Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here at last on the ground,
You in mid-air,
Where are the clowns?

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move,
Where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns?

It's not easy being a single mother, and it can be made all the more difficult being new to town, knowing no one and having very few to call upon should such a time come along. And motherhood can be all the more ... precious, when there are extenuating circumstances. Little Georgie is small for all his nine years though doctors assure mum that son is perfectly fine, as fine can be. There is plenty of time for the boy to grow into himself.

He has no friends, given the circumstances, this is surly to change in time. It is nice however, to almost right away, more or less upon arrival to a new home, to receive invites for both mother and son to attend a birthday party in the neighbourhood they recently have moved into. Mum heard post arriving through the front door letterbox early the day after moving in and came to investigate only to catch a glimpse of Georgie in the living room lost in a moment of looking out the window.

Moving to a new home can bring the idea of great adventure for a nine-year-old with an active imagination. There can be much to be amazed at and plenty to be explored, but in the right here, right now, there is something ... different. With the mail in her hands, some addressed to the new owner/s, and having moved into the living room mum asks, 'what are you looking at honey?'

'A clown, mommy, he's outside the window.'

'A clown? ...' mum moves to the window, looks out, and sees nothing noteworthy. 'What clown?'

'Ya must have scared him. He was right there, waving at me ...'

Mum moves to the front door, hesitantly opens it, and has a look outside. There is nothing unusual to be seen, no sign of anything out of the ordinary, but there is a solitary red balloon close-by, ready to float off to who knows where. She come back in and ensures that both locks to the door are engaged, just in case. She then has a look at that mail she has in her possession. She sees one blank envelope, no name upon it, no address, no postage. She wastes no time in opening this ... unusual thing.

She soon smiles for there was nothing to worry or wonder about.

'Looks like we have been invited to a birthday party three doors down this Sunday afternoon, what do ya think? Should we go?'

'Will there be clowns?'

'Clowns ... what's this new obsession with clowns? ... I guess there might be ... I don't know.'

Sunday comes and has brought the weather with it. A perfectly fine day with not a cloud in the sky. Decorations don the garden of the home three doors down. The windows and front door are dressed along the same lines, and that door is open long before it is reached. Mum introduces herself and Georgie and offers up a gift. They are welcomed in instantly.

No sooner are they inside, when Georgie is taken a hold of by two of the other kids in attendances and brought out the back yard where there is a clown, making balloon shaped animals. Of course, this pleases Georgie. Mum is offered a slice a cake and a cup of tea. No more than ninety second from having been parted from Georgie, mum excuses herself to go see how he is getting on. She may be a little over-protective but given the circumstances ...

She stands for a moment just off the patio to the back yard, shading her eyes from the powerful sun. When she can't see her son, she calls for him softly, careful not to sound like a lady who doesn't allow her son much. When no response comes and she still can't see Georgie, she begins to worry, not a whole lot yet, but the worry is there.

'Georgie ...'

No response ... now, she really doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her. She moves round the yard quickly, spying every child she sees ... none of them are them are Georgie. She covers the whole yard, and it is obvious Georgie is not out here. She reaches the spot she believed the clown had been only to discover no sign of him. In his place, a single red balloon rises from the ground and gently floats off and up into that clear sky.

Panic really sets in when two other mums also seem to have problems. The children who came and brought Georgie outside are nowhere to be seen either. When mum mentions the clown and that Georgie seems to be obsessed with clowns since the party invite came, she is asked ... 'what clown?'

No clown had been hired to work the party and the parents of the party house swear they had not seen any clown at all ...