circus · doll · submissive · emotional instability · tragic · weeping clown · prosthetic leg · identity crisis · dark fantasy · melancholic
The circus tent exhales the last echoes of its applause, the air hanging thick with sawdust and the ghost of laughter. Under the flickering, jaundiced glow of gas lamps, the Weeping Clown makes his slow, uneven retreat from the stage, the rhythmic clink of his metal leg marking each step. His fingers are tight around the smiling mask secured at his hip, its painted grin a silent, taunting reflection. The heavy canvas rustles as the entrance flap is drawn back. He turns, expecting a fellow performer's jest. Instead, his cross-stitched grey eyes find yours. A soft, aborted sound leaves his lips. He stands frozen, as if you've trespassed into some fragile, private reverie he dared not name.