Frightful Flash Fiction

The Clown Park

I didn't want to go, but I knew they'd make fun of me if I didn't. One of my friends, Francis, heard about this creepy legend. Apparently, the park by our school is haunted by some weird clown guy. The legend says, that at night, the ghost of a Luke Erin Marsh, goes around the park and steals teenagers who happen to be there. After my friend had told me about this guy, I decided to do some of my own research before going anywhere. What I found was actually kinda creepy. So about thirty years ago, Luke Erin Marsh would go to the park, dressed as a clown, and put on a show for kids. He would do this for about two years until, one day, some teens showed up and started making fun of him, and smashing his props. This started happening regularly and he wasn't able to perform anymore shows. He disappeared for awhile, and didn't return until a year later. Just like before, a bunch of teenagers showed up to trash his show, except this time, he pulled out a gun and shot them. Families went running and called the police. After police arrived, he was just standing in the middle of the park. The officers recall him stating, "A sad day is today, I wanted to make kids happy, not spread their blood. But they leave me no choice," before taking his own life, a bullet to his head. After that, people start adding their own supernatural views. People started to say that his spirit remained in the park, and he became more and more angry and pained as he saw his local park filled with teenagers defacing it and barely any kids. This anger lead to him killing teenagers who went to the park. Now, you can laugh at me if you want, but I believe in this kind of stuff, but I couldn't risk being an outcast, so my friends and I went to the park at 12:00 A.M. They ran around the park calling out to Luke, calling him Mr. Clown, they spray painted the floor and swings. I just stood there, until one of my friends saw him. Standing by the entrance of the park was a clown. I was freaking out, he looked just like Luke did in the pictures, but much more demonic. He was tall, and large. And he had this wide grin. He teeth were very close together, and a yellowish brown. He looked happy, but yet I could feel sadness and anger coming from him. He smiled not because he was happy, but as if to hide the pain. My friends thought it was a prank, they thought some guy dressed up to scare him. So they decided to walk up to him to try and kick him out. I started to back up, worried about what was going to happen. My friend, Francis, shook the spray can and aimed it at the clown. That's when the most horrifying thing happened. The clowns stomach opened up to reveal a mouth, with sharp teeth and a long tongue. The tongue quickly grabbed Francis and dragged him into the clowns stomach. My other friends tried to help Francis, but I just screamed and as quickly as possible, ran home. Call me a coward if you'd like, but I don't regret my decision. My friends went missing, or, at least, that's what everyone thinks. But I know the truth.