“Fooling, fooling, too much fooling.” (Astrid Lindgren, Pippi Longstocking)
This story was written for the 50 Word Thursday challenge, this week hosted by Teresa, The Haunted Wordsmith:
https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/50-word-thursday-8/
I have also included the Three Things Challenge:
https://lightmotifs.wordpress.com/2019/02/20/three-things-challenge-pl7/
Today’s prompt: keyboard, bananas, rattle
and the following prompts:
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/seldomly/
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/rdp-thursday-wan/
FOWC with Fandango — Undermine
A Carnival Surprise
The carnival parade was well under way, the bands marched playing their trumpets, drums and keyboard instruments. They could be heard several streets away. They weren’t playing them very well though, providing meaning to the old adage, you pay bananas. You get monkeys.
A man stepped out from an alleyway and joined one of the passing floats.
His garish costume and blue eyeshadow looked festive but his white makeup made him look wan in the light of the afternoon sun. He was just another clown, in the crowd, among many clowns juggling, riding on unicycles, shaking a rattle, eating fire.
Underneath his makeup, he wasn’t smiling. He was sick of it all. Fooling, fooling, too much fooling. While people starved and suffered, their hedonism threatened to undermine civilisation.
He will give them a carnival the like of which was seen seldomly and one no one present will live to repeat.
[150 Words]
OMG Kristian! Another reason to hate clowns. Well done!
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You never know what they’re hiding beneath those painted faces 😉 Thanks, Li. Glad you liked the story. 🙂
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You wrote a winning story there!
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Thank you very much. 🙂
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Nice job combining the prompts. And you are right, not all clowns are happy.
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I always think they’re creepy. Thanks, Michele. 🙂
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Excellent
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Well, Thank you, kindly Sir. 🙂
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Very enjoyable!
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Excellent. Thank you. 🙂
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Oh man…good story but so unlike you…good story though.
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Thank you. I like to write in different styles, so I’m glad it isn’t what you’d expect from me. 🙂
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That story could have gone horribly wrong with all those prompts. Well done. It was brilliant. It must be such a workout for the brain.
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Thank you. Yes, depending on the words, it can be difficult but I have to keep my brain active somehow. 😉 Glad you liked the story. 🙂
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