Once upon a Clown

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Mom handed them each a little brown picnic basket as Benny, Carla, and Stacy skipped into the yard. They were all eight and wore light brown summer hats. They waited for weeks and weeks for this day. That was supposed to be the first time they went to see the amusement park! They were more than excited. The smell of the caramel popcorn, the wholesome cotton candy, the roller coaster, the unmissable carousel, the merry-go-round, the sound of people screaming out of fun, and then the circus with The hall of mirrors, the wax museum, the freak house, and the most famous clown of the town, Papa Poppins, All this sounded so exciting! But Stacy wasn’t altogether happy about meeting Papa Poppins. She was afraid of clowns and their red swollen noses. Sometimes she would even refuse to go to McDonald’s just to avoid any encounter with Ronald, The McDonald. She had clown phobia. Especially after watching the movie, “The Pennywise”, She developed a genuine fear for clowns. She was afraid a clown would lure her with candies and kidnap her. Mom tried consoling her many times that clowns are funny and they make us laugh, yet she hated clowns. “It’s time we go!” Mum beckoned to the triplets. She had unlocked the car door and gestured for them to come in. One by one, all three of them hopped into the backseat of the car. All the way to the Amusement Park, everyone discussed which rides will they ride on first. Except for Stacy, She just thought about clowns and how much she was frightened of them. Just then, Carla pats her on her back, interrupting her thoughts. She asks, “What ride are you gonna go on first?” Stacy replies with a sigh. Although she loved the giant Ferris wheel and desperately wanted to ride it once in her life, she was just thinking about those dreadful clowns. Minutes pass by but they don’t reach their destination. The traffic jam was dense. They would be unable to make it on time. Moments pass by. A few minutes later, the excessive traffic gets cleared and they arrive at their ultimate destination. Everyone comes out of the car. The brilliant LED lights light up the lovely evening sky and paint it in a beautiful shade of pink and yellow. The rides were looking beautiful with all the lights, and the smell of the air was just as fresh as the popcorn been made a few meters away. The aerodynamic stalls having all sorts of exotic goods and playable games, the big circus tents, and what finally comes into view is The Giant Ferris wheel! Stacy’s face lights up at the sight of her dream ride and all three of them give out a shout of glee! They ran in separate directions towards their favorite rides. Mum shouts, “Don’t run! Be careful! Don’t push each other and come back right here if you get lost!” But there was no one to hear her full sentence, they already managed to rush up to their favorite rides and were enjoying. When Stacy reached the Ferris wheel, she saw an unusually big queue of children her age. She goes straight to the front of the line and tries to go through the gate, squeezing her way in through the crowd. But then, she feels a big hand land on her shoulder. “Where do you think you are going, ma’am?” questions a deep adult voice. It was the keeper. He wouldn’t permit her to go until her turn comes. “You know the rules right? You have to go to the end of the line and wait for your turn.” She had to wait if she wants to ride her dream ride. With sturdy shoulders, she goes to the end of the line. Then Benny approaches and grips her hand and takes her in the other direction. “Where are you taking me?! Stop!”,“No time to tell, everyone is heading there, we’ll miss our chance!” Benny replies with the same speed as he runs. At that time she saw where they were exactly going to, The Roller Coaster. They reach the ride in time. They were the first ones to stand in line. “Tickets.” demands the keeper. Benny forks over two tiny pieces of paper seemingly, tickets. “Enjoy.” says the keeper in a joyful tone as he ushers them to the ride. They sit on their seats and fasten up their seatbelts. Moments later, the ride begins moving slowly, and then it starts getting faster. The roller coaster was chilling yet fun, but now and then, Stacy was peeking towards the Giant Ferris wheel through the corner of her eye. She wanted to ride it and have medium-sized cotton candy, no wait, a large one! These thoughts were racing through her mind as they were taking in the colossal roller coasters and breathing in the tantalizing aroma of fried food.

Finally, when the ride ends, She rushes up to the Ferris wheel and stands in the line to wait for her turn. After some time, she comes to the frontmost of the line. Her turn had come! Now she’ll ride the giant wheel. She goes and gets sat carefully by the keeper inside the open trolley. The keeper closes the door. The ride begins moving. At first, she feels scared but then later, she feels really great and was enjoying it. Her dream had come true. She raises her arms to the sky and feels the air glide against her long loose hair. When she comes to the topmost point, she sees towards the ground. The gigantic and unusual circus tents were nothing but small colorful dots. Just then, something catches her eye. A small hairy head with an enormous freakish wig pops out of the tent. She rubs her eyes and tries to magnify her view. She still wasn’t able to see anything clearly. It was someone holding a bunch of colorful rainbow balloons. Slowly, she unlocks her seatbelt and tries to stand a little bit but fails to maintain her balance. She tries getting ahold of something or anything but misses. After a second or two, She falls out of the open trolley and couldn’t make out any sense of what had happened to her. The next time she opens her eyes, She finds herself in the arms of someone wearing colorful striped rainbow gloves. Someone had caught her. It was the same person she saw from up there, with that freakish wig and the balloons. She then looks at her mom approaching towards her holding each of her siblings’ hands. She looked anxious. She looks at her and then at the person holding her and smiles gratefully and then apologetically. “Thank you so much, Mr. Poppins, If you would not have been standing there, I can’t imagine what could’ve happened to my daughter.” “Well, It was my duty. Cause’ You know, I am a clown and everyone 'nose'.” Mr. Poppins bumps his nose and laughs the signature clown laugh. Benny and Carla join his laugh and mom smiles towards Stacy. It was getting late, so they had to leave. Benny and Carla wanted to wait back and see Mr. Poppins’ “The late-night Bazinga show” But mom didn’t allow it. At last, when they were leaving through the exit, Stacy looked back at the enormously lit up tent where Mr. Poppins performed. She wasn’t afraid of clowns anymore. She wanted to thank him but by then it was too late.