The little figure on the bed was so still. Wan sunlight streamed in through the window. Soft footsteps in the hall. Was the clock on the wall still ticking? Had it fallen silent? We are all but clowns in this circus called Life. Gather round, gather round, come and watch the show! Father and son walk spellbound through the Midway, see the bright lights of the fair. Smell the cheap hot dogs, the spun-sugar blobs, hear the pitchmen’s cries!

At last you come to the Big Top, your hands sticky with sweets. Sawdust on the floor, the lights are bright and bathe your face in yellows, reds and blues. Your little heart lifts in your chest.

Here come the clowns!

The canvas parts to let you in. The seats are full. The ballyhoo sweeps across the ring. The crowd cheers. Here come the clowns!

Do you ever think back to a time when you were truly happy? For just one moment, the world is stilled, and everything is filled with infinite possibilities.

If only you could take that moment and distil its essence, preserve it—not forever, but just long enough.

Below the mountain, the Stranger came upon a small calm lake, where shrubs grew along the banks. On the other side of the lake he saw a pair of eyes watching him and, startled, he took a step back.

The face that stared at the Stranger from the bushes on the other side of the lake was pale white and serious. The child’s eyes were large and solemn, the mouth an exaggerated stroke of red, the nose a conical red protrusion. The child looked into the Stranger’s eyes, with that strangely melancholic expression that is unique to clowns.

The Stranger half-expected him to flee, but instead the boy emerged from his hiding place and stood, and the Stranger saw that he held a bright red balloon in his hand. As the Stranger watched, the child came to the banks of the lake and prodded the water experimentally with his foot. Seemingly satisfied, he took one step, and then another, until he stood on the surface of the water.

Then he seemed to wait. The Stranger felt himself drawn to the bank. He tried the water. To his surprise the water felt elastic. He pressed one foot and then another, and the water held him. The child began to step across the water, lightly, and the Stranger did likewise, and in this manner they traversed the lake from opposite sides until they met in the middle.

The air was so fresh and still and birds sang in the trees and the silver light glowed softly all around them.

The little clown smiled, and it broke the Stranger’s heart. There was so much trust in the little child’s eyes. The child held the red balloon and passed it mutely to the Stranger.