Polka-Dotted Hats (true story)

Penny Warren, 6 years old, was the oldest of the three Warren children. She was very bubbly and did not ask questions a lot, despite her exciting personality. Therefore she never thought to ask about the statues that appeared and disappeared in the living room and sometimes on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

The other Warren children, ages 3 and 2 years, were too young to notice a thing in the first place. They were too busy eating baby food and enjoying life as little kids.

Nobody noticed the statues.

Bo Prottin baby-sat every now and then for the Warrens, but not as often as some others. The Warrens used many different baby-sitters, none of whom noticed the statues until one time Bo did.

She was sitting in the living room watching TV after putting the kids to bed. She looked cautiously over at the clown statue across the room. Bo thought to herself, 'it's a statue, Bo. Get over it. You don't want to sound like an idiot by calling the Mr. and Mrs. Warren over a statue, now do you?'

Here was the thing... Bo was afraid - deathly afraid - of clowns.

She was too embarrassed at first to have the guts to call the Warrens. But finally it became so nerve-wrecking that she had to.

The small statue was still there when Bo got up to reach for the phone in the kitchen.

She waited as it rang and rang. Finally, the voice of Mrs. Warren answered, "Hello?"

"Um... hi, Mrs. Warren. It's Bo."

Mrs. Warren sounded surprised. "Bo... is everything all right? Are the children okay?" she asked a bit cautiously.

Bo answered, "No, everything's fine with the kids." She heard Mrs. Warren sigh with relief over the phone.

"Well, what can I do for you. I must get back to the party soon..."

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Bo apologized. "But may I move the clown statue in your living room? I sort of... I have a fear of clowns. Is that okay?"

Mrs. Warren sounded confused. "Clown? We have no clowns in our living room..."

Bo frantically checked the living room once more. The clown was gone... or at least moved somewhere else. "I'm sorry..." she stuttered. "I... I must have been seeing things."

"I must go now, Bo. Things should be okay. I'll see you at 11."

"Okay, bye."

Bo looked suspiciously over to where the clown had been. 'I HAD to have been seeing things.' She sat back on the couch.

Through the archway Bo saw a flash of polka-dots and heard some shuffling in the kitchen.

Knitting her eyebrows into cautious frowns, Bo stepped into the kitchen. There, sitting on one of the counters, sat the clown statue. Bo screamed and grabbed the phone.

She called 911 and explained the situation. They were cautious to come, she could tell, but told her they'd send somebody right over. Bo looked in the kitchen, wondering where the clown had gone now...

It was gone.

Her first instinct was to check the kids. She went up and they were sound asleep, the clown nowhere in sight on the upper floor. Bo went downstairs to wait by the window for the police to arrive.

Not long after they came and carried the kids downstairs to sleep on the couch while they searched the house.

In the attic, they found the clown. It proved to be not a statue, but a person, a rather small person...

A midget.

The Warrens were called and came home immediately from their elaborate party.

Not long after the incident and the guy had been arrested, he admitted to living in the Warrens' attic for over a month and dressing in the kids' halloween clothes so he could come down and raid the refrigerator for food when the Warrens were not home.

Many times, it was when there were baby-sitters there. He froze and posed as statues and the baby-sitters assumed that was what he was.

Bo never forgot that polka-dotted hat...