48 Hour Short Story Contest

Practice

Budders the Clown waited outside The Slipper dance studio. His love, Celia, taught kids ballet there five days a week. While he waited, Budders adjusted his polka dotted bow tie. He was nervous because tonight was the night he was planning on taking the relationship further.

Celia followed a group of students out the front door while pulling her blonde hair out of it's tight bun. It flowed down past her shoulders in waves.

"Hi sweetheart." Budders held out the plastic white flowers that he'd been holding for almost fifteen minutes during his wait.

"Oh." Celia stopped and stared at the flowers for a minute before accepting them. "Thanks." She started to walk in the direction of her apartment.

Budders followed easily, taking long strides with his large clown shoes. He didn't speak until they were almost there. "Do you wanna go up and change? I've got big plans for tonight. I can wait downstairs till you are ready."

She stopped walking. "Listen," Celia turned to him and put her hand on his arm for a second. "You are a nice guy and all but I think we should see other people."

"How can you say that?" He was devastated. "After all I've done for you. All the hurdles you've made me jump through."

Celia shrugged. "You're a clown. You should be used to doing that."

"I'm a clown because as a chemist I wasn't fun enough for you." He tried to control his voice but it was starting to raise anyways. "You promised if I did all that for you..."

"I changed my mind."

Budders had to fight back tears. "Please don't do this. I can make things right again if you just give me another chance."

She shook her head. "No. I'm moving on. Goodbye." Finished, Celia walked away.

"You'll pay for this, you selfish bitch!" He yelled, no longer about to cry; his anger had taken over. He stormed away while cursing under his breath and promised himself that things would change. He wasn't going to let a woman trample him like that and get away with it.

As he fumbled around for his house key Budders noticed a grasshopper as it landed next to his foot. Without thinking he brought down his big right shoe, squashing it. With a tiny sense of relief he went inside but just as he closed the door an idea struck him.

He spent the next three hours tearing through every room in the upper portion of the house. "It's gotta be here some where," Budders muttered as he rummaged through fake flowers, wigs, rubber hammers, and bow ties. He was about to give up when he found the item in a small drawer in the kitchen. It was a perfectly preserved grasshopper in clear white glass. Celia had given it to him on their second date because she thought it would be an amusing, although a tad bit morbid, gift.

Budders took the domed grasshopper downstairs to his basement/laboratory. On one half of the room he had a chemistry lab set up for his own experiments. There was a dense table and cabinets full of compounds and elixirs. On the other side he kept his secret clown stash. It consisted of a special clown wardrobe, a makeup cabinet and a few different accessories. He went over to the lab side and began to do research.

The research took several weeks of reading and experimentations before he had a full working plan. A few chemicals and some equipment had to be ordered and in a manner that would not arouse any suspicion. He also kept careful tabs on Celia. It would be a while before he'd be able to carry out his plans and he didn't want her to disappear on him. He had many chances to grab her during those scouting adventures but he wasn't ready yet. First he needed to practice.

The first experimental stage consisted of testing on insects and small animals. He knew that the compounds and amounts wouldn't even be close to what he'd need on a human but they made good tests for the idea in general. Once he was confident enough from those he began the search for his human test subject.

This proved to be more difficult than he'd first imagined.

Budders had to find the right female test subject. She had to be close to Celia in body weight and structure though she didn't have to be exact. That would be easy for a normal woman, but a dancer was a different story. He monitored all the dance studies that were fifty to one hundred miles away. His same town was off limits for now.

After almost a month of search he found someone. Her name was Jessica and she was a beautiful brown haired ballerina. She looked to be about Celia's height and her waistline wasn't too far off either. Plus, she gave Budders that feeling; the feeling that she was the one.

One afternoon he finally got up the nerve to approach her. "Hello, pretty lady." Budders bowed and offered a fake flower to her.

Jessica looked surprised at first but then smiled. "Hello," she said in a shy voice. She had been on her way to dance rehearsal.

"Have a wonderful day." He smiled to show his almost white teeth and then gave her another bow. It wasn't a full conversation, but he'd made contact and that was all he needed. He watched her walk to the dance studio before going to the hotel room he'd reserved for that night. He had to prepare.

Later that night, when Jessica passed by the dark alley next to the dance studio, he was there waiting. In a quick motion he grabbed her, pulling her into the dark, and placed a soaked rag over her mouth and nose. Soon her body went limp. He carried her to his car in a hurry, making sure that no one saw them. Then he started the drive home.

As he laid her on the chem table, Budders felt a sense of excitement mixed with satisfaction. A woman lay before him, unconscious, with chemicals and tools in the background. He couldn't wait to get started. He started the experiment while thinking; it won't be long, Celia. You'll be mine.


Word count = 1053

Practice  (18+) 48 hour contest - clown, argument, hammer, grasshopper and shoe #1556599 by Dawn Embers