Shattered Dreams: A Collection of Dreams From the Mind of an Artist

The Clown's Coffee (Medium Dream)

On a rainy summer night somewhere in the city, I sat drinking a cup of peach vanilla tea when there was a knock at the front door. In the darkness of the kitchen, the analog clock on the microwave read 3:22 in the morning, dim and slightly blurred. Who could be behind the door at such a strange hour? Leaving the cup of tea on the kitchen table, I meandered through the living room and to the front door where I nonsensically tried to look through the peephole... my door didn't have one.

As the door slowly opened and I poked my head out, a chunky, disheveled clown in a baggy outfit stared back at me, face painted white with grease paint as well as blue triangles over both eyes and a red, sharp pointed smile across his face. Wearing what looked like a oversized red party hat with three large pom poms on the front in red, white, and blue in descending order, three big pom poms followed the same pattern down the front of his silky outfit as well. The oversized ruffled collar he wore matched the whites and reds of his striped costume, striped on one side and plain solid red on the other. "Hey, uh, ya think you could help me out?" He asked, dark eyes staring into mine.

"Um... sure, I guess." I glanced down towards the large round button he wore on the right side of his chest... a dingy red badge that read, Hi, I'm Pogo the Clown. Although he didn't look as friendly as the badge made him out to be. "What did you need... uh... Pogo...?"

"It's John, kid. Just call me John." He tried to shove his hands into his non existent pockets before laughing uncomfortably when he realised he didn't have any. "So, you gonna help me out or what? I ain't here to make friends."

I nodded, somehow unphased that a greasy, fat clown had found my house.

"Alright. So, you got any coffee cups?"

"For what...?"

"Don't ask questions, kid. I'm only here for answers. Now, ya got any coffee cups or not?"

"Did... did you want coffee too?"

He shook his head. "Not at all. Just the cup. I need one. Just one. Got it?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Leading him inside, the both of us went upstairs to my bedroom where I began to search behind the bed for a coffee cup for the strange clown. What did he need one for? Why? He could have gone down to the damn Goodwill and picked up a bunch for a buck, but he had to instead come and bother me... aha! Found one! "John, I got one for you. But it's-" As I turned, the lights went out and he was gone.