There’s a magical place just for Zara

by creeperfeverdreams

Published September 27, 2026

12+

In Circe the ringmaster!

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*This story is under my folder “Circe the ringmaster!”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.writerfeed.com/topic/117842-my-character-designs-lt-33-3?start=225. Enjoy!*

Zara never felt more at home than in her spider-cluttered apartment. Her parents never liked the spiders, but that was alright. They didn’t have to like them. What mattered was that the spiders had someone to care for.

But even as an adult, Zara still found herself wanting friends. Humans to talk to, humans who wouldn’t be afraid of her spiders.

In the distance, she heard tinkling, inviting calliope music.

It was in such a tune that Zara sat up from bed, ignoring the frantic crawling of her spiders.

They needn’t worry. She was going to be fine. All she was going to do was follow that music.

……………………………………………

…………………………………………….

Zara stopped. It appeared that she was standing in an abandoned circus, but she wasn’t alone.

The calliope music had led her to a preteen boy and two little girls who were conjoined together at the hip. There was a clown woman dressed as a conductor as well.

Why, exactly, had Zara followed the music?

“How did you get here? Did you all follow the calliope music?!” Zara asked.

“You heard it too?” The boy asked, his eyes full of fright. One of the conjoined girls looked confused, while the other was trying to console her.

The expression of the conductor clown stayed completely blank, as if she had nothing much to say about it. Zara had a lot to say, but first she asked:

“So did we all hear the same music? Did we-“

“WELCOME!” A woman’s voice boomed.

Comments & reviews · 2
User avatar
4revgreen
Review
4revgreen wrote a review Review · Oct 6

Hi Creeper! We're back to Zara now, yay!

Zara never felt more at home than in her spider-cluttered apartment. Her parents never liked the spiders, but that was alright. They didn’t have to like them. What mattered was that the spiders had someone to care for.


I like the adjective of 'spider-cluttered' and I love Zara and how she cares for the spiders. It would be nice to have some more in-depth description, where we get to see exactly where the spiders are across the apartment. Are they in tanks or boxes? Or just crawling free. What does she feed them? Does she need special equipment, etc.? It's the perfect place to put real research on spiders into the story!

But even as an adult, Zara still found herself wanting friends. Humans to talk to, humans who wouldn’t be afraid of her spiders.


This verges a bit too much on the telling side for me. Perhaps show Zara sitting with her spiders, caring for them, and she hears humans outside chatting, or sees something on TV, and feels jealous? It's such a unique story, but it loses something when you just tell us everything.

In the distance, she heard tinkling, inviting calliope music.


I think this needs setting up a bit more. Currently, you've only told us about Zara and not placed her within the scene. If the scene was her caring for the spiders, then you could have her ears prick and she hears it getting closer, and it would build more suspense if you described the music in more detail rather than telling us.

It was in such a tune that Zara sat up from bed, ignoring the frantic crawling of her spiders.


Beware, I'm into going grammar monster mode here:

This doesn't quite make sense grammatically. 'In such a tune' is the wrong preposition and the wrong construction. You don't act in a tune. You move to music, to a sound, or with a melody. 'In' works for states and conditions, such as 'in such a state,' which is probably why it felt right, but a tune isn't a state you can be in. Then, 'Such a tune' asks the reader to compare it with something that was just described before, but the previous sentence only tells us the music is 'tinkling, inviting calliope music.' That's a description, not a standard the next sentence can refer to. It doesn't tell us anything about the tune.
My suggestion would be:
'At the sound of such a tune, Zara sat up in bed, ignoring the frantic crawling of her spiders.'

Zara stopped. It appeared that she was standing in an abandoned circus, but she wasn’t alone.


okay that's so cool! Can we get some description of the abandoned circus? I know you could make it so creepy!

The calliope music had led her to a preteen boy and two little girls who were conjoined together at the hip. There was a clown woman dressed as a conductor as well.


These characters definitely deserve more build-up and more description!

“You heard it too?” The boy asked, his eyes full of fright.


Should be a lowercase t.

I love the premise of the ending. It sets up something very unique and creepy! I just don't feel like it was earned with the way the story was told to the reader. The bones are there, but it definitely could do with some filling in!

Keep writing <3

User avatar
Tikaya
Review
Tikaya wrote a review Review · Sep 27

Good morning creeper! Review Day is over and we are currently trying to keep the count of works in the Green Room low. Let's see what we can learn about Zara in this story, huh?
Love the first sentence in establishing all the important traits. The last chapter was called Zara and the Spiders too so =D

Welll if the parents don't like the spiders there are ways they could have taken care of them, but didn't.
The way Zara thinks that she needs to take care of the spiders (despite them probably doing fine on their own) kinda reminds me that my favourite German youtuber made a video abt the tiny spider she decided to take care of (and make an educational video about). It was very wholesome. Sadly no English subtitles :/

In the distance, she heard tinkling, inviting calliope music.
I kinda feel like you could do a bit better at setting the scene. When does this take place? Where are we? What's her room look like? Where do the spiders live?

Also how long does she follow the music? How did she not know abt the abandoned circus. Has she moved and is this a new place for her?

Well that is an intriguing end! So the circus and that woman summoned a lot of unique ppl, and knowing you, probably to enslave then in her circus, huh?
Image

Yes, exactly. She is going to enslave them all in her circus.

Thx for reading/advice!



If I were a girl in a book, this would all be so easy.
— Jo March