten scratches off tickets and win eight thousand dollars from eight of them. She gets the directions to the regional office to get paid the larger amount.

After getting the money deposited into her bank account. She looked around for a trailer and found an old Federal Express delivery van. The cargo area she can turn into a living area. She found a trailer she can put on her Z car. That way, she can tow the trailer behind the van. The trailer was in good shape, so all she had to do was just get a tag for it.

As for the delivery van, she was going to have to do some work on the diesel engine and replace the batteries. The batteries were expensive, but
worth it. As for the repairs, they were going to take her a few days to do, which meant she wasn’t going to get much sleep.

By the time she arrived back at the circus, it was late. The circus was slowly shutting down. She finds a spot where she can park the delivery van and clean it out. She had stopped at Arby’s and bought their five roast beef sandwiches for five dollars, along with three potato cakes. She works until three in the morning cleaning the cargo area and transferring her stuff from the Z car into the van.

By the time Lux lay down, she was worn out. She instantly falls asleep. By the time her alarm clock goes off, she hits the snooze button, instead of turning the alarm off. By the time the alarm went off a second time, she was still feeling worn out.

She loved the fact that she could stand up in the cargo area of the van, instead of having to get out of the vehicle to stretch. She could hear rain drops hitting the roof of the van. She looked out the front windshield and saw that it was lightly raining. She looked at the driver’s seat and knew she was going to have to replace it.

As for the repairs, she has everything she needs to do them. She was glad she took automotive training in High school. She can expand her tools later, after she gets the van to live in. She grabs her rain jacket and gets out of the van. She checks the tie downs on the trailer for her Z car.

The guy at the sales yard where she bought the trailer helped her secure her car. She heads towards the tent area where everyone was grabbing breakfast. She gets in line and walks through the line. She was behind Samson, the strong man in line. He lived up to the title. The man had won three world titles for being the strongest man around.

“Lux, sit over here.” Victor waves Lux over to the table where he and Frank were sitting.

Lux walks over and sits down at the table. She saw that the only thing Frank got was his coffee and a couple of donuts. Victor on the other hand had grabbed a bunch of bacon and some hashbrowns.

“So, how much did the van and trailer set you back?” Frank had noticed the van when he left his Rv.

“Three thousand for the trailer and another five thousand for the van and everything I need to fix some problems it has.” Lux couldn’t believe all the money she had won; she had ended up spending.

“Man, I hope you had the money and didn’t have to take a loan out.” Victor had let out a low whistle when he heard the amount.

“It took all the money I won yesterday on some scratch off tickets I bought.” Lux bites into the hash browns she had gotten.

“So, what do you need to do to the van?” Frank was curious.

“All the seals are leaking, and it needs a complete tune up. Also, it has some steering problems. I discovered that driving it home last night with the trailer attached to it.”

“Did it have a trailer hitch?” Victor bites into some scramble eggs.

“No, I hade to have a custom one attached to it. There is no way that hitch is going anywhere.”

“Will you be able to have all the work done by this weekend? Because Mr. Goldman said we are only spending a week here.” Victor had spoken to Mr. Goldman to find out when they were pulling out.

“If I work throughout the night, I should have everything done. I bought a repair manual on the van, and I have everything I needed to complete the work, plus a few extras just in case.” Lux wasn’t looking forward to working throughout the night working.

“Do you have any idea on how you’re going to lay everything out in the van?” Frank wonders if Lux planned everything out.

“Yeah, I have an idea how I want the outside and the inside to look.” Lux already had everything planned out.

By the time breakfast is over, everyone goes to work. Lux was schedule to be in all three performances today, so she checked in with Gail to see what the routine was going to be. Gail had taught her all the routines they did on the second day she performed.

After finding out what she needed to prepare for, Lux changes into her clown outfit. Her outfit was unique, and her routine had been developed just for her. It incorporated her acrobatic and acting skills.

The past four days have been hard on Lux. She barely got any sleep because she spent most of the night rebuilding the diesel engine in the FedEx delivery Van. Not only was she rebuilding the engine, but she also replaced the current transmission with a new one she purchased from a transmission shop when she purchased the van. It was a custom build that a client hadn’t picked up. It was a deal, and with her towing a trailer behind the delivery van, she needed the extra torque. She also replaced the drive axle and differential. All the brakes and the brake line were in good shape

One morning, when Lux didn’t show up for work. Frank and Victor went to check whether Lux was inside the Federal Express van, but didn’t find her there; instead, they found her under the van, still in her greasy coveralls, sound asleep on top of a cardboard box. She had a wrench in one hand and was resting her head on some dirty rags she had been using.

An evil idea pops into Frank’s head. He looks towards Victor, “Grab her right foot and get ready, and pull her out.”

“One, two, three!” Frank and Victor pulled Lux out from under the van as quickly as they could.

“Wake up, sleepy head.” Frank and Victor watch Lux as she scrambles to get up off the ground.

Lux wakes up and tries to stand up as she hears laughter from in front of the van. She slowly stands up, feeling extremely tired, and looks towards Frank and Victor, laughing their heads off.

“That wasn’t funny, guys.” Lux was so tired from pulling long nights with little sleep. She had to get the van ready to pull out in two days, and she still had a bunch of work to do.

“Yes, it was. You should have seen your face.” Frank looks at Lux with a smile still on his face.

“Look, we know you are staying up late working on this van.” As Victor puts his hand on the front of it, “but you still have work around the circus to do, and you still have several performances. How much do you have left to do?”

“I still have to make sure everything is running right and make sure there aren’t any leaks. I torqued everything down to specs, but you know how that is.” Lux picks up the tool she had been holding in her hand when she got pulled from under the van.

“Look, there's not much that needs to be done this morning, but Gail has you down for two performances tonight. Why don’t you clean up and take a nap for a few hours before you go on tonight?” Frank knew they didn’t have much to do. He and Victor could handle what they had to do.

“Are you sure? I told Mr. Goldman I wouldn’t slack off on my responsibilities while I was working on my van.”

“We’re sure. Get some rest and go see Gail at five this afternoon.” Frank turns to walk away.

“Thanks.” Lux picks up the dirty, greasy rags she needs to wash.

Frank just waves his hand as he and Victor walk off towards the job, which they were going to have Lux do. They were surprised she managed to get as much done on her own as she did. He knew the kid was good with her hands, but she had done a lot to the van since she started working on it.

Once Lux cleans up the mess she made last night. She wiggles out of her mechanics coveralls and takes a quick shower. She was using a makeshift camper's shower she had put together using a five-gallon bucket, a handheld sprayer from a sink, and a plastic tray. She had attached a hose to it so the water drained out away from the back of her van. Once she starts working on the inside, she plans to install a shower.

Once she takes her shower, and was clean. She puts on a pair of shorts and a muscle tee, then crawls into her van. She puts up the screen she made to keep the rolling door from coming all the way down. This way, she could get airflow going inside the van.

Lux sets her cellphone alarm to wake her so she can get ready for the performances. She lays her head down on the pillow, and in no time, she is in la, la, land. Nothing was going to wake her.

Lux is woken later in the afternoon by the alarm going off on her cellphone. She smacks the snooze button and finally wakes up when the second alarm goes off. She turns it off and gets dressed. She was still feeling tired, but not as bad as she had been.

She grabs a granola bar and a soda out of the cooler in the van. She removes the screen and closes and locks the back door completely. She goes out the side door and locks it. She trusted the people in the carnival, but not anyone else.

She heads towards the tent where all the clowns get ready. She waves to everyone as she walks in. Freddy, one of the clowns, watches “Where have you been all day, Lux?”

“Getting some sleep. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends.” Lux yawns as she starts selecting her clown outfit.

“You know were leaving in two days, don’t you?” Freddy knew Lux worked with the maintenance crew to put everything away.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be ready by then.” Lux hopes she’ll be ready.

When Lux is done changing and ready. She follows Gail and the other clowns out and starts acting goofy. She does a few cartwheels and other acrobatic tricks. Throughout the performance, she does the routine that Gail and Slappy have put together for her.

When the performance was over, Lux went to grab a sandwich from one of the concession stands. She had meal tickets from several concession stands for work she did for them. She grabs a meatball sub, a bag of potato chips, and a large fountain drink. She was still in costume, so she headed back to the clown tent and ate quietly in the corner behind the costumes.

She finishes the meatball sandwich in no time and munches on the chips. She takes her time with the soda because she needs it to last. Lux waits for the next performance to start. She hopes she can get everything done by the time they have to leave.

She never thought she would be working for a circus and living out of a vehicle. She still had a bunch of things to do to her Z car that she wanted to get done. She hasn’t made up her mind if she wants to sell it or keep it. She’s leaning more toward keeping it because she's put a lot of work into it.

“Yoyo, it's time.” Gail finds Lux hiding in her corner behind the costumes.

“Alright, I’m coming.” Lux gets up and leaves her drink on the makeup table.

She follows the rest of the clowns out into the main tent and starts her performance. The kids in the audience love her silliness and her act. Lux pays special attention to any children who look to be disabled or hurt. She loves watching them smile. She always leaves behind a little clown of herself that she had specially made.

After all the performances are done, Lux changes into her coveralls and gets back to work on the van. She manages to get everything dealing with the motor, transmission, driveshaft, and differential. All she had left to do was run the wires and connect the second alternator she installed to power the inverter. She was planning to install solar cells to power the inside items, but for now, she’ll have to run the inverter and fill two separate tanks with fuel to power the van when camping.

She finishes by three in the morning. She changes out of her work coveralls and takes a second shower. She shivered from the light chilly wind blowing. She had no idea what she was going to do for the winter when the circus went to its winter camp. Mr. Goldman said a few of the performers either stay there or go home.

Lux lies down and reads for a while before drifting off to sleep. She had her alarm clock set to wake her.

Early Saturday Morning:
The circus starts packing up after the final performances. Lux had finished up the last thing she needed to do to her van. She was woken up to help in breaking down things that could be packed and loaded first. After the last performances, she helps Frank and Victor pack everything, so they can leave first thing Sunday morning.

By one in the morning, they have the main tent taken down and folded. All the lines and supports were already packed away. She was informed by Frank and Victor that they were going to be spending two weeks at their new location, and they would not need to set up the main tent. Setting up is going to be easier for them this time around.

By Sunday morning, they were ready to move out. Frank and Victor were going to drive the main truck with everything. Lux rushes back to her van and goes to start it, but gets no power to anything.

“Damn it.” Lux checks the fuse box and makes sure the new connections are secured.

She exits from the van and checks the battery connections, and notices she forgot to secure the positive battery cable. She grabs her socket and ratchet and tightens the battery bolt. Once she was done, she got back in the van and turned the key. Everything powers up.

“Thank god.” She presses the start button and the van tries to start, but doesn’t catch.

Lux presses the start button again, and the engine doesn’t catch again.

“Oh, come on.” Lux presses the start button a third time, and the engine starts.

“Thank goodness.” She releases the emergency brake and pulls out of the parking lot, following behind Bill Hudson and his wife, Tammy’s RV.

She turns the new radio on and links her cellphone to it. She plays her favorite playlist and listens to the music as she follows everyone. She knows a lot of the RVs were going to need to stop and get fuel. She didn’t because she had already filled her tanks when she bought the van.

During the two weeks at the new location, she could work on the inside, which looked bare, as it did when FedEx owned the van. She stops to use the bathroom at the truck stop they stop at. She goes inside and grabs something to munch on while she drives.

She really needs to replace the driver's seat if she is going to be doing long-distance driving. Her butt was starting to feel the springs underneath the thin material of the driver's seat. By the time they arrived at the new location, it was starting to rain.

Lux follows Bill to a parking lot where they were going to be storing their vehicles. Frank had radioed her over the CB and said they won’t be setting up tonight, but first thing tomorrow morning. Which was fine with her, because she was tired.

Lux pulls out the propane camping stove she had been using and heats some beef stew she had bought. She also toasts up some garlic bread in the toaster oven she bought. It had an air fryer function, which she loved. It was a good thing she took a cooking course during the summer when she was a freshman in high school.

She opens her laptop and watches a movie she downloaded. She listens to the rain as it hits her roof. She still had a bunch of stuff she needed to do to make the interior of the van livable, but at least she wasn’t sleeping in her Z car.

She could now stretch out and be comfortable. When she had to use the bathroom, she used a five-gallon bucket filled with pine pellets. She heats some water and washes the dirty dishes in a dishpan. She bought three five-gallon water bottles for those water fountains that heat water or cool the water for you.

Lux was planning on installing one of those in her van, once she starts renovating the interior. For once, she doesn’t have to worry about staying up late, working on her van. All the parts she removed were sitting near the back door. Some of them she needed to return to the auto part stores from which she bought the replacements. The transmission she removed, she was thinking about having it rebuilt to the specs of the new one, just like she was thinking about having the old differential rebuilt to the same specs as the new one she installed.

Once Lux starts feeling sleepy. She cracks the door and puts the screen in to allow air to travel into the van. She had plans for a new door for the back door. Lux changes out of the clothes she had on and puts on a pair of shorts and an oversized nightshirt.

She lies down and watches another movie for a while before finally drifting off to sleep. She listens to the rain as it hits the roof. She was finally feeling better about her situation.

She drifts off and enjoys sleeping on the air mattress she bought. She didn’t have to worry about waking up with a sore back. She pulls the blankets closer around her body.

When her alarm clock goes off, she doesn’t want to get out of bed. She was nice and comfortable and wanted to stay in bed. Lux turns the alarm off and just stays bundled up under her blanket. When the second alarm goes off, she turns it off and gets up. She stretches and starts getting dressed. She had to get with Frank, Victor, and Mr. Goldman to see what they were going to do.

After dressing, Lux heads to meet up with Frank and Victor. She hopes she can grab a cup of coffee when she meets up with them.

Lux spots Frank, Victor, and Mr. Goldman standing around drinking coffee. It looked like he went to a coffee shop, inside of brewing coffee.

“Ah! Lux, I bought a coffee for you as well.” Mr. Goldman hands the coffee cup to her.

“Thanks, Mr. Goldman.” Lux graciously accepts the coffee cup.

Lux takes a sip from the coffee cup and moans when she tastes how good the coffee tastes. She looks at Mr. Goldman and the others, “This is a good cup of coffee.”

“So, what is on the agenda for today?” Lux looks at the three men.

“Actually, nothing. You have the next few days off. We can’t set up the equipment or the concessions stands for the next few days. So, you have the next few days off.” Mr. Goldman looks at all three of them.

“Cool, that will give me some time to do some shopping.” Lux already knew what she wanted to do.

“Just stay out of trouble, Lux. This town has some strange laws.” Mr. Goldman looks at her because he already knew a little about her.

“I promise to stay out of trouble. I need to go to the laundry mat, do some laundry, and return some auto parts I removed from the van.”

“Alright. Your pay has already been deposited into your bank account.” Mr. Goldman watches as Lux walks off.

“Thanks.” Lux walks back to her van.

She gathers up all her dirty laundry and puts it in a laundry basket. She puts them in the Z car after taking it off the trailer. She also loads the auto parts she needs to drop off at the auto parts store. She’ll have to find a transmission shop to see if they can rebuild the original transmission for her van.

Once everything is loaded, she drops her laundry off at a laundry mat that has a drop-off service and pays for the service. She locates one of the auto parts stores where she bought her parts and drops off the cores, and gets her money back for them. That takes her about an hour or so. She inquires about a transmission shop that specializes in transmission work.

She pulls into the parking lot of the shop and spots one of the workers. She walks towards the open garage door. “Hi, I have a question for you.”

Thomas was heading towards a car on the lift when he heard a female voice speaking to him. He stops and turns around to look at the person.

He spots a woman with shoulder-length purple hair and light makeup. She looked cute and wasn’t very tall.

“What can I do for you, Ms.?”

“I was wondering if you could rebuild the old transmission from my van to these specs?” Lux hands the receipt from the other transmission shop to the man.

Thomas looks at the specs and figures and thinks that he could do it if she had the original transmission. He looks back up after reading the specs. “Do you have the original with you?”

“Yes, sir, I do.” Lux was watching the guy.

“It will cost you about five thousand dollars for me to rebuild it.” Thomas figured he would have to order the kit that she would need for the transmission inner parts.

Lux inhales sharply. She was hoping it could be done a little cheaper. “That’s a little expensive.”

“Yeah, it is, but I have to order the kit that has all these parts in it and rebuild the whole inner transmission.” Thomas hands the receipt back to the young woman.

“How long will it take you to do it?” Lux wouldn’t mind having it done.

“If you bring me the transmission tomorrow, I can have it done for you by next Friday.” Thomas hasn’t seen the Z car around town before.

“Sounds reasonable. What time do you open tomorrow?” Lux had the money, but she would rather not tap into her surgery fund.

“I open up at seven tomorrow morning.” Thomas looks at the young girl.

“Okay, I’ll be here waiting for you. See you tomorrow.” Lux turns and walks back to her Z car.

The next place Lux stops at is a second-hand appliance store. She finds a minifridge she can install in the van. She also finds a gas stove that would fit, because of its compact size. She buys both of them. She’ll have to come back with the van to pick them up.

She does some more shopping and buys several things for her van. Most of the things she buys fit into her Z car, with a few creative packings. She heads back to grab her van to pick up the other items she bought, along with a spare propane tank to use in her van for the stove.

The minifridge fits perfectly in the van. She’ll have to run a cord for now to power it. As for the stove, before she installs it, she checks to make sure nothing leaked. She puts it in the van and secures it to the floor and the wall to keep it in place. She’ll have to build an outside cradle to hold the propane tanks. Until she does it, she’ll have to put the tank outside while she is cooking. She has everything she needs to hook the stove up to the tank.

She buys a new dark shower curtain and some pipes. When Lux gets back to the parking lot, she starts working on installing the stove, the support, and the shower system, so she can shower inside the van. She checks on how much an outside heating and cooling system would cost to install on her van. She knows what she wants to do.

She found one online that was brand new, and the place wanted eight hundred dollars. She ‘ll have to wait for now, but at least she knows how much they cost. It is a good thing she learned a lot about mechanical and auto repair from school and from her foster father. She buys a cheap outdoor grill to cook outside.

By late evening, Lux has the stove hooked up and the shower done. She tested everything to make sure nothing was leaking. She put an exhaust fan over the stove, so she didn’t fill the van with smoke or smells.

Tonight’s dinner was hamburgers and French fries. Lux knew how to cook French fries on the grill thanks to her father. She watches as several other circus performers cook outside. She was enjoying the warm weather and the food she was cooking.

Small Rural Town in Utah:
Lux was sweating her ass off. They had done a two-week performance in a nice A/C building three days ago. Now they were out in the middle of nowhere with temperatures so high that you could cook an egg on the sidewalk. Because of her fair skin, she had to put on a high SPF to prevent her skin from burning.

She had been wearing shorts or her pair of short denim overalls. Since she was climbing over and on a bunch of equipment, she wore her normal overalls. She had red marks on her legs where she burned the skin from kneeling on hot metal.

A few times inside the clown tent, a rattler or two had managed to slither inside. She almost got attacked by one, but luckily, she managed to kill it with one of the props in the tent. She didn’t like snakes. Something about them scared her, or didn’t feel right.

She didn’t mind the nights, because the temperature was lower and she could use a box fan she bought to cool the inside of the van. She managed to buy a used generator at a pawn shop that had low hours on it. The good thing about it, it could be hooked up to her propane tanks. She didn’t need to buy any gasoline for it.

Lux walks over to the concession stand that sells custom-made drinks. She waits in line for her turn to be served. All the drink stands were doing a lot of business, like the sandwich stands were.

“Lux, what would you like to drink?” Sara smiles at Lux.

“A large lime aide for me. Frank wants a large cherry aide, and Victor wants a large sweet iced tea.” Lux had texted them to ask what they wanted to drink.

“That will be fifteen dollars.” Sara had already started making the drinks.

Lux scans her debit card and gives Sara a five-dollar tip. She watches as Sara makes the drinks for her.

“Here you go.” Sara hands a drink carrier to Lux.

“Thanks, Sara.” Lux turns and walks back towards the maintenance truck.

By the time she arrived back, Victor had returned with their lunches. He had picked up hoagies for them from the new food truck that travels with them. They made all sorts of subs and salads.

“Man! It is hot out there today.” Lux sits down on an upside-down five-gallon bucket with a cushion on it.

She hands out the drinks to Frank and Victor.

“Thanks.” As Victor hands Lux one of the hoagies.

“You’re welcome, Lux.”

All three of them sit and enjoy their lunch in the nice cool air of the box truck. While they are enjoying their lunch, Victor looks towards Lux. “Hey, Lux, when do you find the time to dye your hair?”

Frank watches Lux’s expression because he has been wondering the same thing. He noticed that Lux’s purple hair has always been the perfect color. Since she has been working with him and Victor, it has gotten a little longer.

“I don’t dye my hair.” Lux looks at Frank and Victor.

“You have too. Normal hair color doesn’t come in purple.” Victor didn’t believe Lux.

“I swear, I’m telling the truth about my hair and my body hair. When I was born, I had black hair. When I turned six years old, my hair turned white and then purple. The hair on my arms is silky smooth and light purple. My body doesn’t grow hair on my legs or upper body, except my armpits and arms.” Lux had been surprised when she started changing.

“How is that possible?” Frank was stumped.

“Don’t know. The specialist my foster parents took me to couldn’t figure it out. He did every test possible on me and took several blood samples from me. He also did three separate DNA tests on me as well.”

“So, what did your doctor discover?” Frank and Victor were curious.

“That I was born with several genetic disorders and a high IQ. I have a natural talent for engineering and possess technical skills that take experts years to develop.”

“What does that mean?” Victor wanted to know more about Lux’s ability.

“Means she learns quickly and can solve most technical problems just by looking or examining them.” Frank has already seen how Lux is in action.

“So, that’s why she is so good at fixing things.” Victor now understood how Lux was able to figure out problems they had on some of the rides and recreate a replacement part to fix the problem.

“I can’t take all the credit. My last foster family, I learned a lot from. My foster father loved to restore all sorts of things. He worked for a hi-tech engineering firm that specialized in making unique or lost parts. Things you can’t get any more.”

“I’ve heard of those firms. They can take an old blueprint or construct the part from a broken piece.” Victor kept up with new engineering techniques.

“Where did you learn how to act and those aerobatics moves you do?” Frank knew Lux was just as talented a performer as she was as a mechanic.

“I’ve been taking gymnastic lessons since I could walk. I was also on my school’s gymnastics team, and we almost won the state championship. We came in second place. As for my acting skills, I helped out with the local theater group and was in the drama group in middle school and high school.” Lux loved to be busy.

“Where did you learn how to work on cars?” Victor knew Lux had rebuilt her Z car and the repairs she had done on the FedEx van.

“Vocational school, I was working on getting my AES certifications before graduating early.” Lux finishes her hoagie and tosses the wrapper into the trash bin.

“You still can get your certifications, if you want to.” Frank finishes his hoagie as well.

“Maybe once I’m stable. I need to build up some funds and find a place of my own when winter comes.”

“You can always stay at our winter camp in your van or one of the small cottages there.” Victor finishes his hoagie as well.

“Maybe. So, what do we need to finish doing today?” Lux didn’t want to go back to work.

“With the heat the way it is right now. We’re calling it a day. We’ll start early tomorrow morning.” Frank decided that it was too hot to go back to work.

“Sounds good to me.”

Lux scrubs her body as the water cascades down her body. She was so happy that she managed to install an RV tankless water heater in her van. The two fifty-five-gallon plastic drums that supplied water to her van were mounted on the outside of the trailer. One held clean, clear water, while the other was her greywater tank.

Connecting the plumbing to the two tanks took some creative engineering on her part, but she managed to do it. Everything was connected by quick-connects that she could disconnect when she was ready to leave. She still used the two five-gallon water bottles for the sink, but the barrels were used for showers and washing clothes. She installed a brand-new washer-dryer combo unit in her van—this way, she doesn’t need to waste money on laundromat fees.

Her van was slowly turning into a small home on wheels. She has plans to keep the water in the tanks from freezing when winter arrives. This month, they were in Colorado performing at several small rural towns. She winces when she scrubs the right-hand side of her chest.

She was securing a new tight rope line when she fell off the platform and swung right into the support pole. She smacked the support pole pretty hard, and it left a huge bruise on the right side of her body and fractured three of her ribs. The medic who traveled with the circus had examined her injury and sent her for an X-ray.

She was on light duty, which Frank and Victor didn’t mind. Lux turns the water off and dries off. She still liked taking showers outside with her portable shower, but she liked that she could take them inside now. She moves the shower curtain aside and steps out of the shower.

The overhead fan was venting the moisture outside. She doesn’t have to worry about mold growing inside her van. She managed to find a used heating and A/C unit for her van. She had to do some repairs to it and return it to working order.

The roof was covered with the new flat solar panels. Lux’s van also had two high-wattage solar panels mounted on its side. She picked up a used generator from a pawn shop that could be fueled by propane or gasoline. Plus, she still had the extra alternator/generator she could run off the van when it was running.

Lux walks over to the hidden drawers and opens them. She pulls out her favorite oversized t-shirt and slips it on. She doesn’t bother wearing any panties. The nightshirt covered her groin area pretty well.

Once Lux had her nightshirt on, she closed the drawer and turned around to open the refrigerator. She pulls out a meal she made last night and heats it in the microwave. Once the meal is heated up, Lux sits down on her folded bed, which doubles as a sofa when she isn’t using it.

She turns the television on and starts watching The Legend of Korra on Paramount+. She got a satellite internet connection, so no matter where she is, she can watch her favorite shows or access the internet. Lux knew she needed to start saving money because all the upgrades and items she had been buying to make the van comfortable to live in were draining her savings.

The foster parents she had before she aged out of the system have been keeping in touch with her. She sent them pictures of the van and what she has been doing to it. Her foster parents were impressed with her creativity. She also told them about her job and the different places she has performed at. She sent them pictures of herself dressed up in the clown outfit she wore.

Lux has been working on a new outfit when she finds time. The outfit was almost completed. She only had a few more things to do. Once she is done with it, she’ll make a second one.

Lux places the dish she had her meal in, in the dishwasher she bought on Amazon. It was a countertop dishwasher; the only thing you had to do was hook it up to the sink faucet and run the drain hose to the sink. It only held a few dirty dishes, but it was enough for her.

Lux folds the sofa down into a bed and lies down on it. She was enjoying the temperature inside the van. The small fan she mounted in the van's cargo area felt nice. She watches several episodes of The Legend of Korra before falling asleep. She turned the television off before she drifted off to sleep.

When Lux woke up the next day, it was raining outside. She gets dressed and uses the bathroom in her van. The camping toilet she bought has come in handy.

Lux grabs her rain jacket and boots and puts them on. She exits her van, locks it, and heads towards the maintenance truck. She notices she was the first one there and starts brewing the coffee for Frank and Victor. While she is waiting for the coffee to brew, she pulls the donuts she bought yesterday out of the refrigerator and set them out.

The store she went to yesterday to do her shopping had a special on donuts. She bought two dozen for them to have with their coffee. She hears Victor as he enters the box truck.

“Morning, Victor.”

“Morning, Lux. Is the coffee ready?” Victor saw the box of donuts Lux bought yesterday.

“Yep, coffee is ready, and the donuts are out.” Lux had grabbed a crème-filled one and was enjoying it. The ones covered in bacon were already gone.

Frank and Victor loved them and ate them all yesterday. She didn’t mind, because she liked the crème-filled ones.

“Cool.” Victor fills his coffee mug and grabs two glazed donuts from the box.

“I take it that we’re not working outside today?” Lux knew Frank, and Victor hated working in the rain.

“Nope, and you’re on light duty for two weeks.” Victor saw the doctor’s note Lux gave Frank and Mr. Goldman.

“I know. I think today is going to be slow.” Lux has learned that when it rains, people don’t like coming to the circus.

Frank shows up ten minutes later. He shakes his rain gear outside as he takes it off. He looks at Victor and Lux, “I see you guys have already started.”

“Yep!” Lux raises her coffee mug towards Frank.

“I can’t function without coffee, Frank.” Victor drinks from his mug.

Frank shakes his head as he pours himself some coffee. Once he has his coffee, he grabs a glazed donut from the box and bites into it.

“So, what is the game plan?” Lux looks at Frank as he eats his donut.

Frank swallows the food in his mouth, before answering. He looks at Lux “your still on light duty. You’re working with Kevin and his people today. He needs your engineering expertise for a job he needs to do.”

“Okay. Anything else?” Lux didn’t mind helping Kevin with his project.

“Nope, if you get done early with Kevin’s project. Check with Slappy and see if he wants you performing or just helping with the props.” Frank knew Slappy didn’t like anyone under him performing while they were injured.

“Okay.” Lux has gotten on better terms with Slappy since she joined the circus.

At first, he was gruff with her, treating her like an outsider. But over time, he has softened toward her and shown her the same respect he showed all the clowns working under him. It took time, but she was glad that Slappy had softened toward her.

After breakfast and their morning meeting, Lux goes and locates Kevin. The project he was working on was going to take them until lunch. Kevin liked to focus on the job at hand rather than chit-chat. So, she helps when she can, but let him do all the work.

After lunch, she enters the clown tent and finds Slappy straightening the mess on his makeup table. She walks over towards him, “Hey Slappy. Watching you doing?”

Slappy turns around to look at Lux. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“Cleaning up your makeup table. So, what do you have for me?” Lux knew Slappy could be sarcastic.

He was good with kids, but not with teenagers her age or some grown-ups. He could be rude to.

“Nothing. You’re still on medical leave, and I don’t want you making your injuries worse.” Slappy knew Lux would be willing to do whatever job he had for her.

“I can still do light work.” Lux didn’t want to take the rest of the day off.

“Until you get the clear from our medic. You’re to take it easy until then. Since it is raining outside today, you might as well take the rest of the afternoon off.” Slappy looks at Lux in his mirror.

“Okay.” Lux turns and leaves the clown tent.

She walks back towards her van and starts preparing some dinner for later. She was thinking about cooking the pork chops she bought while shopping. The antique stove she bought and installed worked like a charm and fit perfectly in her van.

Rural Town in the Eastern part of Kansas:
“Come on Lux, hurry up.” Robert, was waiting outside the van for Lux.

Some of the younger performers in the circus have decided to get together to go out. Robert and his girlfriend Gloria had asked Lux to go with them. The two of them knew she normally spent her time off either staying in the van or working the concession stands. Sometimes, because of her mechanical and electrical skills, she would help fix problems in people’s Rv or campers.

“Alright, I’m almost ready.” Lux looks at her reflection in the mirror.

She didn’t know what to wear, because she had nothing really fancy or clubby. She has gone out a few times with Victor and Frank to have beers. Frank had given her a fake driver license that he had made for her. Both men knew she was only eighteen years old. The thing was, both men saw how hard she worked and how she didn’t have a social life.

So, Frank visited a person he knew that made really good fake driver licenses, passports, and other documents. He got Lux’s information from Mr. Goldman and had a fake driver license and social security card made for her. When they went out, he gave them to her.

She got a little tipsy when she went out with them. She had a slight headache the next day.

“Alright, I’m ready.” Lux steps through the door from the back of her van and locks it.

Robert and Gloria were impressed by how cute Lux looked all dressed up. She had found an outfit that was nice looking and was wearing a pair of three-inch heel shoes.

“Wow! Who knew you cleaned up so well.” Robert was impressed by how beautiful Lux looked.

Lux blushes from her friend’s comment. They walk to her Z car and get in. She finally finished redoing the inside. All she had left was putting a new paint job on the outside of the car.

Lux follows Robert’s directions as they head to a local club. Gloria had lean forward from the back seat and was linking her cell phone to the car stereo. She plays some party music as they drove to the club.

All of their driver licenses were checked as they entered the club. Lux was worried her driver licenses wouldn’t pass, but it did. She walks into the club and they claimed a table for themselves.

All three of them order drinks and then go out onto the dance floor to dance. Lux is asked by a handsome man to dance. She accepts and dances with him. She loses track of Robert and Gloria, as she dances with the young man. She finds out his name is Seamus and had dirty blonde hair. He stood a good foot taller than her, and played football for the college.

He had come with some friends and were celebrating a friend’s birthday. Lux dances all night with him and meets his friends. Since she as driving, she only has one or two drinks. Frank got her hooked-on fireballs and whiskey. One of Seamus’s friends introduces her to Long Island Ice Teas and Tequila sunrises.

By the time Lux and her friends leave. She has sobered up enough to drive. Seamus walks her out to her Z car and is impressed by how old it was. He kisses her goodnight and watches as she leaves.

Robert looks at Lux as they drive back to the circus. A smile appears on his face “you look like you enjoyed yourself tonight.”

“I say she did.” Gloria saw how handsome Seamus was.

“Yes, I did have fun tonight.” Lux had to admit, that she did have fun tonight.

The next morning, Frank informs Lux that they were staying another week. Which was fine with her, because they haven’t had to do a bunch of repairs? She grabs her tool bucket and follows Victor to a job he was working on. Instead of stopping for lunch, they work through it and finished the job on time.

Victor looks at Lux as she sat nearby. She was cleaning their tools.

“Thanks for working through lunch. I don’t think we could have finished this by now.” Victor knew the job was going to be difficult, but not as hard as he found.

“No problem. This was a nasty job.” Lux had to admit it would have taken her longer than it did Victor.

“Well, now it should be easier to maintain the equipment.” Lux was glad they did a major fix on the ride they just got finished with.

“I’ll clock you out, Lux. Go ahead and grab yourself something to eat.” Victor picks his tools up that Lux cleaned for him.

“Thanks.” Lux heads back to her van and unlock it.

She had fun last night and wouldn’t mind doing it again. She takes a shower and puts on a pair of shorts and a low riding t-shirt. She doesn’t bother with a bra underneath her shirt. She turns around to face the stove and turn the burner on and start frying up some hamburger meat she picked up a few days ago.

She tosses the hamburger meat into the cast iron skillet and cooks it. She was going to make a quick and dirty batch of chill. Most of the ingredients she had already prepped beforehand. This way, all she needed to do was add it to the big pot she loved cooking in. Before she got the hot water heater, she used the pot to warm water up in so she could take a decent shower.

Lux turns the stereo on and listens to some music while she cooks. She takes a smaller pot out and makes some rice to have with the chili. She liked her chili either served over rice or corn chips. While the rice and chili cooks, Lux takes out a block of sharp cheddar cheese and grates some to add on top of her chili. She couldn’t believe how cheap she managed to get a huge block of sharp cheddar cheese for.

Back home her adopted mother paid a little more on the cheese than she did. She looks out the window above the sink and saw that most of the performers were relaxing with their family. She sighs because she hasn’t figured out what she wants to do when the circus stops traveling in September.

Right now it was only July, so she knew she still had a few more months to make plans. She’s been seeing homes and property for sale on Facebook. Some of them she could get a loan for and uses her Z car for collateral or she could apply at some of the mechanic shops and place like Pep Boys or Firestone to work. She could make money working there. She might try working at a semi-truck repair shop. She has experience fixing big things.

Lux stirs the chili and turns the heat down to low, to let it slowly cook. She looks over towards the rice and notices it is almost ready. She chops up some onions to sparkle on top of the chili and put them in a small container. She knew she was going to have left overs, which okay with her.
While the chili simmers, Lux cleans up her small kitchen and washes the dirty knives she used. Her trashcan was still half full and she doesn’t need to empty it. Lux sits down and waits for the chili to be ready.

When the chili is ready, Lux scoops up a ladle full and put it on top of a scoop of rice in her favorite bowl. She found it at the thrift store in the last town they visited. She sits down on the sofa and watches Hawaii Five-O. The episode was the one where Callen and Sam visited Hawaii and worked with the Five-O team.

Another Small Rural Town:
Lux hears the rain pelting the top of her van. She looks up at the ceiling and watches as the rain hits the skylight she installed. She wanted more natural light in the van's living area and decided to install two skylights so she could let in more light and watch the sky at night. She watches as the rain hits the clear dome of the skylight.

Lux hears her cellphone beep, as a new text message arrived. She picks it up and looks at the message. It was from Frank and said, “You have the day off.”

A smirk appears on Lux’s face. She knew why she had the day off from doing maintenance. When it was raining outside, as it was, they put off all maintenance jobs unless they were packing up. They still have six days until they leave.

Lux knew, she wasn’t performing tonight either. When the weather was this bad, they cut back on the clowns and certain performances. Mr. Goldman didn’t want anyone to get hurt during the performances.

Since Lux wasn’t going to be performing or working on anything, she didn’t bother to get dressed. She converts her bed back into a sofa and fixes breakfast for herself. She heats some sausage patties and premade biscuits, and fries up some eggs.

Lux watches Die Hard 3 on the big screen television set she uses for her laptop when she plugs it in. She added a Blu-ray player and soundbar when she installed it. Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered buying a big-screen television, but it was on sale. The one she had been using to watch her favorite movies and television shows had broken down. So, she went ahead and bought a new one.

Lux checks the temperature in her van and notices it's 70 degrees. She wasn’t cold, but she does think about lowering it some. Instead, she leaves it where it is and turns the mounted fan on to circulate the air in the van. She checks the solar batteries to see how much charge they have.

The batteries were currently fully charged. She still had the generator and the other alternator she added to the van, in case she needs power. She sits down on the sofa and checks her email on her cell phone.

A smile appears on her face when an email from her friend Tony back home appears. He got accepted at Michigan State on a football scholarship. Her friend Gail was accepted to the college she applied to. Most of the people from her high school were either going to the college of their choice or were taking time off for a while.

She couldn’t blame some of her friends who were taking time off before making a major life decision. Some liked the idea of either going to college or a trade school. She would have continued her automotive and engineering training at a trade school.

She sends out some emails and posts a few messages on the group Facebook page and on TikTok. Once Lux was done, she flipped through the channels until she found a movie to watch. She listens as the rain slackens outside.

During the day, Lux takes it easy. She still had leftover chili she could heat up for lunch or dinner. However, she was thinking about making a Philly cheese steak for dinner. The Hendersons' four RVs, down from her trailer, taught her how to make an authentic Philly cheesesteak that would make anyone from Philly proud. She had everything she needed in her refrigerator.

She had gone to the grocery store, along with several other employees from the circus, to buy items. Sometimes, if they were near a Costco or Sam’s Club, they would go there to buy items in bulk rather than in small quantities. A lot of times, they buy items in bulk and keep some on hand. That way, when they go to a smaller town that doesn’t carry large quantities, they will have it on hand.

For dinner, Lux reheats some of the chili instead of fixing a Philly cheese steak. She decided she would rather have it for dinner tomorrow. After dinner, Lux takes a shower and relaxes by watching one of her favorite movies on television. She didn’t have a bunch of laundry to do, and according to the weather forecast, it was supposed to rain tomorrow.

So far, it hasn’t been very profitable being in this small town. The weather was the biggest factor that was causing them to lose money. They still have three days left to perform before they move on to their next town.

The next morning, it was still raining, but lightly. It still prevented any work on anything electrical, but some mechanical jobs could still be done. It wouldn’t be the first time she has worked in the rain.

Lux puts on her work overalls and a t-shirt with the circus name under it. It was a short-sleeved t-shirt, so her arms would get wet. She grabs her clear rain poncho and puts it on. She was going to wear her rain boots instead of her boots.

Lux grabs her lunch box and makes her way to the maintenance box truck. She couldn’t believe how muddy it was. She almost slipped a few times. By the time she arrived at the truck, Frank and Victor were there.

“I hate rain.” Lux looks at Frank and Victor when she says that.

“Well, wait until winter arrives. You’re going to be saying you hate winter as well.” Frank knew winter in some states suck.

“I’m from Texas, and the weather there always suck. When it’s hot outside, it sucks. When it’s tornado season, you have to be on your toes, plus
there’s winter as well. So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Lux was ready to get to work.

She fixes a cup of coffee while Frank looks at the work orders they have. The pile contained a bunch of small jobs that would only take them a few hours to do.

Here are some jobs we can do. Most of them will take only a few minutes. So, don’t feel rushed to get them done.” Frank hands a third of the work orders to Lux and another stack to Victor.

“Meet back here after you’re finished.” Frank looks at both of them.

“Okay.” Lux takes a sip from her coffee cup and picks up her work bucket.

She walks out of the box truck and heads for the first job. It was a leaking water connection. It doesn’t take her long to fix. She moves on to the next job after noting what she did on the work order.

Throughout the morning, the rain was light. The mud made things difficult, and when she went inside some of the tents or the performers' private trailers or RVs. She had to be careful not to track mud inside them.

Around lunchtime, she stopped at one of the concession booths that had opened and refilled her coffee cup. Lux waves to Debbie as she moves to her next job. By two in the afternoon, Lux was done and was eating her lunch back at the box truck.

“Already done?” Victor walks into the back of the truck with a container from one of the food trucks traveling with them.

“Yep. I’m all done. What did you get?” Lux noticed the container in Victor’s hand.

“Smothered pork chop, on top of a bed of creamy chives mashed potatoes.” Victor loved his pork chops.

“I should have thought of that.” Lux looks at the lunch she brought.

“Hey, at least you are saving money by bringing your own lunch.” Victor sits down and opens his food container.

Frank joins them a few minutes later with his lunch. He stopped at one of the food trucks and bought himself some lunch.

“Watch you get?” Victor looks at Frank when he asks.

“A gyro over at Dinos.” Frank sits down at his spot in the truck and starts eating.

Lux shakes her head in disbelief and enjoys her homemade lunch. She continues to eat her lunch and watches as the rain falls. She hopes the rain stops soon.

It was late in the evening when the rain stopped. Lux was in her van when she heard the rain stop. She looked out the window and couldn’t believe it. She finishes fixing herself a Philly cheese steak, with a side order of onion rings. The rings were store-bought, instead of Lux making them.

Once her dinner was fixed, she stepped out of her van, sat at the table outside, and enjoyed the rainbow a few miles away.