Something Named Clowns

The beginning

Darkness. It colored between the line of the pale white houses which guarded the edge of the forest. The street lights poured the dim lights onto the squares of the side walk, leaving a great distance of darkness between each one. She counted exactly two squares of dark, one or sometimes one and a half of light, and then two of darkness. This cycle was followed with her big shoes, heavy and brown, confusing the shadow with one of a clowns, the shoes a size too big for the girl were her younger brothers, while the dark hoodie, that made her seem like a toddler waddling around was her older brothers, both much darker in shade than she ever could be.

She inhaled a deep breath of cold night air, remembering how the youngest girl broke her earbuds, trying to fix them with non toxic glue; meaning that the world would forever be loud and annoying, empty with whatever she wanted to destroy her eardrums with. These walks will remain the same though, quiet and without the scare of a phone call asking "Where are you?!" from worried filed parents- parent, just her mother would call, the only one in her family that shared the short brown hair and pale skin.

Her heart jumps from its chest as car lights point in her direction. She hides behind the tall blue mailbox and tree too close together that she could find, squatting down so the passing by lights couldn't see her body, just in case it was her parents who could have figured out that she was missing during the night. A brown pickup truck with dents and scratches, filled with drunk guys, the smell of drinks she couldn't name on their breaths cheering of something that didn't make sense to anyone with sober ears. Once they were long gone she rose again from her hideaway, thinking of the chances of her mother and step father finding her, fearing that they would drive by as she stood up from her hiding spot. The fear would not stay with her long, as she noticed the loss if the green grass, which was replaced with the dead grass, and mud from the last rainy day. Tracks lay in the mud, four-wheelers? No. Whatever these tracks may be, they would lead her way to the destination that she did not know yet. She followed them through the gate that said "No Trespassers", that everyone ignored.
Where do they lead too?

She had avoided her midnight walk lately, scared that she might get caught by her mother or even him, or anyone in the house of hectic. They weren't supposed to be there, she didn't like that she shared a room with one of them, shared her food, lived in the shadow of the life they had at her school- Oh, you're Jason's step sister right? Yeah, but I'm not good at hockey, or basketball, or lacrosse, or tack, or anything that involved physical movement.

When it came to her older step sister, people only saw negative when they compared the two. So you don't do cheerleading? Or volunteer here or there? Or give blood every other week? No, she hated cheerleading, she didn't volunteer, and she hated blood.

The tracks ended; no surprise there, what could be out in the patch of land that seemed bigger than any school or mall property that she had been at, with trees taller than houses and buildings, logs laying on thee forest floor older then her mother. She continued walking, she knew these trees well- she swore she was able to curve between them with her eyes shut with no problems. This world wasn't as scary as the one she saw beyond the trees.

She missed them, the trees, the dead leaves, the old logs with mushrooms and plants- even the poison ivy plants that she knew not to trust. She hadn't been out in to the woods in a while, so the feeling of stepping on the damp leaves and over the fallen logs was exciting to her. But after the earphone incident she wasn't too happy to be at her own home. She practically skipped to the entrance only to freeze upon taking the long quick steps through the forest, slowing at a rate to a few seconds, and slowing until she took small steps around the scarecrow that sat protecting the entrance of the woods. It had been on the news the last few weeks or so, popping up when some little kids found it and told their parents. Among the search about it, police found it was just a dummy with old clothes, stuffed with straw and plastic bags. Reporters called it an 'Early Halloween prank' 3 months before the creepy holiday. She had witnessed this creepy bag of horse food been ripped to shreds only to return the next day in the same exact place. Looking at it now, She wanted to turn around and walk home. Why?