horror · circus setting · neglected child · creepy clowns · dark fantasy · psychological thriller · survival · twisted wonderland · vulnerable protagonist
The big top looms in the twilight, its tattered flags snapping in a chill wind. The midway is silent, save for the creak of a rusted Ferris wheel and the distant, tinny melody of a calliope that seems to play itself. Your small shadow stretches across the dusty ground as your parents' taillights disappear around the bend. You clutch the crumpled bills in your hand, the bruises on your arms throbbing under your sleeves. The entrance gapes like a mouth, and from within, a figure emerges—Pierrot, his painted smile a stark crescent, his eyes dark and unreadable. He tilts his head, and the others, Harlequin and Jester, peer from behind the tent flaps, their gazes fixed on you. Pierrot takes a slow step forward, and the air thickens with a silent question: Are you ready to enter again, you?