"Do I have to look through the attic, Grandpa? I don't like it up there. Maybe I could mow the lawn instead?"
Grandpa chuckled. "Don't tell me you're still scared of some old keepsakes, Will? You're not seven any more, you're a man. Or at least you would've been in my time."
Will's face reddened. "Sixteen is still a man. And I'm not afraid, I just don't like it up there. It's dark and dusty. It's too nice of a day to be cooped up in an attic."
Grandpa rubbed his chin. "Alright, you can wait until tonight to do it. Go get some sunshine!"
Will blinked. "What?"
Grandpa laughed. When he finished, he dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief. "Sorry, but you looked like I just asked you to hunt down a wounded tiger instead of looking through my dad's old things to see if there's anything you would like to take home with you."
Will sighed. "I guess there's no time like the present."
Will climbed the steep steps, careful not to drop the flashlight. When he poked his head into the attic, he turned it off and set it on the floor. "Oh right, it's daytime. Plenty of light."
Soon he was absorbed in looking around. "Grandpa is in his eighties, and a lot of this belonged to his dad. So some of it has to easily be a hundred years old!"
He touched a silver tray, and ran his hands over a blue silk dress. "I wonder if these belonged to my great grandmother, or Grandma Greta? Mom would love the tray because of the fancy design, but I don't think she'd ever wear the dress."
He set the tray next to the flashlight, then went over to the window. "I don't know why I was so afraid to come up here, it's actually pretty cool. Something must have spooked me as a kid, but I don't know what."
Will rummaged around, and his take home pile grew. He sat on an old chest, and looked around. "It sure was hard to choose, I'll have to ask if I can take a few more things next time. This should be plenty to fill my extra suitcase."
He started to gather the items when a shaft of sunlight hit the chest. "I forgot to look in there. Hope it's not locked."
He worked with the old latch, and it reluctantly squeaked as it opened. "Ah! A circus poster from the eighteen hundreds, that's so awesome! And real clown shoes! They're huge."
He took the items out, and eagerly added them to the take home pile. After he closed the chest, he gathered everything in his arms and carefully went back down the stairs.
Grandpa grinned. "I'm glad you're not scared of my dad's clown shoes any more! When you were little, you swore they moved while you were up there. I had to put them away before you'd even come up with me."
Will blushed. "I don't remember that. I just remember that I always felt uneasy every time I went up there."
Grandpa nodded. "I'm not surprised you don't remember, because you were really young. I think it was the first time I left you alone up there. I was only gone for a few minutes, to answer the phone. You came down so fast and loud I thought you'd fallen!"
Will looked at the shoes. "I wonder what happened? I've always liked things like that. Say, how did your dad get them? What a cool souvenir."
Grandpa scratched his head. "This was back when circuses performed in big tents, and camped out in fields. Dad said he was ten, and my grandpa let them use the south pasture that year. As you can imagine, Dad spent every free minute there."
Will whistled. "Wow, he was lucky! He probably had a lot of fun."
Grandpa laughed. "He sure did, and he made a lot of friends too. He was invited to see the show every night they were there, and even got to perform on the last night."
Will looked at the shoes, his eyes wide. "He wore those in the circus ring?"
Grandpa nodded. "One of the clowns was a little person, and loaned him one of his outfits. He always wore the biggest shoes of all - and he let Dad keep his extra pair. He told Dad that both pairs and the outfits they wore were made by a clown who could perform real magic. He said they brought him luck."
Will took the poster from the pile. "I see him, right next to the clown on stilts."
Grandpa nodded. "When I was a kid, I used to put them on and pretend that I was in the circus. They were a lot easier to move in than you would think. The trick is to pad them properly, there are little pockets inside that you can fill until they're comfortable."
Will put the poster on top of the pile. "I'll go get my extra suitcase, Grandpa. Might as well have them ready, so I don't forget them."
Grandpa smiled. "When you finish, come outside. I'm going to get a lunch together, and load up the car. You're right that it's too nice of a day to be inside. Let's go fishing."
As the young man and his grandpa went their separate ways, the circus poster flew into the air. Two giant shoes did a little dance before it gently drifted back into place.
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery