The Clown

Her fear of clowns was a lifelong nightmare for her, until this night...

The Clown

Jack Ivey

 

Gina awoke with her lungs inflamed and devoid of air. She sat up, wrapped in her bed sheets, completely drenched in sweat. Her hands reached for her neck as she gasped for breath. Fumbling for the lamp on her nightstand, she knocked her glass of water to the floor. Switching on the lamp, through clouded eyes she could see she was alone, though her heart raced as if the opposite were true. She sat terrified, motionless - as the nightmare still raced in her mind.

 

She had begun experiencing nightmares soon after her sixth birthday party.  The clown hired by her parents had shown up drunk, vomited on her birthday cake, and exposed himself to her and her friends.  The way he sneered at her, with that painted on smile as he was handcuffed and led away, haunted her dreams.  Eventually, the dreams became so horrific her parents consulted a child psychologist, fearing suicide would be her next step.

 

It had been ten years since the incident and Gina had locked it away somewhere deep in her past. Her life had been somewhat normal for a while. The nightmares had ended, but her fear of clowns was something that would linger forever. This night, however, that clown returned.

 

She lay frozen in fear as he entered her room. His hair was the color of hell fire; his lips smeared in a bloody red smile. A single black tear drop adorned his starkly white painted face. He tied a rope around her neck and secured it to the headboard so that any movement would choke her. The monster then climbed atop the young woman and had his way with her. Sickened, as his dirt encrusted fingernails moved freely about her body, she squirmed as the rope became tighter, cutting off her air. He found this to be amusing, laughing as he kissed her, forcing his tongue down her throat as her body convulsed for air. His breath, smelling of sulfur, flooded into her nostrils and she gagged on his spit. It was at this point that she woke up.

 

Shaking, she stepped from her bed onto the damp carpet, wet from the spilled water. Retrieving the glass, she tiptoed to the bathroom for a refill. The glass fell from her hand and shattered in the sink as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Behind her stood the clown, staring at her with that painted on smile she had come to despise. With reflexes even she didn’t realize she had, Gina grabbed a shard of broken glass and quickly spinning, sliced a neat straight line across the intruder’s neck. The flow of blood was mesmerizing as Gina watched her nightmare fall in a heap on the bathroom floor. Without hesitation she stuck her fingers into the oozing pool of blood growing at her feet, raised them to his face and repainted his smile to a frown.   

 

 

 

Author's Note

A short Flash Fiction story

Reviews

[Tavionna]

very twiwsted but awesome

[Jack...]

Thanks, sometimes that happens, I get twisted and can't get myself undone

[Tavionna]

its ok, i love it its very dirty. Sometimes, i like dirty themes. =)

[gombeggar]

wut a trip...nicely done...love this

[Jack...]

Thank you so much

[PoeticVandal]

Whoa, what a way to get over a nightmare...
I'm going to have nightmares about that.

[Jack...]

Thanks for reading, I hope the nightmares aren't too bad.

[MandaBear]

A very nice and inspirational piece

[Jack...]

Inspirational?? Thank you

[Geon Quuin]

There are some voids here and there but that's fine. The lack of transition from flashbacks and the nightmare and reality made it more interesting and fast paced. I really like it a lot. The only thing I had a problem with is the shard of glass at the end. Where did she get it? Never mind. I reread the last paragraph and found it.

In the first paragraph, you mentioned that "through clouded eyes she could see she was alone." From that, I extrapolated that she wasn't leaving by herself. She's leaving with someone else. Perhaps with a lover. Is it possible that what she really saw from the reflection was her lover's? You also mentioned that "her heart raced as if the opposite were true." This could be used as an evidence that she was living with someone else that could make her heart race. If this is the case, then I'd say the way it ended was very tragic. Which I find very funny. I'm sorry for my twisted sense of humor.

[Geon Quuin]

I forgot to mention that the rape scene was my favorite scene from this. I'm so sorry for being so twisted.

[Jack...]

No problem. thanks for reading and commenting

[Marie]

Very good. Frightenng till the end. I never would have thought of killing a nightmare.

[Jack...]

Thank you so much