Just when your fear of clowns was over, here comes Happy-Slappy!

After Abigail turned ten, her fear of clowns was not just over—but instead, replaced by her abductor, gripping her wrist and dragging her away. He didn’t look harmful when he showed up at first; he reminded her of her Uncle Ian, a man who’d never hurt a fly. When her parents were too busy playing ring toss at the stand with the stranger’s partner, she realized just how wrong she was about him.

An hour before, Abigail, her mom, and dad arrived at the county fair, greeted by the local celebrity, Happy-Slappy, with a smile and a balloon, which Abigail denied. She was still uneasy about his appearance, his sickly white paint, and his red teeth from his makeup bleeding through. He kept on smiling and reassured her, “It’ll be okay,” before leaving them with a wink.

For what was once her biggest fear could be her savior. Her abductor was in a hurry; he wanted her out of the fair before her parents even realized that their daughter was gone. They were heading straight towards Happy-Slappy, and she hoped Happy would recognize her and realize what was happening.

“Well hiya,” greeted Happy-Slappy, lowering down to Abigail. He gave her a few pats on her head and smiled, more of the red makeup around his mouth bled onto his teeth, as if he ate a child for his lunch break. “Come and tell Happy what’s got you down!”

Abigail wanted to shout that she didn’t know this man holding her, and was being abducted, but she didn’t want her mother and father hurt. “Scream, and she’ll hurt your mom and dad,” Abigail remembered her abductor pointing at the woman earlier, standing too close to her parents. She turned to smile back at them, as if she knew what he had told Abigail.

“Just has a stomach ache,” he told Happy. “Too many sweets. You know how they get when you take your eyes off them.” Both he and Happy laughed. Her only hope would then prance away in his big, red shoes, not without giving her a wink.

It wasn’t until the parking lot that he dropped his nicety. “Get in, and be quiet,” he said, shoving her into the back of the van. Parked away from the cars at the only spot with a tree blocking the view; no one could see a child forced into the van.

Abigail’s tears started to fall down her cheeks as she sat in silence. She wanted to look cool and catch the attention of cute boys; now, she wanted to be with her parents. But the attention she caught was of a monster, who adjusted his mirror to take a look at her before driving off.

The van’s back windows gave Abigail a view of the worst night of her life. Stood Happy-Slappy by the entrance upon leaving, smiling and waving at her. His voice played inside her head, “It’ll be okay.” They both knew it would not be for her.

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I was going back and forth on this story about whether to post it. While I do enjoy the premise, part of me wanted to rewrite it. But since I marked it as a finished story and sent it out there, I figured it wouldn’t be right to change it.

So, I appreciate those who have read it!