Cirucs Fun

The streets of Manhattan were filled with drunken people celebrating the new year. They were all frolicking about screaming “happy new year” while their children slept alone in their homes. Amazing Fireworks were set off every five minutes although no one ever noticed their beauty for they were too drunk. But somewhere beyond the crowded streets of Manhattan, in a quiet little town where no partying was being done, one little boy watched the magnificent fireworks go off. He watched every single one all by himself. He was alone and lost. Tears covered his face, blurring his vision. The young boy who’s name was jack riddance, had wandered far away from home that night. He walked for miles and miles until he found an abandoned circus to rest at. It was freezing that night. Jack shivered and sneezed but he didn’t dare to walk into one of the circus’s tents for warmth. It was too creepy. The circus was spooky and seemed haunted. It was completely dead, yet it seemed as if it were alive. Jack imagined how it must have used to been like. He imagined scary clowns running about, doing their tricks. acrobats, lions jumping through hoops, and all the strange creatures circuses always featured. Jack always had a strange obsession with the circus. He loved everything about it. The creepiness, the amazing tricks. Everything. Especially the clowns. Jack always told his friends and family, “when I grow up, I’m going to be a clown in the circus.” his friends made fun of him and called him names. They said he’d end up living somewhere far away from everyone else in an abandoned circus with no more jokes to be told. His laughter will have left him and he would be a sad clown. Jack refused to believe what they said. He told them he’d show them. He told them, “You’ll see and you’ll be sorry. One day I’ll be a clown. And I’ll be the greatest clown that’s ever lived and I will die laughing.” 1

Jack wiped his tears away and a smile grew on his face. 2

“I’m finally in the circus. And it’s my very own circus. This is my big chance to be a clown. I will make my jokes here. I will practice my tricks. I will make my costume. Cover my face with makeup.” so jack did it. He wrote his own jokes and made his own tricks. He found a clown costume in one of the tents and changed it around a bit. He put white powder all over his face, and dark black eyeliner around his eyes. Then he dyed his curly brown hair green. Jack wasn’t afraid of entering the circus’s tents any longer. It had become his home. 3

“now all I need is a smile.” jack said. For his real smile had disappeared. And a clown can never frown. Well not on the outside, that is. For this clown that was being born, would always have a frown on the inside. Jack searched around until he found a sharp blade. He looked at his face in the mirror for the last time. Watching his reflection, he cut a smile on his face. The blood poured out of his cheeks, covering half his face. He fell on his knees to the floor. Maniacal laughter rang through the halls of the funhouse. 4

“The Joker is born.” jack whispered. 5

6

10 years later, no one had ever heard from jack riddance again. The cops gave up searching. All hope was lost. Jack’s parents finally accepted the fact that he was dead. 7

New years had hit again and manhattan’s people were partying as they did every year. Phoebe Patterson arrived late that night at her apartment in Manhattan. She stumbled in, feeling woozy from all the alcohol she had drunk that night. She went to turn off the lights when a voice spoke. 8

“don’t turn off the lights, Phoebe. Then you won’t be able to see me.” the voice said. The voice was jack riddance’s voice. But jack riddance no longer existed. He had died ten years ago when the joker was born. 9

“who are you?” phoebe asked, slurring her words. 10

“I’m the joker.” he said. Phoebe could see a man with a smile on his face and a blade in his hand, coming after her. Realizing this wasn’t a dream, phoebe began to scream. She ran down the hallway of the apartment complex. The joker chased after her, laughing. Phoebe had ran into a dead end. She looked back. The joker had disappeared. Breathing frantically, crying, and panicking, phoebe fell to her knees. She looked up. There he was. The joker. Standing before her. He smiled.11

“that’s only one of my tricks,” he said then began his sinister laugh again. Phoebe’s screaming echoed through the hallway. 12

“let’s see your beautiful smile.” the joker said. He cut a smile on her face. 13

The blood dripped into her open mouth. 14

“that is what happiness taste like,” he said. 15

. . .16

“Phoebe Patterson was a 22 year old working at some joint as a waitress. She had no known enemies and most of her relatives are either dead or haven’t been in contact with her in years. She got pregnant at 16 and ran away to new York with her boyfriend. Soon after, they broke up and she lost the baby. She’s been living here in Manhattan ever since,” Detective Harlene Quinzelle said. 17

“Who possibly could have done this?” asked her partner, Jim webber. 18

“someone she hadn’t met until the time of her death. Whoever did this, is going to commit more murders. Jim, I think we have a killer at large,” harlene replied. 19

“it’s late, harley. You’d better start heading home,” jim said. 20

“Yeah, I’m gonna leave now. Cya tomorrow, jim,” harlene replied.21

Harlene lived in the suburbs of new York in a small one-room apartment. Harlene immediately noticed that her door was unlocked. Someone was inside. She slowly opened the door and peeked in. she saw no one and stepped in. 22

“good evening, miss harlene quinzelle. Or should I just call you harley?” the joker said. He had been hiding right behind the door. Now harlene was alone with the psychopathic clown in her own apartment. She quickly pulled out her gun. 23

“get out of my house or I’ll shoot you in the head!” she warned him. 24

“You can’t shoot me. I’m your case. I’m your murderer. I’m the one you want, Harley. I’m the joker,” the clown replied.25

“I don’t care who you are. Get out of my house!” harlene yelled.26

“but wouldn’t you like to ask me questions? Have a sit-down? Just me and you. I’ll tell you my story and my secrets. My pranks, and gimmicks,” the joker said.27

“why would you trust me with all that?” harlene asked. 28

“Mmm. Because I like you. I admire your work. I think you’re a brilliant and very beautiful woman,” the joker replied. Harlene lowered her gun.29

“ok then. Let’s start with how you got those scars, why don’t we?” harlene suggested. 30

“a perfect way to begin. Hmmm, well let’s see. I had a girlfriend. We were gonna get married and live happily somewhere out in the country. But she had a drug problem. One day, she doesn’t pay these men for the drugs that had given her. She persistently refused to give them any money. So they cut her face. The scars took away her beauty and her soul. But I still loved her. And I wanted to show her that no matter what I would always love her. So I cut a smile on my face. She said I had turned into a monster. She left me standing there. Alone. Alone in a dark room. That’s when it finally all came clear to me. I finally got the joke. And from then on, I was always smiling. Just like now,” the joker explained. Harlene wept silent. She felt heart broken for him. 31

“so then, that is why you kill people?’ harlene asked.32

“it’s just a joke,” the joker replied.33

“murder isn’t a joke,” Harlene said. The joker ignored her comment.34

“why don’t you join me? You could be my very own Harley Quinn. We can run away together to some where far away,” the joker exclaimed.35

“and do what? Cut people up like they’re nothing but stuffed toys? Life isn’t a joke. And murder isn’t something you laugh about,” harlene said. She had already pressed the silent alarm that was hidden in her apartment. The police force would be there in seconds now.36

“why don’t you just give it a chance, harley? Think of how much fun life could be if only we lived it together.”37

“It’s too late, joker.”38

The cops broke through the door. They all had guns ready to fire in their hands. 39

“get on the floor and put your hands to your side,” one cop said. Harlene watched the cops take away the joker. Tears swelled up in her eyes. 40

“maybe all he wanted was a chance,” she whispered.41

She threw herself on her bed. The tears flooded out her eyes.42

“all he wanted was a chance and I turned him down. He loves me. And I just refused his love, just as she did. In the story he told,” harlene told herself. 43

“I’ve gotta get him outta prison. He wants me, he’ll get me. I’ll be his harley quinn.” 44

She took a razor out of the drawer in her room and cut a smile on her face, laughing and crying while she did it. She took her old Halloween clown girl costume out of the closet and put it on. But before she placed the mask over her face, she stopped and thought for a second.45

“This is my last chance. My last chance to stop this madness. No, no. it’s too late to stop it. Madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push. And my madness has been pushed.” she said. 46

After placing the mask over her face, she came up with a clever idea to get the Joker out of arkham asylum. She snuck into the prison that night at 12 a.m. she knocked the guards out with tear gas and quickly found the joker’s cell. She unlocked the door to his cell by using the key she had used by one of the knocked out guards. 47

“Your very own harley quinn has come for ya,” harley said a high pitched voice. The joker simply smiled. He knew he had won her mind. 48

They drove away from the prison together. Only the moon’s light guiding their way. The joker was having Harley drive him to his old home. He told her it was an abandoned circus far away from Manhattan. He said that in that circus, they could live alone. Just the two of them. And they would live a long, happy life. Just the two of them. As they walked into the circus, holding hands, harley quinn smiled and the joker laughed. Though his laugh was purely that of a maniac, and his smile was sinister, you could see the sorrow in his eyes. For the smile that he wore was fake. He had no true happiness. He was still just a lost little boy trying to find a way home. He would never truly smile again. His laugh would always drown. And his smile would forever frown. 49

5 years passed and the joker and harley quinn continued on with their jokes and pranks on the world. Pranks that always ended with murder. Everyone believed the joker was just a psychopathic killer. And that he spent his days laughing at his murderous jokes. But no one, not even harley quinn, ever saw what he really did. He would sit alone in a dark room in the funhouse for hours and just stare out into space. A tear would fall from his eye as his hate for the world grew stronger and stronger. A sad, melancholy tune played in his mind. It was a song his mother used to hum to him whenever she put him to bed. He was a lost soul. He could never be reformed. But here’s the end of the story: harley quinn was caught by the fbi and ended up dying in prison on death row. The joker was never caught. He died alone in the same dark room he would spends hours crying in. his death was of no real cause. He simply no longer had the will to live. The joke had finally ended. But there were no laughs, no smiles, and no applause. Just a sad, melancholy tune playing on a little music box by his dead body.