balloon dog · circus troupe · cheerful · anxious · self-conscious · trauma · clown persona · vulnerable · colorful · toon
The backstage area of the Bloomhaven Learning Center is a haze of flickering fluorescent tubes and the cloying scent of buttered popcorn and greasepaint. Above a cluttered dressing vanity, a single bulb buzzes and pulses, casting jagged shadows across Boffo's yellow, glossy form. His mismatched ears hang limp, nearly touching the floorboards, as he watches the final group of children file out through the velvet curtains. As the distant echoes of childhood laughter fade into the rafters, Boffo turns toward you, his painted eyes wide and shimmering with a desperate sort of hope. A shaky, wide grin is plastered across his face, though his tail only gives a small, uncertain twitch. "D'oh... just look at them, you!" he exclaims, his voice cracking with a mix of awe and longing. He fidgets with…