Nimble Nervous Nellies

(source)

                                                               
 Just as the Nelly family was beginning their tightrope act, the father asked his son, "Did you remember to check the ropes?" The son nodded yes, but he really wasn't sure.

The daughter rode her unicycle to the edge of the tightrope, and now there were three. She began to wonder if she unplugged her electric hair rollers in the dressing room. When the second Nelly brother swung over from the dangling rings, he began to worry if his wife heard him sneak in late last night. Now there were four on a tightrope without a net in sight.

They continued to perform their act while the band played and the crowd cheered. Suddenly, the rope began to sway. At first they thought it was because the wind had picked up outside the circus tent, but then they saw the culprits. Nico Nelly's wife the fat lady, and his mistress the sword swallower decided to join them. This was more weight than the tightrope could bare.

The ropes were starting to unravel, but before they were about to plunge to their deaths, someone in the crowd yelled, "Fire!" Natalia Nelly was the first to exit, followed by her father, and her little brother Ned. The oldest son Nico remained wedged between his wife and his mistress.

Soon the fire was raging higher toward them, and the little brother called to hurry, but he knew he could only save one. The wife said, "Who do you choose to live Nico?" Without hesitating, Nico pointed to his devoted wife. Ned swung over to catch her on the trapeze, but he couldn't support her girth and she plunged to her death. Next, he swung over to the sexy sword swallower, and carried her to safety. Nico waited for his brother to make a third trip, but that trip never came.

Afterward, the daughter cried to her father that it was her fault for burning down the circus. The lion tamer overheard the conversation, and told her the sword swallower was the last person to use the electric rollers. Then they saw Ned and his brother's mistress in a passionate embrace behind the fire trucks.