Lilli loved the circus. She loved the trapeze artists; the Ringmaster in his velvet suit; the roaring lions and dangerous stunts; she even loved the extra-processed food the stands sold.

The only thing she didn’t like were the clowns.

They always wore ridiculous clothes and frizzy wigs, hiding their true nature behind a painted smile. Whenever the clowns came out, she would beg to go to the bathroom.

Whenever the clowns come out. Lilli shivered.

Lilli was playing Candyland with her little sister Nicky when she heard a knock on the door. Their parents had just left for the store― surely they couldn’t be back that soon. After telling Nicky not to move, Lilli cautiously opened the door.

Standing on her porch was a clown.

He wore a frizzy orange wig, with a jester’s motley of blue and red clothes. His red eyes were lined with powder blue. His skin was smothered with cracked white paint, bringing to mind a life-sized china doll. A vermillion red smile stretched across his face, unnatural and cold.

Lilli took an absolutely voluntary step backward.

“Would you like to support the Give Clowns More Money institution?” he asked in a high, tinny voice that sent shivers down Lilli’s spine. Lilli shook her head and slammed the door.

Lilli had just entered the living room when she heard a knocking noise come from the window. The clown was aggressively banging on the window, his painted smile somehow changed to a frown, his eyes blazing like fire.

“Nicky, get me the phone,” Lilli asked in a shaking voice. Nicky shook her head― the phone was right by the window. Lilli shuddered and, taking Nicky’s hand, ran to the bedroom, where the emergency landline phone was kept. Just before she entered, she told Nicky to stay in her room. After Nicky promised, Lilli took a deep breath and pushed open the door to their parent’s bedroom.

The room was empty. Of course it was― How could the clown get in here? She crossed the room in a quick stride and picked up the phone.

The cord had been cut.

A shrill giggle came from behind her. Turning with dread, Lilli saw the clown standing behind her with a pair of large scissors in his hand. Backing against the wall, Lilli started to sob.

“Who are you?” she cried.

The clown leapt in front of her, so close she could smell his disgusting paint.

“Chuckles.”

Lilli screamed through tears and sent him flying with a punch to the face. Racing through the room, she grabbed Nicky and ran through the house, breaking a vase and two glass unicorns as they went. They plowed through the door, never stopping until they reached the fish market their parents were shopping at. Replaying the story with fear-filled words and wild gestures, they convinced their parents to come home. Their evidence: the cut phone cord; the broken vase and unicorns; a lock of orange hair the clown had left behind; and a painted message on the wall in blood:

I will come back.