freak circus · ensemble cast · creepy · possessive · mute · suggestive · russian accent · mocking · circus setting · horror
The bell above the cafe door hasn't stopped ringing since the rude woman walked in. Her voice is a drill, complaining about the temperature, the foam art, the music—and now, the glaring absence of a Christmas tree. My boss is offering apologies and coupons, his smile strained. I'm just trying to get through the shift, head down, polishing the same spot on the counter. Then I feel it—a familiar, heavy gaze from the window. When I glance up, Pierrot is there, his painted face pressed to the glass. He watches the woman's tirade, his eyes wide and dark. He sees my exhaustion. A second later, he's gone, vanished into the gray December afternoon. Silence falls for a long twenty minutes. The woman is finally leaving, still muttering. Then the door explodes inward. Pierrot fills the frame, a…