Bippo: The Death of a Clown

No one that saw his corpse could believe what they were seeing. In death, Bippo wasn’t just smiling; he was grinning. Now it’s true that a clown was supposed to smile, but even when he was alive, he never did. Not even when he was performing. Why kids loved him so much was a mystery to everyone who knew him.

When the coroner had taken his body, the clowns gathered to figure out what they were going to do to send him off in a way that was respectful. Although why they were trying to respect him was a mystery—he never showed them or anyone, for that matter, any kind of respect.

The circus closed for a couple of days in memory of Bippo. It gave all the performers and the ringmaster/owner a chance to come up with ideas, and there were plenty of them.

"How about we put a huge picture of him in the center of the ring during performances?" suggested Carla, the tightrope walker.

"That’s too tame," said Sam, the trapeze artist. "We need something that really stands out."

"Why not bring an empty casket into the ring and set it on fire?" One of the jugglers, Ricardo said with a grin.

"Are you out of your mind?" shouted Sam. "The last thing we need is the whole tent burning down!"

"Yeah, let's not turn this into a disaster," added Lila, one of the clowns, shaking her head.

"What about a sarcophagus?" piped up Joe, another clown. "Like an Egyptian one, but with Bippo's face on it. We can surround it with flowers."

The group considered this for a moment.

"That's... actually not a bad idea," said the ringmaster. "It’s respectful, and it has a dramatic flair."

By the time the circus reopened, it had been decided what was going to be done.

The day of the memorial arrived. One thing that all agreed on was how heavy the sarcopogus seemed to be.

"Is there stuff in here" Boopsy, a clown asked. "It seems awful heavy for an empty box.

"I'm positive," the ringmaster answered. "Let's just get this done. We done have much time before the show begins.

Tension was high as the crowd filtered into the tent. A curtain was pulled closed around the center ring, hiding what was behind it. By the time the last person entered, there wasn’t an empty space to be found. Once everyone was seated, everything went dark except for the center ring. The curtain slowly opened, and the crowd gasped at what they saw.

The spotlight highlighted what was in the very center of the ring. Sitting upright was an Egyptian-like sarcophagus. Bippo’s image was painted on the front, a smile on his lips. The base was surrounded by hundreds of flowers.

The ringmaster entered and began his speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, a week ago we lost a beloved member of our circus family. Bippo the Clown brought joy to countless children, and today, we honor his memory."

The speech lasted about five minutes before he exited the ring, and the show began in earnest. The clowns gave their usual performances: juggling, riding unicycles, and all the antics clowns usually did.

"Remember, stick to the routine," whispered Lila to Joe as they prepared to go on.

"Got it," Joe replied, adjusting his oversized bow tie.

Everything was going perfectly until a small car, filled with other clowns, entered from the left of the stage. Coming to a stop beside the sarcophagus, the car barely nudged it, and all hell broke loose.

"What the...?" muttered Joe, one of the clowns, as the sarcophagus wobbled.

The sarcophagus fell on its side, the lid popping open, and out rolled the body of Bippo. The body came to rest in the flowers.

Screams filled the big top as people grabbed their children and ran toward the exits.

"Get out, get out!" yelled one of the parents, pushing their way through the crowd.

"Calm down, everyone, please!" shouted the ringmaster, but his voice was lost in the chaos.

Since the exits would only allow a few people to go through at a time, the crowd began pushing each other, causing the tent to start collapsing, trapping people and performers under it.

After everything was done and all were safe, the members of the circus gathered in silence. The ringmaster finally spoke up. "We will never discuss this again."

Everyone nodded in agreement, the horror of the event etched into their faces.

"Let's just move on," whispered Lila, tears in her eyes.

"Yeah," said Joe, his voice trembling.

The performers dispersed, each carrying the weight of the day's events, vowing to put the tragedy behind them and continue their performances, haunted by the memory of the events of the night.