The time had come. The announcer thought so too. “The time has come for us to present to you, heir apparent Benjamin Fawkes the third!”

Offstage, Ron rubbed his hands nervously together. He had spoken onstage before, but only when he played “Ron the Rabbit” in his kindergarten class’s production of the Music Man. (He had a brief cameo in which he was shot by a real cannon. The event had not gone over well.)

The announcer continued. “But before we can do that, we want to present to you the final act of this circus! More fantastical than Mr. Fantastical, more wondrous than Ms. Wondrous, and even more awe-inspiring than the monkey that got 100% on “Through the Fire and Flames”, please welcome… Ron, the poem-reading guy!”

Ron stepped up to the stage, greeted by boos and groans