RENT plays un-noticed in the background of a girl that doesn't feel like she has a life worth living.
It's summertime, but she has yet to enjoy it. There is nothing to do in her small town and even if there was her friends are all away enjoying the sun. "Well," She says to herself, "I should make the most of my free time." She grabs a Stephen King book and heads outside onto the front porch of her house where there is an old wooden swing and her eight year old black lab, asleep. She sits on the top step leading onto the porch and opens her book. It's about cell phones taking over the world.
She suddenly hears the jingle of bells and the sound of a child's bicycle horn. She looks up, and to her surprise, she sees what looks like a man wearing an old clown mask riding a tricycle down her driveway. "What on earth…" She whispers to herself. She's not sure whether to confront the man or call the police. She is somewhat fascinated and yet partially terrified. She rushes inside and grabs her cell phone. She then returns to the porch steps and peers past the bushes that block her view of the end of the drive. She does not see the man or his tricycle. "Well, that's odd." She says to no one but herself.
She returns to her seat and re-opens the book. After reading only about one paragraph, she hears the creaking of the wooden swing on the other side of the porch. She sets her book down and slowly turns her head.
And right there, rocking back and forth, is the masked man. His tricycle rests on the ground beside him and in his hand he holds a four-inch long butcher knife. The girl cannot help but let out a scream. She jumps from the stairs and grabs her cell phone from where she had slipped it into her back pocket. "What do you want?" She screams with all her might. The man, however, doesn't answer her. Instead he starts rocking faster, so fast it looks like the swing may collapse. The girl is horrified of what the man might do and she starts to dial 911 when the man jumps from the swing and launches himself at her. She dials the last one, puts the phone to her ear, and starts to run.
After the second ring, everything goes black.