Calico the Clown

There was once a Roma family who owned a circus outside of Bucharest. 

Their circus, over a period of time, became very popular, and it wasn´t before long they were travelling all over Europe. 

Along with their animal acts, their acrobats, and dancers, they also had  clowns who provided comedy acts. 

One of their clowns was called Calico, but he was a bit different from the other clowns, as he never spoke. He was mute from birth, and so in the circus he was given the role of a mime. Calico was given his strange name by the circus family, as when he was found in front of one of their caravan door steps, he was wrapped in calico rags. 

Calico grew very tall, but not very strong, as he was rather thin and lanky. He often was dressed in black overalls or trousers, with brightly colored patches on the knees. His black hair was always messy, and he usually wore an old Gabor hat with a bedraggled feather in the band. He was very sweet tempered, and never gave anyone trouble, but he held a secret in his heart...a secret he never dared tell, for in the circus, there was a beautiful Magician´s assistant who worked with the Magician Florin. She was French, her name was Babette, and she was very coquettish, with her 1920´s style bob hair style in jet black, large flashing dark eyes, and provocative costumes. It was with her, that Calico fancied himself in love. Whenever she was on the stage, working with the Magician, Calico always stayed at the back of the tent theater, unobserved. 

Calico followed her every movement intently, wishing he had the ability to speak, just so he could say once that he loved her. 

One night, after the circus was closed, Babette and Florin were invited to a party that the family who owned the circus were holding. Florin and Babette were the toast of the party, and there was much laughing, drinking, and music. 

Calico, who was often forgotten, was also there, but no one paid him much attention. 

In fact, among the performers, there were a few who liked to bully poor Calico. They were at the lower end of the people who performed in the circus, and they often made Calico do things for them that he didn´t want to do, such as bring them food, wash their clothes, and clean up after them, when he wasn´t made to perform in a commedia dell arte play, where he always played the buffoon. 

Calico endured his pain with his painted smile, and a tear forming in one of his huge eyes, which dripped onto his long nose. 

Whenever he was being treated miserably, his thoughts turned to Babette, and he would day dream about her running away with him, for even though this seemed the wrong thing for him to think about, he knew things about Florin and Babette that the other people in the circus didn´t know, or rather, turned a blind eye too. 

Florin was the star of the act, and the owners of the circus paid him well. For this reason, he was egotistical, arrogant, and at times even absusive to Babette, who was married to him. 

It wasn´t unusal to hear Babette and Florin fighting in their private caravan. Sometimes, the other performers would listen, as they shouted at each other, and even the occassional bottle or plate was thrown at someone before either of them would storm off in a huff. 

Calico had witnessed this time and again, and he felt a piece of himself die inside each time he saw it. 

When poor Calico wasn´t relegated to acting in that play which embarrassed him, or stuck with busy work, he would often times go outside at night, away from the circus encampment, and stare up at the moon and stars. 

One day, he noticed the beautiful moon, and taking a bottle of wine he had stolen from one of the other clowns,

he toasted the moon with the bottle. 

That night he fell asleep on the grass. It was a warm summer night, and there was a soft breeze blowing. 

In the distance he could hear the noise from the circus, which stayed open late on weekends. 

As Calico slept, he fell into a dream. 

He could see himself, dressed in his old overalls and green floral shirt, floating up to the silver cresent moon in a black velvet sky, dotted with spangled stars in silver and gold. 

His hand was attched to a string belonging to a red animal balloon, in the shape of a dog, and it was this that carried him to the moon. He landed on the moon´s cresent, and the balloon floated away, leaving him with only his bottle of wine. 

It was thn, that he noticed walking daintily on the moon´s cresent, was Babette, wearing a beautiful royal blue dress with golden stars on it, and a tiara in her hair. 

A concertina appeared magically, and Calico found himself playing a meloncholy tune just for her. 

Babette kissed him, and he looked in her eyes longingly, and though he couldn´t tell with words how he felt, he could feel in his heart that Babette truly loved him. He didn´t need to tell her, he needed to show her...

but then the dream took a dark turn, and the silhouette of Florin came looming up, and the moon and the black velvet sky deteriorated into a cheap, tawdry set and Babette and Calico were transformed into puppets, and Florin pulled their strings to make them dance as he laughed. 

Calico tried to free himself. but then he saw Babette become the same size as Florin, and he remained only a puppet, 

which Babette and Florin both manipulated and laughed at. 

Calico blew up a large balloon, and floated away, or rather tried to, but Florin and Babette morphed into the shapes of wolves, and tried to catch Calico as he made his escape...finally he landed in a dark place and all was quiet for a moment, but then, all of a sudden, a giant spotlight flashed down upon him, and he noticed he was standing on a tightrope with no shoes, and nothing to balance him, as he looked down from a nausiating height. 

On top of that, beneath poor Calico, was a pool of water, and two or three other clowns he knew, trying to distract him, as they hurled insults at him. 

Calico knew he would fall, and so he did, and as he was falling he passed by many odd shapes and colors which morphed in and out of a kaleidoscope, and he could distinguish terrifying faces with large teeth and insane gazes. 

Finally, Calico landed in the water, but it wasn´t water at all, it was actually spun sugar, and he could feel himself becoming sticky. Calico made his next escape from the pool, but not before the other clowns grabbed him and forced him into a gaudy princess like dress, all while laughing at him...

Calico couldn´t take it any more and tried to pull a knife on the whole lot of them, but it was of no use, as the only weapons he produced were fake, toy weapons. 

No one took him seriously, and laughed all the harder. 

Calico freed himself from his tormentors, and found himself running into a void, where floating were kept. Again, he espied Babette, and this time she was calling his name for help, and just as he was about to reach out to take her hand...

Calico turned over on his bed of grass, and lazily opened his eyes, but he didn´t feel rested as he woke up in a cold sweat , and noticed dawn on the horizon. 

Calico´s dream had turned into a nightmare, and his legs felt wobbly beneath him as he got up. 

He also noticed the empty wine bottle in front of him, and realized his drinking may have contributed to his bizarre dream. He brushed it off as just that, a very odd dream, and dismissed it as he meandered back to the encampment. 

Babette was the first person he encountered, and he could tell by her day dress that she was not going on to perform. 

She sat down beside a trough that a camel was peacefully drinking from, stroking its head. She seemed off in another world, her gaze was far away...there was also a gash on one side of her cheek. Another fight with Florin had gone poorly no doubt. 

Calico stood in front of her for a moment, and it was a second before she even noticed, let alone acknowledged his presence. 

Calico thinking quickly, and for once, not feeling so clumsy, produced from his pocket a bright yellow handkercief, which he showed her. After turning it inside out, he mysteriously produced a magenta paper rose with a green stem made from a pipe cleaner. 

Babette turned her head away indifferently, and proceeded to get up. Calico, becoming more bold, stood in her way, and in typically mime fashion, halted her with his palms held in front of her. He gestured with his index finger to wait, as he searched his pocket, and produced yet another small treasure, this time a plastic ring that he had won once playing a carnival game. It was plastic, painted gold, with a garish purple translucent cabochon in the center, framed by plastic seed pearls. 

Babette didn´t know why, but now that she looked deep into Calico´s eyes, she could see that there was something strange...something eccentric, but pure in his expression. 

She allowed him to put the gaudy ring on her finger. Afterward he fled. Babette knew why he ran off as soon as he needed to, as Florin was seen coming up the path. 

To Be Continued....

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[Djacqueline175]

I am really not sure what to do with this story, I was aiming for something pathetic, in the descriptive narative style..my writing goes too long I think.