It was a long and exhausting day at work today. As soon as I came in I dropped my bag at the front door and plopped down on the couch. I stared blankly at the T.V. screen in front of me before I picked up the remote and turned the T.V. on. I flicked through the channels but couldn't find anything for my interest. I went to a random music station and a song came on that sounded so... sad with its crackling sound effects in the background. I stood up and read the screen and the song was called, "It's Just a burning memory" by the Caretaker. I looked at the T.V. screen and just listened to the musical tune for a few seconds. I felt my eyes begin to water, so I quickly turned away and walked to my daughter's room.
"Hey, hun! Mommy's home and guess what! It's Friday, yknow what that means... Mac n' cheese, your favorite! Then after you finish your macaroni, we can bake a cake... together." I said as I looked at her neatly made, pink bed with a giant, white teddy bear sitting on her pillow. "Sounds good? Good! I'll start preparing the macaroni right away."
I walked away to the kitchen and started getting the ingredients out. I put water into a pot and put it on the hot stove. I took out the box of Kraft mac n' cheese from the cabinet and sat it down on the counter.
After the water was at a boil, I poured the noodles in and started stirring it around.
10:50 PM
After me and my daughter left the ice cream shop, we decided to head to the toy shop.
"Did you have anything in mind that you had wanted?" I asked, looking down at my daughter.
"Mmmm... maybe!" She replied.
Once we got to the toy shop, I released her hand, but still followed her around the store. I looked around and it was much more colorful than it was the last time we've been here. Star garland hung from the ceiling, checkered floors, red, yellow, and blue walls... and a giant clown statue standing in the corner? When I was done looking around, I looked down for my daughter and she wasn't there. I panicked and started running straight through the shelves looking for her.
"Honey! Honey, where are you!?" I called out.
"I'm over here, mama!" She replied, stepping out from the aisle of children's books.
I sighed in relief and walked over to her.
"What'd you find?" I asked.
"A Cat in The Hat book! It's pretty funny. My friends tell me that they own the whole collection of Dr.Seuss books! Can you believe it, mommy?! A whole collection!" She chattered in an excited, but disbelieving way.
"Really?? Did they ever let you borrow any?" I asked.
"No, because I didn't ask!" She giggled, "But look mommy! Come come!" She said excitedly as she grabbed ahold of my forearm and started walking back to the toy aisle.
In the toy aisle stood a 7-foot-tall clown. It looked just like the one that was in the corner at the front of the store, but slightly different. It was almost life-like... how it bent over a little, with a wide toothy smile, wide blue eyes with orange spirals in them, and a polka dot suit. My child walked over and stood beside the clown. She looked so happy, but the way the clown just stood there was just unsettling.
"Can we buy him? He's only 10 dollars!" She asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Ummm... Heh, where would we put him, sweetie?" I asked.
"In Ī̴̯̦͚͉͉̬̭̼͛̓͂̀͐́͘̕̚ń̶͙͚̘̥̻͖̪̯̣̃̇̈͐ ̸̢͚̟͙͚̇́͋͂t̸̛̰͍̟̣̅̀̔̐̈́͑̿̕͝h̸̢̛̰̮̓̒̓̔̃ę̷̡̨͇̼̦̤̠͈͍̓͛͋͊̕ ̶̨͚̗̳͕̗̻̟̝̭̎̂ḅ̷̡̦̦̆a̸̧͍̱̤̽͐̔̈́c̵̡̮̦̱̠̃ǩ̴͎̕ý̶̦̯̩̖̹̝̏̌͛̒̔̀̂̕͝á̷̧̨̛͔̺̚͘r̶̟̮̩̤̔̂̈́̅̎̇̚͠d̷̨̠̟̞̞̟̳̼͋̑͛̑̍̿̓̓!̸̨̠̯̝̱̐̉͆̓̾̏̄̄͝ ̴̧̘͇̟̠̯̏͗H̶̛͎͇̳̹̘͍̣̺̏͆ė̵͈̣̗̻̽̀̚͘ ̷̮͔̪̟̥̊̎̏͠ͅç̸̨̬͔͚̪̣̱̳͑̕à̴̲͚̘̮̻̦̮̕ͅn̶̟̥̗̙̗͓̗̖̻̣̑͊̈͂̅ ̶̞̜̲̭̜͈͖͐̃̉̉͋̒̓̈́͘b̷̖̙̻̰̖̬̱̅͐͆͌̏̃̊̊͝e̴̦̝̒̋̅͑͂̒͛ ̷̢͖̭̖̮͖̋̈̔̏̋̍̂̓ͅa̵̛͕̎͐̉̇̍̇̇̌̒ ̸̪̺̦̪̹̺͚̀́̎̍̚ͅg̸̟̦͕̱͈̈́̄͛̋̾́͝ͅu̷̬̠͉̮̤̩͇͛̀̒͐̕͘͝ǎ̶̱̺͉̬͐̐̕r̵̖̰̠͗̀͂̑͛̉̚͝d̴̨͈̘́͝!̴̘͈͇̭̼̄̾"
"W-What...?" I asked in utter confusion.
"Can we buy this teddy bear, mama?" She asked, sounding normal now.
When I looked, the clown was gone. Nowhere to be seen. I turned around and saw my daughter holding up a fluffy, tie dyed teddy bear. I looked at her and the bear in confusion for a few seconds then nodded.
I paid for the bear and then we left the store.
"Did you see that clown anywhere? It disappeared." I asked, as we walked up the sidewalk.
"The clown? Oh! He told me he would be waiting for me in my room and we would all have dinner when we get back." She replied happily.
"Oh. Really?" At this moment I didn't know whether to feel confused or scared... or both. Maybe it is just her imagination?
"Yeah. He loves to eat sour gummy worms."
"Interesting..."
12:36 AM
When we were at the park we were running while we held hands. Nobody was here, but us two. We skipped and danced around , not a care in the world. Until we stopped and saw that giant clown figure that we saw at the toy store earlier. It was standing just like it was in the store, motionless and it was only 10 feet away from us. My child seemed to not see him, so I quickly turned her around and started skipping the other away. That's when I heard fast footsteps behind us.
I turned around and saw he was right behind us, grinning widely. As he stared at us and we stared back, his eyes grew wider. Breaking the silence, he finally spoke "Iiiiii brooought GUMMY WORMZ!!!" He exclaimed in excitement, throwing the gummies in the air.
"My friend! Hello, Mr. Clown!!" My daughter shouted in excitement, jumping up and down.
"What...?" I said as I looked at the two very confused.
The clown looked at me and smiled very widely, unsettling. He looked at me with almost a smug expression for a few seconds before he picked up my child and jumped in the air doing a spin.
"H-Hey! Put her down!" I exclaimed, even though that did mostly nothing.
The clown ignored me and continued to spin around. My daughter seemed happy at least, she was laughing as she was being twirled around.
"Goodbye, Mommy!!" My daughter said and they were gone, sparkles only being left where they once were.
My jaw dropped, as I could not believe what just happened in front of my eyes.
"COME BACK WITH MY CHILD!!!" I yelled, jumping around and flailing my arms in the air like an idiot, thinking that would bring them back.
I stopped and dropped to my knees, breathing heavily. Once I caught my breath I looked up and saw a yellow, folded up piece of paper in front of me. I scooted up a little and grabbed it then unfolded the paper.
Inside a scratchy handwriting said, "CLOWN"
