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This week’s assignment involved using a story starter from Scholastic.  As such, you should be forewarned that this story is 100% true if you believe in magic, and I hope you do.

The slot machine styled story starter told me to write a story about “Describing the secret wish of a powerful clown who discovered a hidden city.  Here goes my best effort.

My name is Chaos.  Chaos D. Clown, and I have performed with the Brown Brothers Circus troupe for nearly all of my life.  My parents, they work for the circus, too, but they don’t perform.  Dad is like a jack of all trades.  He builds sets for most of the acts.  He’s one of those guys dressed in dark colors so you can’t see him when the lights go out.  He calls himself the “Maintenance Man” and says the show can’t go on without him.  Everybody else just calls him Jim.

Mom.. well I’m not sure exactly what Mom does around here.  Everybody calls her “Ms. Ma’am” and everybody straightens up when she walks in the room.  She’s kind of like the afterhours ringleader.  I heard one of the new girls call her the chaperone, but I don’t think that’s her official title.  Anyway, everybody loves to see her at the end of a run, because she hands out the cash.

Half the time, when a new act comes along, they don’t speak English. But I’m a kid, and I speak the universal language of smiles and candy.  I’m everybody’s friend.  Unfortunately, I’m also kind of clumsy and awkward, so it’s not uncommon for me to make a mess, in a tent, on the train, or in the dressing room.  That’s why they started calling me Chaos.  It was dad’s idea to paint my face on throw a wig on me, so I didn’t look out of place roaming amongst the other performers.  It wasn’t long before I became a fan favorite.

One day, while out for a stroll near the acrobats’ tent I heard a train on the nearby tracks starting to pull away.  The familiar clickety-clack of the wheels starting to turn made me look in that direction.  I saw what I thought was a kitty, slip right under the turning wheels.   I was sure that cat was a goner, so I headed off to find my dad so we could clean it up before show time. (Nothing kills the circus vibe like a dead pet.)  He and Ms. Ma’am were busy chatting, so I grabbed his gloves and a bag.  But when I got to the tracks, the train was gone, and there were no traces of the cat.

I crept closer to the tracks, thinking maybe I was looking in the wrong place.  As I got closer, I noticed a little dip in the ground.  It was just large enough that the cat could have settled into that little nook and been saved.  I looked around and took a step, then another, until i was inches from the spot where i’d seen that cat.  And finally after looking around a final time, well, I did it.  I stepped onto the track.  I checked for trains again, and then i threw a rock at the hole.  It disappeared.  I grabbed a stick.  I poked the stick in the hole and the weirdest thing happened.  The stick never touched the bottom of the hole.  So then I got real adventurous.  I tapped the hole with my foot.  Nothing happened.  A clickety-clack in the distance made me nervous, so i turned to run away from the tracks, but i lost my balance, and fell into the hole, except i didn’t land right away.  When i did hit the bottom, I landed on a soft purple chair.  A cat sat at my feet and a room full of adults stood in amazement.

“He’s here.  He’s finally here! ” A young red-head scooped me in her arms.

“I’m sorry, miss.  Who is here?” I stammered.

“Why, you are silly. Our long awaited King!”  She playfully grabbed my nose.  She smelled of rosebuds and cinnamon.  I could have stayed in her arms forever.

I struggled to get out of her arms.  “I’m sorry, miss.  You must be mistaken.  I’m Chaos D. Clown, of the Brown Brothers Circus, and i really ought to get back now.”

She looked at me closely, then she got down on one knee, so that we were nose to nose.

“If you’re not the king, then explain the war paint on your face, or the crown on your head, or how you landed just so, on the throne.”

Before I could explain, she grabbed me by the hand.

“Come now, your highness.  The entire kingdom is waiting for your  address.  We cannot wait to hear of your magnificent adventures in the overlands.

…To be continued

(In my first children’s novel)

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/story-starters/writing-prompts