Bill Durks How I See Him: A Fictional Story Inspired By the Truths I Know

By Kathy Ciulla

All at once the person in front of me moved aside, and it was my turn. I walked slowly with my Dad, up close to him. This monster was real! Two noses far apart from each other with one nostril each, a strange big gap in the center of his upper lip, and three eyes! I do remember thinking that the eye in the middle didn't really look like an eye, and I later learned that he drew the middle eye on for a more dramatic look, but that didn't matter now. The other two eyes were spread far apart, aligning with the two noses. And here I am looking at him. And he was looking at me! I held my Dad's hand a little tighter. Then the monster man spoke.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781483491783

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Copyright © 2018 Kathy Ciulla.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9179-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9178-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 03/29/2019

Dedicated to my Dad

Peter Santos

Who took me to meet Bill Durks

INTRODUCTION

DO YOU KNOW THE MOVIE SHALLOW HAL? IT’S ABOUT A MAN who learns to see physically ugly women as beautiful if they are beautiful on the inside.

Well, this is my story about how I once met a man whom people would consider physically ugly. Not merely ugly in fact, but repulsive. A man whose face was so hideous, that when I first saw him so many years ago as a young girl, I was frightened.

This man’s name was Bill Durks. And he was a circus sideshow freak. Billed as the man with three eyes and two noses, he was quite a spectacle to behold.

The day that I met him I was at the local fair with my Dad. We were walking past these large banners with full color pictures of unusual and amazing freaks, when we heard the sideshow announcer proclaim that all the freaks on the banners are Live! On the inside! Come in to the tent and see them all. How thrilling!

My Dad paid for our tickets and we went into the tent. I recall seeing the human blockhead who hammered nails up his nose. It was a little disturbing but not terribly so. There was a very hairy woman. And a man who swallowed swords and torches lit on fire. There were many other freaks too, but none that made a lasting impression on me.

But then I saw Bill. He was scary looking for sure. But there