Another day of torment had ended; another day of pushes and shoves in the school corridors, whispers and giggles behind your back. At the age of 16, you still found yourself feeling like a child. You had no friends at school, no one to confide in and trust.
You were walking down the street out of school, away from all the other kids greeting their parents or getting on the bus. However, as you worn old sneakers hit the tarmac sidewalk, you knew you weren't going home- not back to them.
When you were younger, your parents had died; in a terrible car accident. Killed instantly. You were moved here, to Derry, at the age of 11 and sent to stay with your distant auntie and uncle. They were ruthless. They clothed and fed you (just about) and let you stay in the house, but verbal and physical abuse from both of them was never far away. It was so crushing to know that in this world, you didn't really have a self place... a sanctuary.
The autumn sun was setting in a brilliant golden hue over the pale blue skies, the crisp leaves on the trees cascading down onto the road below. Your (hair colour) hair blew softly in the October wind, as you shrugged you bag strap over your shoulder, taking a detour off the path... down towards the sloping forest bank that eventually led down to the river, which was your destination.
See, over the past few months or so you had almost found comfort... a friend? In the most unexpected circumstance.
You saw him- it, whatever- fleetingly, over the summer holidays when you would come to the river to read your book. You liked to regard him as your friend, the strange clown figure that apparently only you could see. You'd perhaps say you were insane but you knew he was real.
Anyway, this particular evening after school; you felt you had experienced probably one of the worst days of the term. The girls in the bathroom had sniggered and made snide comments about your clothes, at lunch the boys shouted horrible things at you and laughed. You'd never felt like such a spectacle. And for some reason it all seemed to be getting to you so much more today.
Once through the clearing of the forest, you were met with the view of the river, water rushing clear, white foam clashing at the edges of the rocks where they sat firmly in the river bed. The sound of the water cascading had always made you feel at ease.
To your left, was a large sewer pipe, all sorts of brown sludge and moss covered its exterior and lower lip, where the concrete had been stained a nice offset brown colour. You gazed at it almost expectantly... hoping he might appear
Quietly setting yourself on a rock by the edge of the river, you pulled your school book out of your bag and started to complete some of your history homework. You suppose even if he didn't show up, you could at least get your work done.
You had been alone for some time it seemed, pen scrawling over the paper when your peripheral vision became aware to a shadow drifting above you. (Eye colour) eyes gazing upwards, you saw that signature red balloon and smiled, looking over your shoulder to see him standing there, rigid and wooden in stature.
When you had first met Pennywise, he had frightened you and you know he aimed to scare you. You met at this very spot, you had been so terrified you ran away. Over the next few weeks you saw him around town, around the grounds of your aunt and uncle's farm... he had been watching you. Some things started to change, things would be improved for you, just little things- like the axe went missing so your uncle couldn't get you chopping firewood for winter and the sink magically unclogged itself so you didn't have to miserable job of doing it. Pennywise had one day told you he saw how 'horrid' your family had been. He said no more, but you knew the clown creature had been looking out for you...
And since then you only ever tried to see the good. Yes he had a frightful exterior, tall with freakish looks in his eyes and wild crazy flaming orange hair- but he was looking out for you.
A smile appeared onto your face
"Hello Penny." You said softly, "I haven't seen you in a while."
The clown was motionless for a moment before he smiled a little jarringly, like it was an electric shock
"Sorry. I've been busy." Was all he said, "would you like a balloon?" He asked you, and you smiled as you shook your head. He always asked if you wanted a balloon.
"No thank you, Penny. I'm okay." You replied and looked back down at your homework. He wasn't much of a talker and not well informed on how to hold proper conversations that flowed
"I had a rough day at school today." You started to say
"Oh..." came the response, he sounded sorrowful. Like he felt your pain, but once again the clown's responses were short- unsure almost.
"But then it's like every day." You elaborated, "I told you over the summer? Didn't I? About how awful it would be when I went back to school." You explained, almost tearfully now, feeling your heart wrench as your hand instinctively wrapped tighter around the pen
"It's not even like it stops when I get home. The bullying - it just continues in another horrible form. I can't catch a break... I can't ever see myself escaping."
You had now become aware to the years filling your (eye colour) eyes as you blinked them back quickly, after the rant you had noticed Pennywise hadn't said a word either- but you weren't surprised, he wasn't something of a human element and didn't sympathise with these kind of emotions
Glancing backwards, you noted he was gone. It was just the sound of the rushing river, you and your various home work books. A sigh escaped you; maybe you had been wrong to think he did feel some sort of compassion for you, a protectiveness. You tried to set your mind straight, to think on getting this boring work done.
Your black ball point pen hit the notepad, before you felt a tickling on your shoulder that made you shudder. You cast your eyes up, blinded momentarily by the light of the sun before you saw it. A floating red string tickling your shoulder, and atop of it- a shining, red balloon animal.
You picked up the string an clasped it tightly, smiling at the gift.
Perhaps Pennywise wasn't of many words, but clearly his heart was bigger than he let on.