text: The grey clouds began to close in over the small, desert California town of Manouri. They darkened the skies in a manner that soaked up the pouring light. The grey sky especially darkened that old, dingy abandoned house on Nabollon Street. Just on the end of a residential neighborhood, and bordering on the Deadlands; The region where the town ends and the desert truly begins. It is only populated by endless dirt, dead bushes, and tall trees that desperately cling to their lives in this dry environment. That old house stood still in the quiet winds of Manouri. Vacant for years, and not a soul dwelled within it for decades. That is, until it gained a new resident in that fateful February month. A broken window on the front of the non-home peered into the world outside, and with it was an odd man who stared from the inside. His face pure white with hair as orange as a tangerine, and long like a bouquet of freshly picked roses. His lips donned black lipstick, and each eye had three black dots drawn below them. He was a clown, and his name was Jiggles. An oddity from a far away place. Presumably chased out, or perhaps a failed entertainer? Something in his past drove him to living in the basement of that old, forgotten house by the Deadlands. Jiggles approached the door, with its hinges ready to give out at any moment. Thunder drummed outside, but he chose to ignore it. "Maybe... maybe I should venture out to see my new surroundings!" he muttered to himself. By the time the old clown made his decision, rain was pouring down, and Jiggles walked in stride with an umbrella in hand. The old umbrella was white, with a pattern of multicolored balloons that dazzled the withering parasol. While observing the sights of the neighborhood, he skipped merrily, ignoring the downpour. Finally, Jiggles slipped and tumbled, eventually falling into a nearby sewer entrance. He stood up with a disorienting pain in his head, and he raised his hand up to adjust his red nose. "Oh, now that was an awful decision!" The water had already carried the clown a slight distance from the entrance, and the disorienting feeling led Jiggles in a different direction. After about five minutes that felt like five hours, he came across an old storm drain which water from the neighboring street cascaded into. Jiggles couldn't fit through it due to his adult size, but he noticed that the grate in front of the drain could be pried with the right amount of force from the outside. Without much more thought, he thrust his arm through the drain, attempting to alert any nearby folks about his predicament. One person did hear the clown's cries. It was eleven year old Jake. With a particular fondness of the rain, he had left his home to splash and play in the puddled streets. Jake cautiously approached the drain. After all, when seeing an arm with a baggy, colorful sleeve emerging from the sewer, one can't be too careful. "Hello? Is there someone there?" the boy asked in a hushed tone. "Yes! There is someone there, and it's ME!" The arm retracted and a head arose. The white-faced, red-nosed, orange-haired minstrel startled Jake, taking him slightly aback at the sight of him. It was as if Jiggles reminded him of something... "Ah, thanks for comin' over here, kiddo! I'm gonna need your help!" Jiggles said. His voice sounded almost metallic against the moist grate, but that didn't distract from the gravelly sound that came from the clown's throat. He spoke like someone who smoked ten packs a day, but still had the energy to speak in a coherent and upbeat fashion! "This grate might be movable if you just reach your hand in and lift it up. Think you can do that, kid?" he said. Jake's eyes widened. Instantly he remembered what the clown in the sewer reminded him of; A film he had seen with his friend Bobby awhile back. This realization was enough for Jake to quickly bolt away from the sight. "Little brat..." Jiggles said, but at the same time he felt understanding of the boy's fear. Not everyone loves clowns as much as they used to. After about two hours, the old clown found his way out of that disgusting sewer. He walked back to that dingy house in his soaked costume. The floorboards creaked with each step from his oversized shoes which were now caked in sewage. His eyes were tired from all that time outside. He stumbled down to the basement where he was mainly living. There was an old, partly torn apart bed, and a withering end table at the bedside. On the table sat a doll. It was a clown doll, and it looked decades old. Jiggles began to sit on the bed to lie down, but quickly realized how dirty his suit was. "Hmm, I wonder if there's a shower in the desert!" he joked, with a light giggle. The next day, the boy who encountered Jiggles rode his bike to the local park. Jake was there to meet his best friend, Bobby. People frolicked and played in the park. Children, parents, and even dogs enjoyed themselves in a myriad of fun ways. Jake approached Bobby, still slightly shaken from the other day. "Dude, you're gonna think I'm crazy." Jake said. "I saw something in the sewer that scared the shit out of me." "Damn, what did you see?" Bobby replied. "CLOWN!!!" a voice bellowed from the park entrance before Jake could open his mouth. The two boys looked over only to see Spencer, a boy they recognized from school. "Exactly!" Jake said to Bobby. He waved Spencer over to the both of them. "What the hell happened, man?" Bobby said. Spencer attempted to catch his breath while recounting his story. He had walked to the local lake to see its peaceful, tranquil beauty. Little did he know, there was something alive in that lake. Not a fish, but a performer. A circus performer! A performer with a dirty suit that needed to be washed in the lake. While observing how pretty the tree-surrounded body of water was, the clown's head rose. Jiggles emerged with his portly, straight-standing form. It was slow, but also fast at the same time. Spencer had barely any time to think. After all, what could one think? Especially when a clown comes right out of a lake! Jiggles was fifteen-feet away from the boy. He opened his eyes and saw the child gazing at him. His bright orange hair appeared thin and frayed from getting wet, and the ancient paint on his face was cracked. "It's a nice day to float, isn't it?" Jiggles said, waving and giving Spencer a friendly smile. The boy screamed and ran like his life depended on it, straight to the local park. "Huh. Again? That's quite... peculiar." Jiggles remarked. After hearing Spencer's account of the incident, Jake and Bobby looked at each other. Jake, with a look of fear, and Bobby with confusion. "I saw the clown too!" Jake said. "You guys both saw a freaking clown?!" Bobby replied. "Ohhh holy shit guys, this is just like that movie!" Spencer huffed, still catching his breath. "Wait, so that means... we're gonna have to kill it?" Jake said. "If only we knew where it came from." Bobby wondered. Jiggles hiked back to the abandoned house. His polka-dotted costume dripped with lake water, but was slowly being dried by the cool winds. He reached the door of the dingy house. Before opening it, the clown pulled out a red balloon, blew it up, and tied it to a string to make himself feel better. The sound of the balloon alerted the attention of of 11 year old Jane, who happened to be taking a stroll on Nabollon street. "Hi there!" Jiggles happily said. She looked towards the house, only to see an orange-haired clown holding a red, drooped balloon, and smiling directly at her. "Oh, do you want this balloon?" he said, while pointing at it. Jane ran far away, yelling "HOLY SHIT!" as loud as she could. Her running took her to the safest place she knew. The park. Her panicked running and red hair blowing rapidly in the wind alerted Jake, Bobby, and Spencer, who had still been talking about the clown that they saw. The boys quickly rushed to the girl's aid, as they had recognized her from school. "Are you okay, Jane?" Spencer said. "It was the clown, wasn't it?" Jake said. Jane looked up, shocked and confused. "How... how did you... know about the clown?" The boys looked at each other. Their emotions ranged from perplexed, to scared out of their minds. "It went into that abandoned house by the Deadlands!" she proclaimed. "Now we know where to find it." Bobby said. He felt determined to put a stop to what he believed was a threat, but also felt just as fearful as the others. "We have to stop the clown. Does anyone know where we can get weapons?" Jake said. "I think my dad has some baseball bats or something. Let's hurry!" Bobby exclaimed. Later that day, the kids came straight to that old house on Nabollon Street. Jake was armed with a metal baseball bat, Bobby with a pipe, Jane with a tree branch, and Spencer with a pie. "Are we all clear on the plan?" Jake asked the rest of them. They are stared at him, likely having forgotten what to do. Jake groaned. "Spencer, you smash the pie in his face, then I'll get him in the back of his head. Bobby will hit the groin, and Jane hits him in the chest. We clear?" "Uhh... can I opt out? Please? PLEASE?" Spencer whimpered. "No way fraidy-cat! This thing probably kills kids, and we gotta stop that!" Bobby said. "Yeah, emphasis on 'probably', huh?" Jane replied. "It'll be just like in the movie!" Jake said. Bobby kicked in the door. The inside foyer was dilapidated, with creaking floors and rats scurrying on the floor. There was a near pin-drop silence filling the room. "It must be in the basement." Jake whispered. The kids nodded together and began to descend into the basement. It was illuminated by a burning lantern, and Jiggles stood in the corner, likely daydreaming. Upon hearing footsteps coming into the room, he turned out to see the children. "Oh.. hey kids! What are you doing do-" Jiggles said, before getting cut off by Spencer. The boy mustered up all his courage and rushed towards the clown with the pie in hand. The whipped cream exploded on Jiggles' face, and the other kids rushed in. Jiggles scrambled to wipe the pie from his face, and that's when Jake made his move. He struck the clown in the back of his head with the metal bat, and Bobby whacked the groin with a rusty pipe. "Kill it before it kills you!" Jake screamed. Jiggles attempted to compose himself and figure out what was going on. "What the fu-" he was cut off by Jane hitting him in the chest with her tree branch. Jiggles fell to the floor and vomited through the pie on his face. The realization hit. He had also seen something similar to this in a movie. "Do you little urchins think I'm..." Before he could finish his sentence, the children realized their stupid mistake. Jane approached Jiggles and put her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at first. "I am so, so, SO sorry! I kinda acted on impulse." "I'm really sorry too..." Jake said, dropping his bat. The other two boys also set their weapons down. "Okay..." Jiggles began to speak, dusting off his costume. "Just because you saw something in a movie, that doesn't mean it's true!" "Yeah, but everything was so similar!" Bobby argued. "Fiction mimics real life, kiddo. Truth is, reality tends to be more interesting." Jiggles explained. "I've seen some really intriguing stuff in my life!" "You're not mad, are you?" Spencer skittishly asked. "Surprisingly no." Jiggles said. "Sure, I just got the shit beaten out of me by kids, but at least I can say that it's a different kind of housewarming!" The kids laughed at the clown. Suddenly he wasn't so scary now that they were getting to know him. "It's like what I always say. Bad experiences become good stories!" he said. "You know, you should perform for the people at the park!" Jane said. "That's not a bad idea, kiddo!" Jiggles exclaimed. The old clown wiped the pie from his face and exited the basement with his new friends to make way for the town park.