Black Balloon #PhotoChallenge

The woman was holding a black balloon. I walk slowly towards her across, the harvested cornfield. There was no wind or sound, everything had frozen.

White and grey puffy clouds lined a pale blue-grey sky. In the distance, more harvested fields stretched, the earth brown or pale yellow. There no trees or houses, nothing else but her with the balloon.

‘Hello!’ I tried to call out, but I didn’t hear my own voice speaking.

I came closer and saw the woman had no head. Stopping, I wondered what was going on. She wasn’t invisible, for I could see her arms, hands and legs. She was wearing a stripy top and a black skirt with black ballerina slippers. In her hands was the white string of the black balloon which was floating just about where her face should have been.

‘Who are you?’ I spoke, once again my words came out silent.

A few more steps and I was before her, though I left a wide gap in between. She didn’t move and at first it seemed like she wasn’t aware of me, but then I guess without a head how could she have been? Then her hand reached out and she offered me the string.

I looked up at the balloon and it was one of those party kinds, like kids have at birthdays, only it was as black as midnight.

‘I don’t want it, thanks,’ I said, shaking and waving my arms no, so she got the message.

The woman’s arm reached out further, offering me the balloon strongly.

‘No!’ I yelled.

She pressed the string into my hand and though I didn’t grasp it, the string wrapped around my palm and laced over my fingers. I gasped and looked up, the balloon was now just above my head.

I shot out my hand to give it back to the headless woman but she had gone!

Something tugged on me, I glanced at the string then the balloon before I was pulled upwards and away, my feet swinging off the ground. I tried to let go of the string, but my hand was glued to it. The balloon rose up with me attached and we flew across the bare fields.

Up and up the balloon took me, right through the clouds. With my other hand, I grasped the wrist holding the string and tried to release my fingers. I struggled against the unknown force that was holding my hand shut, twisting in the air like a mad puppet.

The balloon came to a stop, my hand came free and the string slipped away. I plummeted. My mouth wide open in a scream which was silenced, my arms and legs flapped in the air, my fingers trying to grip anything and finding nothing.

There was no time to try and reach for the string of the black balloon, it was gone in seconds.

I twisted, tumbled, fell through clouds, felt the wind against my skin like an angry slap. I clawed at the sky, I screamed after the balloon and the headless woman. I saw the yellow and brown earth racing up to meet me. I knew I was going to hit it and there was nothing I could do!

And then, I slammed into my car’s steering wheel, felt the hard leather pressing against my forehead. My seat belt tightly constricting my chest and stomach. I heard the windscreen wipes whooshing, the rain hammering down and the growling of an unhappy car engine.

I look up and there is blood everywhere.

 

(Inspired by; https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2018/08/21/photo-challenge-227/ with thanks).

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Balloons

I walked out to the abandoned train track and blew up the party balloons one by one. I tried string to them when I was done and found a rock to hold them down with. Then as my therapist had suggested; I choice a blue balloon, said one of my worries aloud and let it go. I watched the balloon floating away, my worry with it. Then I selected another one, yellow this time, I said my worry and let the balloon go. I carried on until all the balloons and my worries had gone.

(Inspired by; https://carrotranch.com/2018/03/09/march-8-flash-fiction-challenge/ with thanks).

Ukiyo #atozchallenge

Ukiyo; ‘the floating world’, living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life. 

It was a taste of freedom to be floating so high without a care.

Creepy Clown (Part 5)

Heavenly couldn’t sleep. She had lay in bed, tossing and turning for an hour now. Throwing back the duvet, she sprawled out and listened to the rain falling. The sound was gentle and smoothing, but Heavenly felt too on edge. All she could think about was the clown. She no longer thought that the man she had heard arrested on the news was the same one that she had seen in the park. So, he was still out there then.

She got up and leaving the lights off went to the window. Looking out she could see the rain drops on the glass and also on the cars parked up. A few houses still had lights on, but it wasn’t much to see by. She opened the window and let the chilly autumn wind blow in. It felt good on her hot skin and for a few moments she stood there enjoying it.

Heavenly went to turn from the window, but the sound of rapping on the fence stopped her. She whipped back and looked out. There was something moving in the alleyway. She could see a long shadow and hear footsteps. Hiding in the curtain, she watched as the gate which had been re-secured was forced open.

She tried not to make  a sound or move as the clown entered the back garden. Even in the dim light she knew it was the same one and he was also holding a red balloon. Heavenly’s eyes followed him as he took a few turns around the garden. He didn’t seem to be looking for something, rather that he was waiting and talking himself into doing something.

Heavenly made to slip away, she had to wake her mum and ring the police again.

The clown rose his head up and suddenly looked at her.

Heavenly froze, praying he hadn’t spotted her.

Then the clown clicked a torch on underneath his face. The light lit up his menacing red slashed mouth, his huge fake red nose and the black raised eyes. He grinned up at her, raised his hand up to his neck and made a slicing motion with his fingers.

Heavenly screamed, stumbled back and trapped over. Scrambling across the floor, she got up and ran straight into her bedroom door. Her hands fumbled for the dead bolt, then the handle. Finally she flung the thing open and ran into her mum’s room.

‘Mum! Clown! Garden!’ she balled like a child.

‘What?’ her mum’s voice drifted sleeping from the nest of a bed.

‘Clown!’ Heavenly gasped.

‘Where?’ her mum demanding.

‘Back garden!’

Her mum threw back the duvet and clicked on the light. She went to get up but a loud banging noise stilled her.

Heavenly spun and looked out the door, but she could see nothing in the darken hallway.

‘Quick! Put the lock on my door,’ Heavenly’s mum said.

Heavenly moved, slammed the door and turned the key in the lock. She backed away and scrambled into her mum’s bed as the sound of smashing glass came from the kitchen.

‘Police, please,’ her mum whispered into the phone.

Heavenly pressed herself into her mother’s side, just like a scared child and drew the duvet up and around her like a protective shield.

‘A man has broken into my house. He’s dressed as a clown, he’s been scaring my daughter. He was here last night trying to get in too. You need to send someone over right now!’

Heavenly, half listening to her mother’s voice and the movements in the kitchen, was floored with fear. Even had she ever felt so scared in all her life. Her ears filled with the sound of more breaking glass and the splitting off wood.

‘Get under the bed,’ her mum hissed and tried to shove her out.

‘No,’ Heavenly whimpered.

‘It’ll be safer. I’ve got a plan.’

Her mum threw the bedding off them both and helped Heavenly get under the bed. They moved some boxes and then rebuilt them around her in a fort like way. Her mum then made the bed up again, making it appear as if someone was hiding underneath the sheets. Heavenly then heard her moving around, perhaps picking up something before getting into the large wardrobe.

Heavenly’s breathing was so loud and she was shaking. She listened and heard footsteps on the stairs. She tried to quieten her breathing, but it was so hard. Turning her attention to the footsteps, she listened to them entering her room first and looking around. Furniture was opened and shut.

The footsteps moved into the bathroom. Things were moved again.

A pause.

Heavenly held her breath and told herself it was all a nightmare. None of this was happening right now. It was a bad dream and she’d wake up soon enough and just laugh it off.

The handle to her mother’s bedroom turned. It rattled loudly and a large force on the other side of the door tried to open it.

Heavenly let out a little squeak and pressed her hands to her ears.

Something banged into the door and the vibrations shot across the room. The key fell out of the lock and the banging continued.

Heavenly bite her lip and tasted blood. She curled up, still praying this was a bad dream and wishing her mum had stayed at her side.

The door caved in with a huge crashing sound.

Footsteps walked over it and into the middle of the room.

‘Come out, come out wherever you are,’ a muffled, soft man’s voice whispered.

Heavenly froze and shut her eyes.

The duvet was yanked back and a whipping slicing sound cut across the air.

‘Where are you?!’ the clown shouted.

Heavenly heard the wardrobe door bang open. Her mother screaming then something metal hitting something hard. A woof of air came out from someone above her and the bed sank with weight.

A scream rose inside her, but she kept it down.

In the distance, Heavenly heard sirens.

The boxes suddenly moved around her and the scream escaped her.

‘It’s me, Heavenly!’ her mum gasped, ‘come on!’

Hands grabbed her and she pulled out from under the bed then around and out the room. Heavenly looked back and saw a flash of yellow and red laying on the bed.

Her mum dragged her downstairs and to the front door. Desperately, she wanted to ask what had happened, but she couldn’t find the words.

Her mum threw the door open and they rushed out into the rain and the flashing blue night.

Creepy Clown (Part 4)

Heavenly wasn’t sure how she got through the school day. She was so distracted and she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about the creepy clown. Her eyes would often wonder to the nearest window and she would look out over the large grounds of the school. She wrote down only a few notes and as the last class ended instead of rushing to the library, she hurried to the school gates.

She caught the bus home, something she hadn’t done in years. However, she had to get off before the park as the bus route didn’t go down to her street. Luckily, a few other students got off and she could pretend for a few minutes that she was walking with them. Their voices, laughing and carefree filled her ears, but their words were so distant.

Heavenly trailed them as the entered the park; three young boys looking for mischief and two girls a year or two below her. The boys ran off to the playground. She watched them go, half expecting to the clown to be there, but there was only more children and two or three parents. The girls carried on walking and chatting about a boy in their class they both liked and a teacher who always give them too much homework.

Keeping her distance from them, Heavenly glanced around the park as they walked through the full length of it. Nothing seemed out of place. The wind was blowing the multi-colored leaves from the trees, the grass was getting a carpet of those leaves now and the sky was still looking just as grey as this morning. A promise of more rain to come and an early night for sure.

At the end of the park the girls turned and walked in the opposite direction Heavenly wanted to go in. She paused by the gates and watched them carrying on, totally unaware of her. Looking down the long, lonely road she now had to face, Heavenly felt glad of the daylight and quicken her pace home.

She let herself in and went up to her bedroom. It was Friday and her mum wasn’t working tonight, but she might still be in bed. Heavenly swung her bag off and changed out of her school uniform. Dressed in P.J bottoms and a loose jumper, she went to the window and pushed the curtains aside. The back garden, alleyway and neighbors’ back gardens all looked the same.

Closing the curtains again, she began emptying her bag and getting ready to do some school work. She pulled out a few things then her fingers closed on something soft and damp. Confused, she removed her hand and saw the soft clown doll in her palm. She dropped it on her bed in disgust.

The clown was dirty and was wearing a red and yellow stars jumpsuit with a matching hat. His feet, hands and face were white and his features looked painted on. He had a grinning slash of yellow for a mouth, a round red nose and hard black dotted eyes.

Heavenly picked him up in a pinch and went to take him to the bin. Then she thought better about it and took the soft toy downstairs to the kitchen. There she dug out a sealable sandwich bag and shoved the clown in. Maybe it would be evidence, maybe not. She took it back to her room and placed it in the bottom draw of her desk.

Then turning on her computer and putting some music on, she got down to finishing her homework. A couple of hours later, her mum arrived home with some shopping, fish and chips for tea and a never ending stream of questions. Heavenly did her best to eat and talk at the same time. She left nothing out of last nights events and concluded with her coming home early and re-finding the clown doll.

‘He better not come back tonight. I’ll give him a piece of mind,’ her mum jumped in as Heavenly finished speaking, ‘has everyone gone mad or something?’

‘I don’t know,’ Heavenly mumbled around a chip.

‘Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,’ her mum added.

Heavenly nodded, but somehow she didn’t feel it.

To Be Continued…

Creepy Clown (Part 3)

Heavenly stumbled away from the window. She tripped and almost fell over. Steadying herself, she turned to her desk and searched for her mobile phone. A few moments later, she remembered it was still in her bag. Fumbling to find it as her mind raced, Heavenly unlocked the screen and sank down next to her bed.

She dialed the police and listened desperately to the beeping tone as if it was a life support machine.

‘Hello, nine-nine-nine. What service do you require?’ a chirpy female said.

‘The police, please,’ Heavenly breathed.

‘What’s the emergency, please?’

‘There’s a crazy clown outside my house. He followed me from the park. He chased me,’ Heavenly gushed.

‘Can you see him now?’ the female voice pressed.

Heavenly peered over the edge of her bed, but she couldn’t see the window from here, ‘I’m not sure. But I know he’s there.’

‘Do you know what he was wearing?’

‘Erm…’ Heaven cast her mind back, ‘It was like a jumpsuit. Yellow and spotty. A red wig and a red balloon.’

‘Is he carrying a weapon?’ the call operator asked.

‘I didn’t see one. Please can you send someone? I’m home alone. I’m only sixteen. My mum’s at work.’

‘What’s your address, please?’

Heaven spoke her address slowly.

I’ll send someone as soon as I can. Are all the doors and windows locked? The curtains drawn? Are you somewhere safe in the house now?’ the woman questioned.

Heavenly nodded, ‘Yes. It’s the first thing I did.’

‘Okay. Someone will be with you shortly.’

‘Thank you,’ Heavenly said and hung up the phone.

Feeling cramp in her legs, Heavenly got up and stretched. Even though she didn’t want to look, she tip-toed to the window. Trying to conceal herself, but still get a good view, she looked out. The neighbor’s security light had gone off and the back garden was in darkness.

Pulling the curtains back to, Heavenly sank on to her bed and pressed her phone between her hands. She wanted to phone her mum, even though it seemed pointless and why would she want to worry her? Sitting for a few minutes, she debated what to do.

A light tapping, like finger tips on glass broke through the silence of the house.

She looked over her shoulder. The police already? But why would they knock so lightly?

Heavenly listened and realised that something or someone was tapping the window in the back door.

She knew the back door could be seen from her window, but she didn’t want to get up to see. She bite her lip and thought; if that is the clown I could yell out the window that the police are coming. That’d scare him off.  What if it’s a neighbor or a cat?

No. I’m not moving. I’ll wait for the police.

Heavenly crossed her arms and stayed put for an hour. During that time though, she did send a text to her mum, flip through her history and English lit text books and change her clothes so that when the police turned up she was wearing more then just PJs.

The ringing of the doorbell startled her. The noise was so shrill and echoing it took her a moment to unfreeze and go to answer it. She paused, the image of the clown springing to her mind. She opened her mouth to call out who was there, but a voice on the other side beat her to it.

‘It’s the police. Are you there?’

Heavenly swallowed and opened the door. There were two officers standing on the front step. A man and a woman, both looking to be in their early thirties and dressed smartly in their uniforms.

‘Are you okay?’ the female officer asked.

‘I think so,’ Heavenly replied, ‘but the clown…I think he’s in the back garden. I heard knocking on the back door.’

‘We’ll check it out, don’t worry,’ the male officer spoke.

Heavenly nodded and let them both in. She took them into the kitchen and unlocked the back door. The man went out first, turning on his torch and shinning it around. There was no one out there, but the back gate had been unlatched and there was a red balloon tied to the handle.

He came back with it and asked Heavenly about it.

‘When I was walking through the park,’ she began to explain, ‘I saw a red balloon tied to a bench opposite the playground where the clown was sitting on a swing. When I ran out of the park and turned back, he was standing there holding it. Then when I looked out of my window before, I saw the balloon over the fence.’

‘There’s a note here,’ he announced and picked up what looked like a gift tag attached to the middle of the string, ‘I’m going to get you,’ he read.

‘Get me?’ Heavenly gasped.

‘It’ll be alright. I need to take a statement off you. Do you think you can do that?’ the female officer asked.

Heavenly nodded.

‘I’ll go and have a look around,’ the other officer said.

At the kitchen table, Heavenly told everything as she could remember it. The police officer wrote her words down and asked only a few questions. Soon, they were all at the front door again and the police were leaving. They give her instructions then went back to their car. Heavenly shut the door, locked it then went into the kitchen and double checked the back door was locked.

Turning off the lights and feeling exhausted, she went to bed. She didn’t sleep easily though. Her dreams were filled with clowns that chased her and balloons that turned into heads and tried to eat her.

Heavenly woke suddenly and pushed the duvet away. She got up, feeling hot and sweaty. It was still dark even though it was morning. She turned on the lamp and saw it was a few minutes to seven. Almost time for her to be getting up anyway and her mum should already be home. Heavenly got up and went straight to her mum’s room. In the light of the hallway, she could see there was now a shape in the bed.

Closing the door, she went and showered. The hot water helped awaken her and push last night further from her thoughts. She dressed and got her things ready to go to school. As she left her bedroom, she thought about opening her curtains but then decided against it. She went downstairs, made a lunch to take with her and grab a quick breakfast. She went into the living room and turned the TV on whilst she ate.

The morning news was on and once again they were reporting on the clowns. Heavenly turned the volume up and listened.

‘Last night, a twenty-two year old man was arrested after he chased a group of teens across a park threatening them with a knife. It was also reported that he had been following school children on their way home earlier that day,’ the male news report spoke.

The female reporter chipped in with, ‘you have been sending us photos of your clown sightings.’

The screen changed to a very dark photo in which there seemed to be a very distance white masked and wigged figure. It was replaced by another, which was clearer and showed a clown coming around a metal gate. A third photo swapped in, this one showing two clowns facing each other outside what looked like a shop.

‘Pretty creepy,’ the woman spoke.

The studio came back on and there was a shuffling of paper. They turned to other news and the weather forecast.

Heavenly turned the TV off and got up. Her thoughts racing, could that have been the guy that was chasing me? Hopefully it was.

Gathering her stuff, she went to the front door and unlocked it. A wave of nerves wiggled through her as she opened the door and looked out. A normal grey, drizzle morning met her eyes and the wind embraced her in a wet, cold hug. Heavenly stepped out and closed the door. She looked from side to side and saw nothing unusual.

She started walking down the short path that cut through the front garden to the gate. Something caught her eyes in the middle of the pathway. She came to a stop before it and saw that it a soft clown doll.

To Be Continued…

Creepy Clown (Part 2)

Heavenly paused at her bedroom window. Her room faced the back garden which was only a small square of short grass framed by tall dark brown fencing. Evening had all but turned to night, but enough of the neighbors’ house lights were on to see by.

Heavenly looked out, she saw a cat walking on a wall a few gardens down and the wind blowing harder through bushes and tall plants. Over her garden wall, she could just see the alleyway that ran between the rows of terraced houses then the next line of houses’ back gardens. Nothing else was moving , so she let the curtain fall and turned away.

She walked out of her room, cross the hallway, passed the bathroom and into her mum’s room. There she went to the window and drew in a deep breath before gently opening the gap in the middle of the drawn curtains. Peering out, her breath held as she looked down on the street. Nothing was moving, but the wind which she could just about hear.

‘There’s nothing out there,’ Heavenly spoke aloud, ‘it’s all in your mind. And that clown was just trying to scare you and nothing more.’

Letting the curtain slipped from her fingers, Heavenly closed the gap. Turning she, tightening her fists then releasing them. Trying to push the event out her mind, she let her mum’s room and went back to her own. She got changed out of her high school uniform into fluffy PJ’s.

Putting some other clothes away, she caught her reflection in the wardrobe mirror. Her long curly dark blonde hair was a mess. She took it down then re-put it up again. Her pale and freckled face was flushed deep pink with the cold and the run. She pushed her purple framed glasses further up her nose then closed the wardrobe door.

Heavenly then picked up her shoulder bag and dug around in it. She took out her empty plastic lunchbox, school text books, notebooks and pencil case. Picking up the lunchbox, she weighed it in her hands and glanced over at the curtained window.

Just one more check…. she thought.

Slowly, she went to the window and slipped her fingers down the end of the curtain to peer around one side. The gap was too small. Heavenly pulled the corner back more and looked harder. The cat was now walking across her fence. The ginger moggy sure footed as it balanced its way across.

Heavenly looked down both sides as far as she could see.

‘There’s nothing there!’

She dropped the curtain and hurried out of her room and downstairs. She turned right into the kitchen and dumped her lunchbox next to the sink. She got and drink a glass of water then turning around spotted a scrap of paper on top of the cooker. Going over, she found and read a note from her mum;

Hi sweetie, pie and chips in the oven. Please take the washing out of the machine and I’ll see you in the morning. Love you, Mum x.      

For the first time in months, Heavenly wished her mum wasn’t working nights at the hospital. Right now, she didn’t want to be alone. Heavenly dropped the note on the work top and looked down at the oven. She could feel the slight heat coming off the glass still. With a sigh, she opened the door and took out her food.

Grabbing a can of cola, Heavenly went into the living room to eat. She turned on the TV and put on the news. She ate quickly, wanting to go to her bedroom, lock the bolt on her door and do her homework. Finishing up, she was about to turn the TV off when a news report stopped her.

‘The sightings of clowns throughout England continue to grew.’

The breathe caught in her throat and Heavenly became fixed on the TV screen. The male news reporter continued, ‘the craze which has been happening in America over the last few years every October has started here. People have reported seeing scarily dressed clowns outside of schools, shops and their homes. Police have stated they are looking into it and ask people to stay away and report all sightings to them.’

Heavenly swallowed and whispered, ‘clowns…’

She turned the TV off and flopped back against the sofa. Taking a few deep breaths, she shut her eyes. Straight away, she saw that clown sat silently on the swing and the red balloon tied to the bench.

Heavenly cried out and snapped open her eyes. Abandoning everything she fled upstairs and into her room. She slammed the bolt on the door home and took a few deep breaths. Going to her bed, she gathered her school things and sat down at her desk. Turning on her computer, she flipped through her homework diary and debated what to start work on.

However, as soon as the computer and the internet home page had loaded, Heavenly typed into the search engine; Clowns England News. 

Straight away millions of results appeared;

‘Killer Clown’ Craze.

‘Creepy Clowns’ Invade UK.

Girl aged 10 threaten by creepy clown outside school.

Creepy clowns sightings on the raise.

Seen a creepy clown? Here’s what you should do.

Clowns in outrage over misconduct by ‘creepy clowns’.

‘Wow,’ Heavenly breathed.

She clicked and opened up a few news pages and began reading. A dozen or so websites later, Heavenly had to stop, her mind was freaking out and all she could think about was what if the clown had caught her? What would he have done to her…

Heavenly felt the panic raising within her. She dived into her bed and buried herself under the duvets. She tried to collect herself, but she was crying already. Taking in big gulps of air which didn’t seem to help, she wiped her face and thought about calling the police. Just like most of the articles had stated. Calming herself and turning things over in her mind, she thought about other things for a few moments.

Shaking her head, Heavenly felt like laughing at herself. Reaching the conclusion that the clown had meant to do nothing but scare her and it was a Halloween prank, she dropped the whole thing.

‘This is just silly,’ she finally said aloud and threw the bedding off.

She got up and went boldly to the window. Yanking back the curtains she looked outside. It was totally dark out there now. Heavenly stared hard, trying to see anything at all.

A neighbor’s security light flashed on. Heavenly blinked away sudden blindness. Something moved on the other side of her fence. The ginger moggy? Heavenly pressed her face against the cold window and watch as a red balloon bobbed into view.

To Be Continued…

Creepy Clown (Part 1)

It was late and Heavenly knew she should have been home hours ago. She quickened her pace through the small park, wondering why everything seemed different at night. All the normal background sounds; the wind rustling the dying tree leaves, cars going past and the kids’ roundabout squeaking were amplified.

Heavenly shivered and told herself to grow up. Holding tightly to her shoulder bag, she glanced at the fenced in playground as she almost jogged by. There was someone there, sat on a swing.

Despite the urgency, she slowed down to look then wished she hadn’t. Even in the dim light, she could see the person on the swing was dressed up as a clown. The bright yellow and multi-coloured polka jump suit they were wearing was baggy and frilly at the leg and arm holes. Around their neck was a large white frill collar that reminded her of a threatened lizard. The clown was also wearing the typical over sized red and white spat leather shoes.

Heavenly slowed further and saw the clown’s head was down. The massive curly red wig he was wearing covered his face, making him sad in appearance. All in all he looked like a clown left behind by his circus. Also, he was too still. The idea of calling over to see if he was okay popped into her mind, but Heavenly shook it away.

Taking a deep breath, she turned her eyes away and walked on.

The groaning squeak of the swing made her glanced over.

The clown had started to swing back and forth even though his head was still down.

Heavenly bite her lip and carried on. She didn’t have time for this, as long as the weirdo stayed were he was she didn’t care. With her footsteps sounding too loudly on the narrow pathway, she walked past a bench. A red balloon was tied to one of the handles as if a child had left it there whilst they went to play. The wind was making it bob about wildly.

Trying to ignore the balloon, she headed down the left path which led to the nearest exit of the park. She knew the walk home would now be longer as she would have to go around the outside of the park, but at least she’d feel safer and there would be more distance between her and the creepy clown guy.

The swing let out a really loud squeal from behind her. Heavenly stole a look over her shoulder and saw the clown was no longer there. The swing was moving by itself. A little cry escaped her lips and Heavenly broke into a run. Her instincts screamed for her to flee and not look back.

Ahead, she saw the fence taking shape and Heavenly knew she was almost there. The wind rattled the trees above her, a car horn blared and a dog barked twice. Then she was there, through the gate and standing on the pavement. Gasping for breath, Heavenly turned and looked back.

The clown was stood on the pathway three meters or so behind her. He was so still he didn’t appear alive expect for the red balloon which was bobbing above him.

It was too dark to see his face, but Heavenly was glad she couldn’t anyway. She turned, checked the road was clear and walked across. The bright street lights chased the bulk of the shadows away and Heavenly felt safer. Still though, she looked over her shoulder every once in awhile just to make sure there was nothing there.

When she arrived home, Heavenly double checked all the doors and windows were locked. However, as she drew the curtains she couldn’t help but feel she was being watched.

 

To Be Continued…