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hi guys! i wrote this for an english project in 10th grade. i like it alot, but i know its not the best i can do because limited page numbers are very restricting... T-T... read and enjoy! - megan
Only Happiness
Have you ever wondered what makes people sad? How a lot of people in the world seem sad? How do they get that way; why are they sad? Soon that doesn’t even matter. The goal is just to make them happy by all means possible. But what if this meant getting rid of all sad feelings? All fear, pain, disappointment, and jealousy. What if only happiness was left? Would the world be perfect?
Many thought it would be. That’s why they started it. That’s how the Circus of Smiles began. If you were sad, you were taken away for a little “vacation time” as they called it. You traveled to a circus where you were cheered up by the clowns, the tricks, the magic and some “happiness medicine” that they injected into your arm. This worked on many people. Once you were happy again, you were sent back home.
Everyone thought this was brilliant, a new way of living. Never feel bad ever, ever again. Everyone was always smiling; the world was happy. The crime rate plummeted to the lowest it had ever been and even further below that. The people were happy knowing that they were safe, secure, and treated fairly.
But did the happy people ever wonder what would happen if they went to the circus and were not cheered up? Well no, of course not. The people don’t need to worry about it because why does it matter. They’re happy.
But seriously, was everyone… well, happy with being happy?
If they had known what I knew, things would have been much different. You see, for me, it started a few years after the circus came around. I was just old enough to apply for a job. And boy, was I happy about that. I wanted to be a clown in the Circus of Smiles; I wanted so badly to be part of that magic act and help people who were sad. No one likes being sad.
So there I was a young lad, ready to help the world. The day my acceptance letter came was the happiest day of my life. I was to go and be trained on how to cheer up people up as a clown. But as I entered the red and yellow striped curtains, I never thought some people just couldn’t be happy. I never thought they could be so sad. I never thought those things would happen to them.
“Hello there, child. What can I do for you? Are you lost?” he smiled warmly at me and I smiled in return.
“I, um, I’m here to be trained as a, um, clown,” I could feel my throat closing up as I yearned to be accepted into their ranks. The clown continued smiling as he pulled off two rubber gloves, covered in red face paint.
“Oh! Welcome! I’m sorry I’m late. I had some chores to do,” He grinned at me. The white in his face paint magnified many small wrinkles you wouldn’t normally see. The red paint around his lips contrasted with the white on his face, making his teeth seem more yellow than they probably really were.
I fiddled with my hands while staring down at my shoes, marveling in the fact that I was even talking to one of the beloved clowns. My stomach was doing a fast paced dance inside me.
“My name is-”
“Tucker Jones. Yes, I know,” He stated plainly, stretching out his hand. I blushed, honored to be known by a clown.
“My name is Happy. I am the head clown in this Circus, and anything I say should be done without questioning or second thoughts.” I nodded as he took my hand and pulled me into the arena. I stumbled over the painted red wood placed in a circle for the arena boundaries. Happy released my hand and turned to face me, his chest puffed, proud of what I was about to see. I looked up into the ring and my eyes glimmered from the shine of the lights. Or maybe it was the dazzling effect of clowns, acrobatics, and many others all practicing in shining colors. All doing extreme tricks that normal people would never even attempt.
I smiled, amazed. Happy smiled at my amazement.
“So, Tucker, what are your talents?”
“Well, um... I’m not really sure... I’m really good at balancing though and-”
“Good! You’ll be a tight rope walker!” I gulped, and turned my head to look up at the thin wire racing across the room.
“It’s not that hard. Plus you start low and work higher. You’ll get there eventually. No need to rush.” I nodded again, unsure of what else to do.
“Now, you need a name, don’t you?” My insides turned, I was well prepared for this part.
“Well, I was thinking, how about something like, The Amazing Tucker, or The Extraordinary Tucker, or-”
“Sunny.”
“What?”
“You’re name is going to be Sunny, ok, kid?”
“But, I, um-”
“Don’t worry about it. You can thank me later,” He grinned and bowed. I covered my disappointment by smiling broadly.
“So, why was there an clown opening here? This is the first one in years!” I asked curiously.
“Well… we had a little... problem with one of our old employees. So we had to let her go. Then we needed a replacement.”
“Really? Who was it?” Happy smiled. I smiled again.
“Stella...”
“Oh! I’ve heard all about her! She was the star for so long! Why was she fired?”
“Well… that’s a bit of a private issue. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, understanding that I was still just the new kid.
“Well, I suggest you meet some of the other clowns here. We’ll get make up on you once we decide which design will fit your personality.” Again I nodded, following orders.
“We have a mini tightrope set up over there,” He pointed to the left side of the ring where, sure enough, a rope stretched across a small area, only about 3 feet off the floor. I smiled. Happy coughed to clear his throat.
“Everyone!” he called out to the people in the arena. The clowns turned to look at him. “This is our newest member, Sunny. Make him feel at home here, introduce yourselves, but don’t scare him off!” He laughed at this, because we all knew there was no such thing as fear in the world. The clowns mearly stared blankly at me. Happy turned to me and whispered in a low serious tone, “You’re free to roam where you like, but stay on the grounds. And the big black trailer out back that’s off limits and you’ll be punished severely if you go there. Only the ringmaster, a select few, and I are allowed in there.” and he left, leaving me with clowns. They turned back to practicing. I shrugged off his final warning, thinking that’s where they kept the very dangerous equipment. Ignoring everyone else, I walked over to the mini tightrope, eager to try it out.
“Is it done?”
“Yes, Happy.”
What was done? Curiosity perked my interest and I peered slowly over the side of the platform, only revealing my eyes and top of my head. My eye makeup, dark blue paint in the shape of stars, made it harder to be spotted from this height.
“Good.”
“This is getting harder, Happy. People are noticing that people are missing. A family called us yesterday wondering what happened to their father.”
“Deal with them like we deal with all the families of the dead.”
The dead? Who died? I wondered.
“Yes... Happy, sir.”
“Now, we have a performance in one hour. Make sure everyone is ready to perform. Inject them all with another dose of our medicine, including yourself. Oh! But before you do, double check and make sure they’re all clean of any blood.”
Blood!? Blood from what!?!
“Yes, sir. What about Sunny?”
Me? There’re talking about me! I smiled.
“Yeah...the new kid… He’s been taking the medicine right? It will only be a few more weeks before he becomes ready to perform in the shows. Then, he will be able to help you with your job,” Happy smiled. My smile faltered.
“Yes, sir.”
“Now go.”
The subservient clown bowed and walked out of the ring to where all the clowns were putting make up on. Happy whistled cheerily as he walked to the entrance of the tent, ready to greet the sad people.
Up on the platform, my heart was beating at an alarming rate. Not any longer because of the height, but because of what I’d just heard. I was beginning to piece things together.
Blood? Why would they be covered in blood? Unless they were killing things… and the families of the dead have been calling? Does that mean people have died here? Wouldn’t that mean… they’re killing… people?
I gasped as the fact hit me. It all made sense. That’s why people who were still sad were taken to Happy. If the circus didn’t work, they were killed! The clowns were killing people! And I was one of them! Someday they expected me to help them! I shuddered. Of course this was all just a superstition. I had to be over analyzing! Maybe someone had died while being transferred to the circus. And they had blood on their hands only because they were carving an animal to prepare tonight’s dinner. Yeah. That had to be it. But somehow inside, I knew it wasn’t. I gave up on the tightrope and scurried down the ladder, running to my room, no smile on my face.
My hand fumbled on the wall searching for a light switch. When I found it, I flipped it on. One dim light bulb lit the far end of the trailer. But it was enough to see what I needed.
“Oh my god…” I barely choked out. My mouth hung open; I was in shock. My eyes began to water at the sight of a body, rope tied around its arms, dangling from the ceiling near the back wall, It was headless and rotting. Flies fluttered around it and the smell of the rotting corpse hit me all at once. I struggled to keep my breathing under control as I gasped for fresh air. A tear slid down my cheek when I realized my heroes, the clowns, had been doing this. Around the perimeter of the room were barrels labeled with different body parts. But the thing that caught my eye, was the cutting board and butchers knife on the left side of the room. The dried blood a stale brown color, leaving an unhappy stain on the wood. The butchers knife, stuck in the wood, shining proud. I guess that’s what they thought. Killing was making the world happy. I wiped the blurred eyes and turned quickly to make my way out the door. My lips never wanted to smile again.
I turned the knob and swung it inward, only to be blocked by someone I had believed in. Happy.
“Oh, dear…” he said happily, “seems I’ve caught myself a mouse.”
“Murderers!” I shouted as loud as I could, hoping people would hear my shout and come save me.
“My, my… well, now that you know. You have two choices. You can either join us and help out and keep the world happy, or you can end up like Stella.”
Suddenly I knew what happened to Stella. Killed for rebelling. She could have made a lot of people unhappy by letting this information out. So they got rid of her. Permanently.
“Sunny, you’re crying. I think you need a big dose of some medicine. What do you say? Come with me?” he said nicely, reaching his hand out for me.
“NO!” I yelled knocking away his hand and trying to get past him. He grabbed my shoulders and looked me square in the eye, smiling.
“Why not? We’re just making people happy. Isn’t that what everyone wants? To be happy? They’d do anything to be happy. Even die.” He chuckled as I squirmed in his arms.
“MONSTERS!” I screamed, slamming my foot down on his toes. I didn’t know if I had hit him through the red clown shoes, but by his howl in pain, I guessed I did. He let go of me to grab his foot. I ran. I ran with tears in my eyes. I had never cried in my life. After all, what’s to cry about if you’re always happy? But now I knew what it meant to be sad. I had to do something.
I had no idea what to do then. But I knew I had to get rid of the circus, whether I came out alive or not. No one would believe me if I had told them. They were all too happy. But somehow I was determined to take them down.
The literal meaning flew across my mind for a few moments as I rested on a crate in the storage area of the tent. Bring them down… could I really bring down the whole tent? Cut the thick support lines with a sharp knife… maybe one the juggler used. That’s an idea. I’ll bring the whole tent down. Now determined, driven by part insanity and part righteousness, I crept past clowns running on and off of the stage during the performance. I stole a knife out of the juggler’s multicolored bag. I slipped out the divide in the red and yellow fabric, stepping into the night sky. The chilly night air sent preexisting shivers up my spine. Concealing my shadow in the tent’s shadows I noticed cops standing near the entrance. I assumed Happy had called them in case I tried anything. But he guessed wrong. I wasn’t going to just run out and yell secrets, I was planning something bigger. There were 6 main ropes that held the center pole in place for the tent to stand. Being as quiet as possible, I slipped through the night and cut about ¾ the way through each of the main ropes. Except the one by the cops. But that’s ok, I didn’t need all of them to let loose.
Finishing the fifth rope, I ran around to the one in back. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. The pole would hopefully fall right in the middle of the walkway for the entrance, not hitting any of the innocent people. Only crushing a few cop cars. I looked at the rope in front of me.
“Now or never,” I said to myself. I frowned and cut the rope the whole way through. The pole in the middle swayed slightly as the next to rope on either side pulled tighter. Soon they ripped without help. The chain reaction had begun as the pole fell toward the earth. Only one or two screams from inside as the pole hit and the tent collapsed on the people and performers. The fabric wrinkled as it took the shape of the crowd under it. Cop car sirens went off as shouting began. Flashlight beams shone across the destroyed circus arena.
“You there!” a policeman shouted when the beam hit my pants leg.
“Sunny!” I recognized that voice. Happy. “Get him!”
“Time to go,” I said to myself. I ducked under the tent. The police, surprised by my lack of running, stalled before also climbing under the fallen tent. The police under the tent could not see me, much less find how to get into the arena from behind the stands. I, who knew the area, snuck in the back entrance where the performers enter. The clowns, I saw, only stood still, like dolls. Not doing anything to help, but not doing anything to stop me. They no longer had any senses.
“Anyone not happy!?!” I shouted.
People laughed. But among them I heard a cry of sorrow. I ran to the sobbing. In the stands, I found a young girl, only about 7 years old, sobbing and holding her teddy bear.
“Come on. We need to go. Now!” I offered her my hand and she took it, holding it tighter than actually needed. I couldn’t help but feeling sorry for her. I could hear Happy yelling from somewhere in the distance. Perhaps he was under the tent too. That would be bad.
“Are you the kid who called?” a woman approached me under the tent. I was hard to make out any features.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve come to take you somewhere nice.”
“Oh good,” She responded. Dabbing her eyes with a small white handkerchief.
“ANYONE ELSE!?” I shouted taking the woman’s hand in my open hand. When no response came except for policeman’s cries and Happy’s yelling, I ran.
I ran straight to the exit with both people following me. I passed a clown on the way out the back door. I was the clown I had seen talking to Happy when I found out the truth. I looked into his eyes and I saw something I had never seen before. He was smiling, or course, but tears fell from his eyes. I guess there was still some humanity in the clowns. Part of me paused, wanting to take him with me too. But I was unsure.
“Go,” he murmured through tight lips and a fake smile. I nodded, knowing he was saving me.
“Thank you. I won’t forget you.” I saw a twinkle of appreciation and real happiness in his eyes. The small girl tugged on my shirt as some cops were finding their way out of the tent. I smiled at the clown. Tears ran down both our faces as I lifted the little girl onto my back and ran, followed by the woman.
We ran until we couldn’t breath. By the time we hit a road, the circus was long gone behind us. We still hid from cop cars, knowing that Happy would not let me go. When we had to stop, we stayed at small inns far from most people. The women’s name was Beatrice. She was sent because her husband had gone to the circus then vanished and she could simply not get over it. I knew I couldn’t tell her what really happened, so I kept my mouth shut. The girl was Alice. She didn’t know why she had been sent away, but it only made her worse. The woman and child got along extraordinarily well, like they were really family. I decided I would set them up somewhere together. So they could live, well… happily.
I don’t know what makes people sad. And I don’t know why they are that way. I don’t know if people were happy with being happy. I don’t know how no one can see the truth until it is... hanging before their eyes. I don’t know what a perfect world would be. Maybe that was a perfect world. All I know is that you cant live on only happiness.
the end
all comments are welcome
