Free A Spotlight for Harry by Eric A. Kimmel Page B

stood beside the ringmaster, taking his bows. Harry didn’t clap or cheer. He sat frozen in his seat, as if in a trance.
    He felt someone shaking him. It was Dash. “Harry, are you all right?” his brother asked.
    Harry nodded. It took several moments before he could speak. “That was the most amazing thing I ever saw!” he exclaimed. “How did he do it?”
    “Who knows? You won’t see me trying that,” Dash replied. “Isn’t the circus great?Doesn’t it make you wish we had our own circus here in Appleton? We wouldn’t have to wait all year for the circus to come. We could go and see the show anytime we liked.”
    “Dash! What a great idea!” Harry exclaimed.
    “What did I say?” Dash asked. He wasn’t sure what Harry was talking about.
    “A circus here in Appleton. A circus of our own!” Harry replied. “Only we won’t have to buy tickets. We’ll be the show.”

I t took a long time for Harry to fall asleep that night. When he finally closed his eyes, he had circus dreams.
    Harry dreamed he was back in the big tent. He saw the clowns, the bareback riders, and the acrobats. All the performers had his face. It was a circus of Harrys! Then Monsieur Jean Weitzman stepped onto the high wire. But it wasn’t Monsieur Weitzman at all. It was Harry Weiss, dancing, twirling,performing somersaults high in the air.
    The audience watched and applauded.
They’re clapping for me!
Harry thought. He looked down from the high wire and made a deep bow. To his surprise, he was bowing to himself. A Harry Weiss filled every seat under the big top. The Harrys stamped their feet, cheering, “Hooray for Harry! The greatest of all!”
    Harry stood up. He threw his arms wide to accept their praise. “Thank you all! Thank you, my friends!”
    “Harry! Cut that out! I’m trying to sleep.” Harry heard Dash’s voice, but he couldn’t see him. What was Dash doing in Harry’s circus? The tightrope began to wobble. Harry fought to keep his balance. He felt himself falling. Down, down, down …
    Harry sat up in bed. The room was dark, except for a sliver of moonlight shiningthrough the window. The Harry circus had vanished. It was all a dream, except for Dash, who was very real and very annoyed.
    “Ow, Harry! Why’d you hit me in the face? That hurt! I hope you didn’t give me a black eye,” Dash said.
    “I’m sorry, Dash,” said Harry. “I didn’t mean to hit you. I didn’t even know I was hitting you. I was having a dream.”
    Dash pressed his fingers against his right eye. “It feels better now. I don’t mind sharing the bed with you, but why do you have to beat me up every time you have a dream? Why don’t you dream a nice dream for once?”
    “This was a terrific dream, Dash!” Harry said. “I wish you could have been there with me. I was back at the circus. And guess what! I was the star of the show. I was dancing way, way up on the high wire, just like MonsieurWeitzman did, and all the people were cheering.…”
    Dash listened closely, his eyes wide open, as Harry told him about the dream. He described it with such detail that Dash could see it as clearly as if he’d dreamed it himself. By the time Harry finished, Dash was too excited to sleep.
    “Gosh, Harry,” he said, “can a dream like that come true? Could we be circus stars someday?”
    “Why not?” said Harry. He leaned back on the pillows with his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “Remember that story Papa told us in the synagogue last Saturday? The one about Jacob and how he dreamed about a ladder that went all the way up to heaven? Like Papa said, if you believe in dreams, there’s no telling how far or how high they can take you.”
    “Take
us
, you mean. You’re not going alone. I’m coming, too,” said Dash as both boys drifted off to sleep.
    Dreaming is easy. Making dreams come true is more difficult. The circus was in town until the end of the week. Harry and Dash made the most of it.
    It was July, so there