A Clown at Midnight

A clown is funny in a circus ring, but what would be one’s reaction after opening the door at midnight when all of a sudden some unfamiliar guest awaits there? It was a Friday night when my friends and I planned for a trip to a town not so far from where we lived. Our purpose was to surprise my friend Gareth since his birthday was close.

However, my friends and I suggested that we should hire someone to entertain us and make Gareth’s birthday a day he won't forget. At first, we thought to hire a magician for the job, but then we thought of a clown who only brings joy to his clients. I contacted a man named Nick who knew an entertaining clown and hired one that was able to show at twelve. The party we planned for started at 12:00 pm, we came up with some activities and waited for the clown to show up. Hours and minutes passed, but no sign of the clown. My friends and Gareth were disappointed and decided to end the party and return to the cabin.

The day had passed in the blink of an eye, the sun was dying, the stars were shining, and the big round moon dominated the sky. At that time, I kept on thinking of a reasonable excuse the clown could hit me up with, I kept on muttering the words “why had I recommend such an unreliable clown”. One of my friends asked me at what time did I tell the clown to show up, I replied: “I told him to shown up on twelve!”. And then my other friend told me that maybe the clown thought the party would be at midnight. “What kind of clown would think that birthday would start at midnight” I stormed, but blaming wasn’t going to fix the situation, so we had to call it in for the night, and went to sleep. The cabin had four bedrooms, and since we were five, everyone occupied one, except for me who had to share rooms with Josh.

At midnight, Josh and I were awoken by a revolting and menacing scream. It seemed as if it came out of Gareth’s room, but both of us thought Gareth was just suffering from a nightmare. But our inner selves told us that something was wrong. So both of us got out of bed and went straight to Gareth’s room. As soon as we stepped in the hallway, we immediately stopped in our tracks. A couple of muddy footprints is what we saw. They were too large to belong to a normal man, the footprints looked like they were printed by clown shoes. The prints lead from an opened window in the bathroom.

“A clown… A clown at midnight!” I whispered trying not to yell. Without knowing why, I recalled that the man who I registered the clown from, Nick, lost his son for a mysterious circumstance. But why did I remember this just now? With a shaking hand, I reached for the doorknob and opened the door. The room was a mess, the bed sheets were on the floor, and most importantly, no Gareth. Only a clown under the moonlight that shone from the window stood there and held a pointy knife in his hand, and some blood-soaked from the other. The clown instantaneously escaped from the opened window, with no trace of Gareth. My friends and I rushed outside seeking for Gareth. But no sign of him. But then I received a phone call, it was from Nick. He spoke with an inaudible voice “I’m sorry, the clown took my eldest son and came for the other, I couldn’t help but tell him to go after you” and then hung up. We sprinted towards the footprints into the woods. There is where we all saw it. Our friend Gareth being slaughtered by the devastating clown.

The clown has vanished in thin air, we then directly dialed the police to come and investigate this startling crime. But until today, the occurrence is still a mystery or even a puzzle whose remaining pieces were never found.