Clown's Little Helper

3

The rain poured hard, heavy droplets that tapped against the window and created a relaxing sound. As predicted, the rain was so thick that you couldn't see two feet ahead of you. I feel bad for the fellows walking out there right about now.
Richie sat in the living room, curled up on the couch in my crochet blanket playing robotron 2084 on my Atari 5200. Suddenly, just as he was getting into the game, literally sitting at the edge of his seat, just like that, the power snapped off. "DAMMIT!" He yelled, throwing the controller on the couch in frustration.

"No worries, Rich. We can play board games." I reassured him.

"Board games are so laaaaame." He moaned.

"Well then you better get comfortable because this storm isn't letting up anytime soon, bud."

He groaned and slammed his head on the cushion of the couch, yanking the blanket over his face.

Finally, the afternoon of the next day, as the heavy storm slackened, the sun began to show itself from behind the dark grey clouds. I peeked out the window, then turned to Richie, who was still perched on the couch.
"The rains slacked off some. I think it's safe to say that you can go play in it if you want."

"Ohmygod, Holly. I'm not ten. I don't play in the rain."

"You used to love it." I mumbled. "I wonder how the rest of Derry is." I questioned aloud, watching as the drops of rain slid down the window, leaving a faint trail of water behind it. I ended up dozing off, later awakening to partly clear skies and Richie's loud snores, his glasses just barely clinging onto his face. I walked over and removed them, placing them on the cheap coffee table, then brushing the hair off his forehead and kissing it.

After Richie went back home, moments later I received a call from the Denbroughs.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Holly, Holly..." mrs. Denbrough repeated breathlessly. "Did George happen to come to your place during the storm?"

"No ma'am. Why?"

"I can't...." she paused and sighed. "I can't find him. Bill said he went out to float a paper boat he made for George, but he never came back home." Her voice began to shake. "I'm just so worried!" She cried out.

"Miss Denbrough, please calm down. I'm sure he's out there somewhere, the storm probably just swept him away."

I could hear her breathing heavily through the phone. "If-if you see or hear from him, please call us immediately. I'm so worried for my baby, it's unbearable. Not knowing what happened is so-"

"I know, I know. I'll ask Richie if he's seen him. If not, I'll ask him to keep a look out."

"Thank you so much."

"No problem. Try calling the police, too. Maybe they can help."

"Thank you... thank you... I'll talk to you later." Click.

I placed the phone down, and turned around to see it smiling down to me.

"Pennywise..." I spoke up. "Do you know what happened to little Georgie?"

"Hm..." it looked to the side with a curled lip. "Ah, yes. Pennywise met Georgie during the storm. He had lost his boat, and I gave it back..."

"Where'd he go?"

"He went down with me to float..."

"To float?" I repeated in question.

"Yes... to float like everyone else."

I cocked my eyebrow at it. "You're strange." As I began to walk past it, it spoke, it's next words stopping me in my tracks.
"Little Georgie was so scared... his fear was tasty. He was the perfect age, such tender meat, sensitive fears..."

"You..." I began, my back facing it. "You ate Georgie?" I slowly turned to face it.

"Yes..." it simply replied.
I wasn't sure how to react, unknowing of how my reaction might look to Pennywise. Georgie was like family to me, and knowing he was eaten by Pennywise gave me very spine-shivering thoughts. Completely speechless, and nervous to give a reaction, I just turned around and headed for the living room, switching on the television to the news channel.
Many thoughts flooded my mind, overwhelming my emotions. When Pennywise first mentioned eating children, I thought nothing of it. It had me cornered in a situation where anything it said would pass by me because of how tightly it held me against its chest. But it was clear now, judging by Pennywise's cockiness, that my trust was being tested. If I grew angry at Pennywise, I was sure it would be angry at me as well, and possibly kill me. It would be wise to just forget what Pennywise said and move on.

Nearly a month later, reaching the time of the year that I dreaded the most, school was almost out. Those who's parents didn't trust them enough to leave them home alone while they worked were sent to me. And to my luck, that was nearly every kid under 16.
A mother approached me with a young fat boy, roughly Richies age, begging me to take care of him. It was no problem, I told her. They were new in town though, which is why we didn't recognize each other.
"I'm Ben. But most people just call me the new kid."

"Well, new kid, welcome to Derry." I gestured to the room filled with kids of all ages. He sighed, seemingly overwhelmed.

As Ben sat separate from the rest of the kids, reading a thick book about god knows what, Richie bursted in.
"SUMMER!!!" He yelled, the rest of his friends following him in. "Holly, this is gonna be the craziest, most fucking epic summer."

"Beep beep, Richie. We got kids here."

The boys laughed at him.
"Ah, whatever. It's summer, I can do what I want." And with that, Richie had his sights set on the kitchen. Eddie and Bill both greeted me as they followed him.
"Billy..." I stopped him. "Any word about Georgie?"

"No ma-mah-ma'am."

"Ah..." I patted his head. "He'll turn up sometime soon. Don't lose hope, kay' kid?"

"Kay." He smiled.
After the boys rummaged through all my snacks, they headed off.

I approached Ben. "Do you really wanna be here?"

Ben shook his head with a guilty smile on his face.
"Why don't you go hang out with my cousin Richie and his friends?"

"I'm not very good with friends..."

"I see... hey, you can leave. If you want, you know, you can go do whatever it is you want to do. Just be back by 4:30 when your mom comes to get you."

Ben smiled, packing his things and heading out.
It showed itself as Ben walked out the door, eyeballing him like a piece of juicy meat. I feared for these kids.

As I sat watching all the kids play, a realization hit me. Where's Pammy?
I got up and gave her mother a ring.

"Hello??" She answered quickly.

"Hello. I was wondering, is Pam sick today? I didn't see you stop by to drop her off."

"N-no... pam is..." she paused, then sniffed. "She's missing..." she finally moaned out. "She was just outside playing, and I called her in for dinner, but she wasn't there. She just vanished in thin air! My poor baby, oh god... oh dear lord..."

"Shit I-I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I'll keep a hard lookout for her. I'll ask my cousin Rich and his friends to scout out for her."

"Oh thank you, Holly. That means so much. Thank you..."

"No problem. And I'm sorry."

"Mhm..." she sniffles, then hangs up.
I become enraged with fury. I'm so angry that I see red, I can hear my own heart beating furiously. I grip my fists so tight that my nails dig into the palms of my hands, reopening the wound from the broken glass. I storm into the cellar, preparing to scream my every last breath out to it.