Cirque des Anges
The Joker
The joker face chased Isabella in her dreams, gliding just fast enough to stay right behind her, breathing down her neck, grabbing at her clothes and hair as the wind ripped them back. His glowing red eyes taunted her, burned through her gaze as if she was clear. He was not going to relent; he aimed to feed on her jeremiad, her sorrowful tale. When his journey round and round her mind ceased for brief moments, Isabella tried to parse his meaning, but never had she seen such a jaunting face, never had she imagined a more terrible monster.
Saturday fell in it’s place, right after Friday, but Isabella was not in her right place. The memory of last night were fresh in her mind, but where they real? Or were they some figment of her imagination that she conjured to pass time and cover up what reality was? Isabella dragged her beaten body out of bed and reached for the hoodie that she’d thrown across the room the night before. With one hand on the cloth, she reached in the front pocket and pulled out a piece of worn yellowed parchment. She reached in again and pulled out a few crumpled bills.
The carnival name jumped off the page, Carnival of Freaks. The bills crinkled as she unfolded them. It hadn’t been a dream. It had happened; she’d gone back looking for the children, intending to give them money, and found nothing. An empty parking lot, maybe. And it really had happened; the joker’s face really had first appeared to her on an empty, broken, cobblestone street from behind a light post.
Come my beauty, find them.
Its voice echoed inside her head, though its face she couldn’t see. The idea, however impossible it seemed, nagged at her mind till nightfall where she gazed out her window at the street below, the familiar circles of light, the rain on the glass panes. In a mantra, the rain beat saying, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run. And in her heart, until doubt set in, Isabella believed she could do it – find the kids and help them. As soon as she believed, she doubted.
Despite her unwillingness to travel and find the carnival again and go on this quixotic quest, an invisible string hooked on her heart and she was compelled to do what she would give anything not to do. Mind blank, Isabella grabbed the hoodie and exited the quiet house. Mind blank, she waited at the bus stop and boarded it once it arrived. Mind blank, she stayed aboard until the bus until it made it’s last stop in Worchester, Pennsylvania. Mind blank, she began walking as if she was….possessed.
Saturday fell in it’s place, right after Friday, but Isabella was not in her right place. The memory of last night were fresh in her mind, but where they real? Or were they some figment of her imagination that she conjured to pass time and cover up what reality was? Isabella dragged her beaten body out of bed and reached for the hoodie that she’d thrown across the room the night before. With one hand on the cloth, she reached in the front pocket and pulled out a piece of worn yellowed parchment. She reached in again and pulled out a few crumpled bills.
The carnival name jumped off the page, Carnival of Freaks. The bills crinkled as she unfolded them. It hadn’t been a dream. It had happened; she’d gone back looking for the children, intending to give them money, and found nothing. An empty parking lot, maybe. And it really had happened; the joker’s face really had first appeared to her on an empty, broken, cobblestone street from behind a light post.
Come my beauty, find them.
Its voice echoed inside her head, though its face she couldn’t see. The idea, however impossible it seemed, nagged at her mind till nightfall where she gazed out her window at the street below, the familiar circles of light, the rain on the glass panes. In a mantra, the rain beat saying, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run. And in her heart, until doubt set in, Isabella believed she could do it – find the kids and help them. As soon as she believed, she doubted.
Despite her unwillingness to travel and find the carnival again and go on this quixotic quest, an invisible string hooked on her heart and she was compelled to do what she would give anything not to do. Mind blank, Isabella grabbed the hoodie and exited the quiet house. Mind blank, she waited at the bus stop and boarded it once it arrived. Mind blank, she stayed aboard until the bus until it made it’s last stop in Worchester, Pennsylvania. Mind blank, she began walking as if she was….possessed.