coulrophobia

Have you ever been to a place that has the world's scariest clowns? I think not. When I was a little girl I would see a man out of my window dressed as a clown. An evil clown. It would have to be midnight when everybody was asleep and he would just appear out of the darkness. I told my mother when it happened but the doctors leveled it down to skitsofrinia and psychotic episodes. Unfair right? Considering they didn't think to investigate it more. I would stay awake and try to take photographs of him but he would vanish in the blink of an eye. When I saw him I couldn't go back to sleep. I would just picture his mask it was almost like he was trying to impersonate the joker from the batman movies.

Clowns aren't funny for some people and I would like to address that. I can't go to any circuses because I'm petrified of everything there. Even mimes. When I told my mother she wouldn't listen to my cries she would just say go back to sleep. I would hide underneath my blankets with my flash light shining bright. And try to embed myself into a book. Mostly fairytale related. I've noticed that some of my trauma comes out within my writing. So brace yourselves. Please.

It just so happened that I managed to take a photo with my digital camera. I was lucky enough to have one. I got a perfect shot of the clown in the mask. He had a purple smile with green scraggy hair it was exactly 12am when he appeared I had my camera ready I know he realised that I took the photo. I ran straight into my father's light room i wasn't allowed in here I used the light to make my photograph brighter. It was the perfect shot. Then I looked up on the wall and there were so many photographs of clowns. With all sorts of masks. I questioned myself and ran back to my bedroom with the photo. I didn't know what to think. Was he a clown or did he see clowns outside his windows too. Now I ruled out that it wasn't a hallucination it was real. Is that why he never let me in there? Apart from the fact that it was absolutely terrifying.

The next morning I pulled my dad aside just as he was going to work he was a policeman so I would hug him when he left terrified that he wasn't going to come back. I showed him the photo. And his face went pale.

"How did you get this?" He said firmly with a shake in his voice.

"I took it with my camera and used the lighting room to make it brighter. His been standing outside my window every night at 12am. He doesn't leave and I know that he will come back. Dad why do you have clown photos everywhere in the light room? I asked awkwardly as I knew I would probably get in trouble for being in there.

"You weren't supposed to go in there at all. That's my private business for work. It's a case ive been working on for a while now and I knew it would scare you. Don't show your mum just yet okay. We will figure this out when I get back keep the photo hide it from your mother as it will scare her, be brave with that camera of yours." He said as he picked me up and gave me the tightest hug.

My dad was very good at his job. Always looked after people.

One faithful night it was 12am and he wasn't back yet. I started to get worried what if the clowns had got him and I guess if they got him my mother would at least know. Right? I crawled in to her bed and she hugged me tight. She was still awake waiting for dad to come home. She.cried on my shoulder for a few minutes then pulled herself together. She had to be strong for me even though she missed him dearly. Just waiting and waiting for him to come home.

It was 12am I thought of going back to my room but I was to scared. So I slept in mums bed next to her. I had a headache usually they would happen if I was under to much stress.

"Knock knock." The door smashed open we woke up shaking there was an intruder in the house. I looked at mum and she looked at me. The house alarm started to go off.

"Fuck. Hide under the bed grab the covers and put them over your head baby." Mum was scared shaking quivering as she walked out in to the darkness. I followed her orders and there was a lot of laughing and a lot of screaming windows braking. I wanted to help mum but I was frozen. I had no fight left in me. As the cops turned up silently with their guns in their hands with dad no where in sight barged the door open and shot the clown mask gang in the knee caps all of them. The clowns dropped their weapons and they were all arrested and taken to jail. There was ten of them that raided the house looking for dad.

They destroyed his case files in the light room and set them on fire out in the front yard in the open. Luckily enough dad was only captured and taken hostage by the clown gang. But the case is still open. Rivalry. People were out there dressing as clowns and trying to lure little children into the woods with ice cream and candy. Looking like Pennywise and the joker. Parents terrified to let their children out a lone. Another missing child was detected after dad's capture. But he didn't have any leads apart from the evidence of the raid which th cameras caught the CCTV footage of. But half way through the cameras were smashed and broken. Leaving little to no evidence. But luckily enough the police had body cams strapped to their bellies waiting to be investigated.