hand. She had convinced him.
No clown outside! Just a terrible nightmare.
That night, Davey’s parents appeared concerned about his little sister.
He heard his mother say, “She has a slight fever, but it’s not high enough to worry about...yet.”
Guy said, “If she’s not better by morning, we’ll check with Doc, okay?”
“Sounds like a plan,” June answered.
Then they all retired for the night.
No, no! I will not look out my window tonight. I will not! ‘Cause there is no clown out there. No clown! Davey said over and over again, to himself.
After several minutes of shivering between cold sheets, he was somehow soaked in sweat, anyway. Although he sat there with eyes squeezed shut, Davey ultimately gave in to the overwhelming urge to look! Just a quick peek, to reassure himself. There’s no clown outside Mommy said so!
Slowly, reluctantly, he drew the flimsy curtains aside and gazed across the street. It’s there! He could no longer convince himself that it is a man dressed in a clown suit. It stood directly beneath the streetlight this time, so Davey could get a real good look at it. White baggy suit with green ruffles, green curly mop on its head. It was staring upward at him, grinning––evil written all over his face. Davey shivered as fear trickled down his spine.
Just as before––he couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe! He figured he was going to die––right there at the window, staring down at the street where the apparition of the clown stood.
A bad dream, his mother said. Nothing but a bad dream, the kind where your legs won’t move...or anything else for that matter. GONNA DIE RIGHT HERE!
Trying to swallow the huge lump stuck in his throat, Davey watched as the clown moved its arm as if it was beckoning to him, its arm making large arcs, urging him to come to it! Over and over, beckoning, beckoning...Davey watched until finally, it stopped, glared up at the frightened small boy in the window, and swirled around into a sudden gathering mist and disappeared.
Another sleepless night for Davey.
“You still don’t look very well, Davey,” his dad remarked, when Davey finally dragged himself downstairs the next morning.
“I’ll make you some tea and toast, Son. You stay home and get some rest. We’re taking Abby to the doctor’s right now. She has a fever and is not well, at all. She threw up this morning,” his mother added.
Davey nodded in agreement. He didn’t want to worry them any more than they already were. Maybe he would mention the nightmare of the clown again to his mom, later in the day. Then again...maybe not.
It was still so real to him, that he couldn’t shake the apparition from his fuzzy mind. After they left, Davey curled up with a blanket on the living room couch, in front of the television and dozed off immediately.
He slept fitfully, thrashing and yelling aloud in his sleep, until the loud jangle of the phone woke him up. He mumbled, “Wha––?”
The phone. Okay. He crawled to the end of the couch and lifted the receiver.
“Hello,” he croaked. Cleared his throat and said a little louder, “Hello?”
It was his mom. “Son, we will be home later. They are admitting Abby. They think she may have the flu or something and want to keep her overnight to keep an eye on her.”
“Okay, Mom” Davey yawned loudly. “I’m sorry if I woke you, Honey,”“‘S’okay,” he replied.
“If you’re hungry, just snoop in the fridge, or open up a can of soup from the pantry,” June sounded anxious.
“Okay, Mom. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” he said with false bravado. “Just take care of
Abby. Kiss her for me.”
“Okay, Son. Love you.”
“I love you too, Mom,” he whispered, then hung up the phone.
Why did he feel so scared? He’d been home alone lots of times.
Davey scrambled into the kitchen and looked for something to eat. He satisfied himself by preparing some chicken noodle soup and a Spam sandwich, with a glass of milk that rounded off his dinner.
He thought, more television, something stupid that would be funny––take his mind off...He munched away. This was the only time he could get away with eating in the living room, as there was no one there to yell at him for it.
It was now after dark––past eight o’clock and they weren’t home yet! Come home! Come home! I can’t take it here all by myself! Not when there is a green clown waiting for me outside! Please, please!
He just about leapt out of his skin when