The Clowns
© 10.12.06 By Elisa Williams
"Oh, we have a wonderful school." Mrs. Haile smiled and nodded positively.
Janet Clown straightened and brushed a strand of dark brown hair from her forehead.
Unpacking was taking forever. She hadn't realized how much useless stuff she had. She would have to find someway to get rid of it, Janet thought, as she surveyed the stacks of boxes lining the living room and spilling over in to the kitchen.
Now she glanced over at Margaret Haile. The woman was gazing out the window, watching as James, Savanna, and Richard Clown screamed and ran across the yellow front lawn. Totally absorbed in their play they didn't seem to mind the heat at all.
"Such wonderful children" murmured Mrs. Haile. She sat with hands folded in lap, her neat grey head cocked to one side. She turned to Janet with a smile almost apologetic. "I'm sorry, it's just that I love children so and with all mine gone I get lonesome."
Mrs. Clown returned the smile and moved on to another box. "Oh it's perfectly all right. You work at the school now?"
"Yes, I teach English. I really do love it. My husband is on the school board. He's just thrilled to be involved. All the teachers here do it more for the children than for the pay check."
"I was so glad to hear such good reports about this school. Robert and I wanted to make sure this move was good for the children and that included somewhere they would get a good education."
"Well, then, you moved to the right place." Mrs. Haile primly straightened her light blue cotton skirt and glanced out the window again. "My, but they are wild. You must have your hands full, dear." She cast a sympathetic and knowing look in Janet's direction.
Mrs. Clown watched as James, the oldest, drenched his younger siblings with the garden hose. She should have left that box packed, she thought.
"Yes, they can get a little out of hand. Sometimes I don't know what to do. It will be such a relief when school starts."
"Oh and I can guarantee that we keep them busy." Mrs. Haile laughed and rose from her chair. "Now don't you hesitate to call me about anything. I would be very happy to help."
Mrs. Clown nodded and smiled. Margaret was warm and thoughtful. It was nice to know that this new community was friendly and caring.
"Oh you have already helped more than you know. And thank you so much for the casseroles and pies. It helps so much to have dinner made when you're busy."
Mrs. Haile picked up her purse and Janet walked her to the door. In parting Margaret gave her a warm hug, not seeming to care that Janet's clothes were dust covered. She could hear Mrs. Haile's cheerful 'goodbye' to the kids in the yard, and the crunch of gravel as she drove away, leaving the Clown house smelling of warm apple pie.
* * * * * * * * * *
"James!!!" Mrs. Clown's shriek was loud enough to be heard half way around the world. Whatever affect she had wanted it to have on her oldest son, it didn't happen. Upon Janet's re-entrance (from a two minute absence to change the wash), she found her ten year old standing on the stove top - apparently oblivious to the boiling pot of oatmeal - searching through the top cupboard. At the sound of his mother's voice he jumped, upsetting the pot. Most of the cupboards contents came cascading down as well.
Mrs. Clown wondered if the morning would ever end. The next half hour was spent in cleaning up mush from every possible corner and wondering how James had escaped with only soiling his jeans.
While Janet poured corn flakes, James insisted that he had been trying to reach the sugar since it had been forgotten and oatmeal was not edible without it.
"You should have asked for it." Mrs. Clown handed Savanna her spoon forestalling the little girl's attempt to eat her breakfast like a wild animal. Savanna glared at the spoon with distaste.
James watched his cornflakes turn soggy. "Sorry Mom. I'll ask next time." He sighed and peeked at his mother to see how angry she was. Mrs. Clown was absent-mindedly tracing circles on the table with her finger while she leaned on her hand and watched the clock.
James took a slow bite.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Is that our new school?"
"No, Savanna that is not the school."
"I was just asking, Ricky. You don't have to freak out on me."
Richard sighed and shook his head in a way that meant she was young and just couldn't understand. Richard rarely remembered that he was only one year older then she.
James was quiet, an unusual thing for him. Janet glanced in the rear view mirror. He sat staring out the window with a look at serious concentration. Mrs. Clown looked back to the road. She hoped James wouldn't make to much trouble here. He wasn't academic. If there was something he didn't like he would put no effort into it, and school was one of the things he didn't like. Maybe she should talk to Rob about it. No, this was the first day of school. She would wait to see how he did.
The American education system was a wonderful thing. All of America's children are getting good schooling. It was what had advanced this nation, made it greater than the rest. Janet watched her children in the back seat. She knew she wanted them to have a part of that American heritage.
"There's our school!" Savanna bounced in her seat and spilt her back pack to the floor in her excitement. Ricky surveyed the school ground with a faint curiosity. James looked unhappy and a little afraid.
Janet always took the kids in on their first day. "Come on - lets go meet your new teachers."
The school was clean and well lit. Kids swarmed the halls. It looked like any other school, but there was something Janet couldn't quite place.
"Wonder why everyone's so happy." James didn't look to much that way himself.
It did seem that everyone was in a good mood. Janet relaxed. This was going to be fine.
The sun was getting warm as Mrs. Clown walked across the parking lot to the mini van. She smiled to herself as she got in and closed to door. She had seen each child to their first class and to her surprise none of them had protested. All the teachers had been wonderful. Warm, understanding. Things were going very well. They would be settled in here in no time.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was early September. The leaves were just starting to turn golden. People's minds were turning to Thanksgiving and Halloween. Mrs. Clown herself was already planning for the upcoming holidays. Time had passed so fast. They had been here nearly a month.
She was working in a flower bed, keeping an eye on the kitchen timer she had brought out with her to make sure she wouldn't burn the cookies. That was the hardest part in baking; making sure things didn't burn. She was just wondering why someone didn't make an oven that could be set to bake a certain thing and then would shut off when it was done - like a rice cooker, when she was interrupted by someone's cheery 'hello'.
Janet turned around and stood. A woman about her own age was standing just in the yard, a smile of greeting on her face. She was tall and slender; her light blond hair pulled back, her dark blue sweater matched her eyes.
"Hello, I don't think we've meet. I'm at the end of the block in the grey house. We've been gone at my mother's for the past three weeks. We heard you had moved in but didn't have the chance to welcome you."
Janet Clown pulled off her gardening gloves and walked over. "It's awfully nice off you to come by. You have a lovely house by the way."
"Why thank you. Helen Blair." They shook hands. "And I must say you have done a lot of nice work on this place. It was rather run down till you came."
"Oh I love fixing places up. That's why we bought it really. Rob likes that kind of stuff too and we really wanted to make it ours and that's easier when there's less to begin with."
"Then you plan to stay here for a while?"
"Yes, quite a while." Janet laughed. "I am tired of moving and we all like it here, and the school is so nice for the children. It has been absolutely wonderful! I don't know what they teach, but it has had its affect. Their behaving better and learning faster than ever before."
Mrs. Clown stopped to get her breath. She was very excited about it and she told everyone she could how wonderful the school was. When the first little changes came she wondered. Her wild children were settling down. Then over the weeks the changes were more dramatic. Less screaming and running through the house. Less messes in the hallway.
And there was never any late homework, never any bad attitudes. Three perfect children with three perfect smiles. Janet sighed with rapture at the thought.
"You send your children to school here?"
Janet jumped a little. She stared for a moment.
"Well, doesn't every body?"
Helen shook her head, her face now very worried. "I don't think you should. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your children. But I've heard things. I mean about education, and well, I shouldn't like to send my children there."
Janet was a little taken back. "Well what do you do with your kids? You do have children?"
"I school my children at home." Helen looked as if she were about to say more but didn't.
So she was one of them. That explained it, thought Mrs. Clown.
"Oh, well that's very nice. My children love their school though, and I wouldn't send them anywhere else for the world."
"Mrs. Clown, I have to tell you, I don't think that school is safe." Mrs. Blair now looked rather scared, yet determined to say what she had to say, regardless of Janet's feelings.
"I'm not the only one who had noticed. There are several. Even our children noticed. I'm not sure what's going on but it's not good."
Janet stepped back from the woman. Surely she was a raving maniac who might do anything at any second.
"When children go there they are never the same again. The friends of my children have all changed; the kids noticed it too. My daughter told me one day that her best friend Maggie was no longer the same person. I thought it was just some tiff between them. But then Maggie came over one afternoon and she wasn't the same. She wasn't real."
Janet took another step back. "Mrs. Blair, this has been a nice visit. So glad you came, but I really have a lot to do."
Janet Clown turned and hurried inside. Just before closing the door she glanced back and saw Helen standing there, looking worried but perfectly sane.
Mrs. Clown put her back to the door and wished fervently that the children were home. That was the first time she had wished that since moving here, but now she knew she missed them. She made her way the kitchen but it only made her more depressed. She had burnt the cookies again.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Rob, have you noticed anything ... strange, about our children lately?"
Janet hadn't meant to say anything but it came out anyway. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get Helen Blair out of her head. It was absurd, she told herself; but she had found herself watching her children very closely ever since they'd gotten home from school.
Robert Clown looked up from the paper he was flipping through, but not really reading. He threw it to one side and looked at his wife intently.
"What do you mean? Is there something I should notice?"
"No. I just wondered. That was all."
Janet studied her soapy hands. Rob sat at the kitchen table and watched his wife play with the dish rag. She was worried. He stood and walked over to her.
"Hard day?" He pulled her into a hug from behind. She didn't answer, just shrugged her shoulders.
"Kids giving you a hard time?"
"No, no not at all."
"Where are they? They should be helping with the dishes."
"I sent them to bed."
"To bed?" Mr. Clown's voice was surprised. "It's only eight thirty. And they went?"
Janet nodded. Yes it was odd. It never used to be this way. Usually they would have been in the family room playing or watching movies, or maybe outside shrieking and tearing all over the place driving the neighbors crazy. At the very least they would have been desperately trying to contrive ways to stay up past their bed time. But never had it been as it was now. They had all said good night to her as she was starting the dishes. They had offered to help but Janet had said it was all right. All three had given her the same smile and in the same tone of voice and bid her good night.
"That's what I mean. They're different." She turned around to face her husband.
He looked a little doubtful. "Well, maybe they're just growing up."
"But they aren't them any more."
Rob turned and walked to the window. The lawn was smooth and clear. No toys littered about, no bikes lying on their sides.
"I have noticed that. They aren't like they use to be. You know, they were always so creative, adventuresome."
In the silence Janet could hear the clock ticking. She was surprised when she heard her own voice break the stillness.
"Rob, I'm scared."
He looked at her. "Whatever for?"
"There was this lady here today and she was saying something about how all the children who go to this school change. I think she might have been a little crazy but then I noticed......"
Janet realized she was babbling, and stopped.
"Some weirdo? Honey, don't talk to people like that. I don't like you entertaining everyone who comes by just because they live in the neighborhood." Rob watched his wife with a touch of concern.
"Do you feel okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Janet wondered why she was whispering.
* * * * * * * * * *
The breakfast table was silent. Mrs. Clown sat at one end sipping coffee. She had no appetite for food. Savanna buttered her toast, using her knife properly. When had she started doing that? Janet was just about to warn her not to take to much jam but Savanna laid down her knife and to a bite of her toast without even reaching for the jam jar.
Mrs. Clown was shocked. Savanna had never in her life eaten toast without jam - and a lot of it. A buzzing went off in her head and Janet knew she was over reacting but the unusual silence was wearing her nerves thin. A few days ago she had liked it, never wondering at its cause. Now she saw that her children were no longer noisy but they were no longer themselves either.
None of them looked up from their food, eating in silence.
"James?"
Her son looked up momentarily, but said nothing. His eyes were blank and board. Janet decided she would have to see Helen Blair.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was a warm day, and the feel of autumn was in the air. Mrs. Clown walked the block to the slate grey house with white trimmings. The front lawn was neat as were the flower bed, but not painfully so. There were lots of wild flowers, and color was everywhere.
Janet mounted the front steps and ignoring the shiny brass knocker in the middle of the door, pressed the bell instead. And again. The wind blew the chimes, and a tabby kitten crawled out from under the porch and Janet bent to stroke its back. Apparently they weren't home.
Feeling a little let down Janet turned to go. She noticed that all the cars were gone. She wondered when they would be back.
"They aren't home you know."
Mrs. Clown jumped a little at the sound of the wheezing old voice. An old man stood at the corner of the drive where it met up with the yard of the house next door. He leaned on his cane by the mail box, his hand full of letters.
"They're gone."
"Yes, I know." Janet walked over to the old man, the tabby kitten following. "Do you know when they'll be back?"
The old man watched her carefully. "You're new to this town?"
Janet nodded.
The old man glanced at the mail in his hand. "They were taken."
Mrs. Clown stared at him. "You mean... ?"
The old man snorted. "You don't know? I mean the Blair's knew too much and they talked to much, cause they weren't scared enough. Now they're gone. Most likely the house will be sold. They'll never come back. They're gone."
Janet's brain tried and failed to process this. The old man saw her bewilderment.
"I see things most people don't. The Blair's aren't the first by any means." He turned and hobbled across his lawn.
* * * * * * * * * *
By the time Mrs. Clown got home she was frantic. Perhaps she should call Rob. No, he hated to be bothered at work and there wasn't really anything to tell him. The Blair's were gone. So? She had talked to a crazy old man. "Well, you shouldn't have," Rob would say.
Janet paced the kitchen. She would call Margaret Haile. Yes! That's what she would do. She rummaged frantically to find the phone number. At the second ring she began to fell very stupid and hung up. Mrs. Haile was probably teaching a class right now and didn't need to be bugged.
Half an hour of biting her nails and staring at the clock only made her more edgy. She wanted her children home NOW!!
* * * * * * * * * *
The school bus crawled up the street at a pace Janet could not stand. She watched it from the window, as if by her vigilance it could be coaxed to greater speed. Finally it stopped in front of the house and her two children came slowly up the steps. Two?
She rushed to the door and threw it open. They looked up in mild surprise.
"Ricky, Savanna, where's James?"
"He had to stay behind and talk to his history teacher. Mr. Pernel said he would drop him off." Richard sounded disinterested. He and Savanna continued inside. Mrs. Clown remained on the front porch.
By six o'clock Mrs. Clown could not stand it any more. Mr. Pernal had called at four thirty and explained James would be longer then expected because Mr. Penal was going to give him some help on some of the things he hadn't been doing well on. Janet had wanted to scream for him to bring her child home now, and she still wasn't sure why she hadn't.
Now it was six and after setting Ricky and Savanna down with tomato soup and buttered noodles she pulled on her coat and went out locking the door behind her. Perhaps she should have waited till Robert had gotten home at seven, but she just couldn't.
The sun wasn't quite down but it was getting dark quickly. Janet pulled out of the drive, remembering to turn on her lights. As she passed the Blair home she saw that there was still no one there. That crazy old man. She shivered. Janet realized she no longer liked this town.
Mrs. Clown turned into the school parking lot. It was dark and there were no cars. Could she have missed them on her way here? She turned of the ignition and dug in her purse for her cell phone. Savanna answered.
"Hi sweetie. It's Mommy. Is James there?
"No."
Janet felt her body stiffen. "Alright. Has anyone called?"
"No."
"Is Daddy home?"
"No."
Mrs. Clown was feeling sick. Savanna's dull monotone scared her.
"How are you and Ricky?" Janet's voice shook ever so little.
"Fine."
"Okay, I'll be back in a little while. Tell Daddy for me. Love you, bye."
There was a click and the line went dead as Savanna hung up without answering.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mrs. Clown opened her car door and stepped out. She stood for a moment in the quiet dark, the fuzzy yellow light of a street lamp the only illumination. She closed the door and slowly stepped away from the van. Why was she so scared? This was the school her children went to for goodness sakes. She made it to the front doors on weak knees. The doors were locked. She would try the back.
Walking through the empty play ground at night made Janet feel like she was in a grave yard. The high chain link fences surrounded her. Luckily the gate had been opened. Mrs. Clown could not imagine herself climbing it although she would have if she had had to.
At the back door she stopped and looked through the window. Yes, there was light coming from a room farther down the hall. She felt a little foolish. Probably just got caught up in their studies and lost track of time. Hadn't she wanted James to become excited about his school work?
Reaching down she tried the door handle. It gave way beneath her hand and she slowly pushed it open. She slipped through and closed it behind her quietly. For some reason she was still nervous.
Now that she was inside Janet could hear voices coming from the lit room and a buzzing sound, almost like an electric razor. Curious, she edged up to the door frame and peered around the side.
It was an office. She wasn't sure whose office as she could not see the door plaque. It was empty of people and the voices were coming from an inner room also with the door ajar.
Mrs. Clown walked across the room to the other door way, quite sure now that this was the wrong room but hoping they could point her in the right direction. She stopped on the threshold, confused.
It looked like a work shop of some sort. On a table in the middle of the room sat James. She could see the top of his dark head but not his face because someone, a teacher perhaps, was bending down in front of him. And, with her back to Janet, arms crossed, was Margaret Haile.
She said, "How much longer? It's nearly a quarter till."
The man bending over James grunted and straightened. "I think I have it." He did something with his hands. "Can you see this?"
Janet realized he was talking to James and she heard him answer, "No."
"Great! Well, I thought I had it."
Mrs. Haile sighed.
"Hang on let me try something else." He moved over, reaching for something, giving Mrs. Clown the first view of her son's face.
One of his eyes was gone, in its place red and blue wire protruded. With his other eye he looked at his mother.
"Hello, Mom"
Janet screamed. "What have you done!? What have you done!?" Mrs. Clown could not control her terror.
"Shut up you!" Mrs. Haile rushed at her and slapped her face. Janet stopped screaming.
The man stood there watching with an expressionless face. James, the James with one eye, watched too, gently swinging a leg.
There was a silence broken by Margaret. "Well, she knows."
"Hmmmm....yes, it does look that way." The man turned back to the table and began to fiddle with something.
"I take it you aren't going to call anybody?" Mrs. Haile's voice was sharp.
"I don't see why. There's only one thing to do and you can do it."
Margaret turned to Mrs. Clown.
"What is this?" Janet couldn't seem to get her voice above a whisper.
"Why, it's a school, Janet." Mrs. Haile's smile was twisted. This woman was evil, evil, evil.
"What have you done to my child!?"
"That," a flick of the wrist, "Is not your child."
Janet gasped for air.
Mrs. Haile watched the fear in her eyes. She seemed to like idea of making it grow. "No, that is not your child and neither are the other ones. They are the most advanced - and cheap - robot we have today." As if to prove her point she grabbed a screw driver off the table and slammed James across the head with it. He rocked back from the impact and then straightened.
"Ouch." He kept on swinging his leg.
"Stop it please" said the man.
He stopped.
"You see what I mean?" Margaret leaned in closer. "You haven't had your real children for three weeks. What kind of a mother are you?"
Janet couldn't breathe anymore, but she wished she could because she wanted to scream and scream.
"What have you done with my real children?" Her voice was no more than a whisper.
"Yours and everyone else's. Let's just say we needed material for an experiment. Oh don't worry, some will re-enter society, as the best trained and controlled humans ever to live. But never as your children, Mrs. Clown."
"Oh my babies what have I done!" cried Mrs. Clown and she slumped to the floor without another sound.
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