The Clown's Enigma

by Rebecca McNutt

Written overnight in a Canadian university lockdown for COVID-19.

A lonely woman in an abusive relationship finds solace in a neighbour whom she's never met, living in the apartment across from hers. This neighbour, a depressed party clown for hire, needs her help more than anybody realizes.

29 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2020

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first story in A Blurred Estuary of Demons: Early Short Stories collection, that i thought to myself, this could be a movie, maybe a short movie? maybe one of those movies that graduates make, but it's really simple, you don't need any fancy effects, just some decent acting hopefuls, and a mind to direct it without having to do any tough scenes, like maybe shooting a scene from the window of the woman, looking at the window of the clown at the other side of the street, its unneeded honestly.
This story presents everything that could go wrong with life, and the simple things that could go right and fix everything.
a man on the verge of suicide, a woman with an abusive husband with no way out, the asshole husband when he finally loses the wife he abused, and that janitor that died from a heart attack.
Two lives saved, One life ruined deservingly, and a life lost, its just a beautiful story, the janitor part of it for me, gave it balance from being too predictable.
The story made me relive a scene i don't want to relive, reading what the clown is emotionally going through, his relationship with his cat.
was this the saddest story of the collection for me?
I think it is.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pickles the Clown spends his time entertaining people, although he has very little laughter in his own life. Across from his apartment lives a woman with an equally unhappy life, trapped in a relationship with a violent husband. These two characters are brought wonderfuly to life in a short story that evokes happiness & sadness, as the reader observes their lives. Another fine story from an immensely talented writer.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

!SKS