Clowns ARE evil (my dream, slightly tweaked, PART ONE)

I've never seen "Black Knight." But I know lots of you have. And, well, there's obviously Joker in the movie (how could there be a Batman movie and not include Joker, anyway?) So. What I've seen in trailers and commercials, Joker looks totally freaky. I've always disliked clowns, always leering at you, with their thick, bright makeup that would probably feel totally disgusting, which is why I'm glad I'm not a clown.... O_O

Anyway. I had a dream last night. It involved clowns. And many of the same car. And clown minions. And clown slaves. I think I was about to become a clown minion when I either woke up or switched to another weirdish, hazy dream that I hardly remember. But, anyway, here is what I remember from my clown dream (nightmare) last night:

I'm sitting in a lavishly furnished lounge, it's theme: red. The drapes, the sofas, the chairs, the carpets - they're all red, probably meant to look elegant. But I feel as if I'm swimming in a room of blood. I've visited this lounge many times before, but it was always located in different places: an enormous mall, a five-star hotel, or just by itself. Now, I believe it's been located in a local airport, a small airport.

As I sit on this plush, inviting sofa, nodding off occasionally, I wait for someone.I made an appointment earlier in the day, wanting to apply for a job, start earning some money. But why in an airport lounge? Well, I am where I am, however odd the place. The main entrance doors open - my brother walks in, short and chubby. He walks toward me, not saying a word. I open my mouth to speak to him, to acknowledge his presence, question his presence, but nothing comes out. Am I deaf? Am I mute? Why can't I speak? Why isn't there noise?

My brother, Eddie, silently stands next to my seat, apparently waiting for me. He begins to walk away, and pauses. I am to follow him, I think. There is no one else in the lounge, except for Eddie and me. We walk across the room to a door painted crimson, higher than two of me. I obediently follow Eddie as he scurries through, but I sneak a glance back into the lounge as the door closes. The lounge is crowded with people. And where I was just sitting, just a moment ago, I see a man, pale as snow, lips red as cherries, hair black as ebony. Male version of Snow White? No, this guy is ugly. He's a clown. Wearing a suit. He leers. I run, slamming the crimson door behind me.

I am blinded by white. Though my eyes are shut, they are stinging. Though my hands shield my face, I am burning. What's wrong here?! Did I walk into a room of fire? A hand rests on my bent elbow, and my guide, most likely Eddie, leads me out of this place. This is an airport, isn't it? Where am I? The light subsides, and I can finally remove my hands from my head, and my eyes slowly slit open. Ah. This is the airport, clean and tidy and understandable. Eddie is still at my arm, slowly walking toward a nearby escalator. Suddenly, I jump, remembering I had an appointment with someone in the blood-red lounge. Eddie shakes his head, as if reading my mind, as if saying, "That can wait, sis." I nod hesitantly, and follow my out-of-character brother up the escalator, not sure where he's taking me. Maybe we'll get on a plane and go to Europe for a weekend. That would be nice. Maybe the rest of the family is already there, and Eddie and I are just late...

We near the top of the escalator, and now my ears are attacked by a burst of noise and clatter. The area is chaos, people stumbling over each other, shoving, pushing, yelling, shouting. My ears are ambushed, and I truly go deaf - but not with silence this time. Deaf with unending noise. A goat bleats nearby. Why would someone bring a goat to the airport?

We come to the end of the hall. Actually, it's the middle of the hall. It's been cut in half by a row of money-eating machines, and Eddie and I observe others who pass through. They insert a foreign bill into a slot, and then a ticket comes out the slot beneath. The odd thing is, the only thing different between a plain sheet of paper and the ticket is that the ticket has, in bold black block-letters: TICKET. J. I blink once. Definitely odd.

Eddie somehow has hold of a foreign bill, and places it onto a machine. I wait for him to proceed. He just stands there, staring blankly at it. I sigh, exasperated, and shove the bill into the slot. Our ticket appears accordingly. We race down the hall, as if running for our lives. I look around as we pause to catch our breaths. Is this really an airport? I don't see any terminals. I don't see anyone pulling luggage. There are no announcements of, "Last call for boarding flight number this-and-this." It's quiet again. And very white (but not to the point of blinding). For some reason, I believe we are now in a subway. But I see no train. No transportation at all. Are we stuck in this nameless place?

I look around again. I don't see Eddie anywhere. Where could he be? There are no doors anywhere, no escape out of this white, closed hall. That makes it a room, doesn't it? I begin to shiver, falling to the floor, crossing my arms, huddling into a ball. None of this makes sense. I'm alone again, and the pale-faced man comes to my mind, clear as if he were standing right in front of me, leering with his eyes.

I shut my own eyes, wanting to escape. But the walls are closed off, and the room starts to shrink. I have to squat in order to avoid bumping my head. The air in my lungs escapes, and I can't find anymore to fill my chest. I gasp like I am drowning, but without water. Fear tugs my heart, and it beats faster than ever, and my gasps come out quicker, shorter, more desperate. I feel dizzy, and I fall to the floor - but I don't feel impact of flesh on cement. The floor has disappeared, and I am surrounded by black, by night. I'm still hunched in a ball, waiting for this nightmare to end.

My eyes snap open. I am sitting on a red cushion, on a red sofa, in a red lounge. I sigh in relief. It was all just a dream. Just a dream. Wasn't it?

A chuckle.

I freeze. Only my eyes waver. And I scream, I scream so much I almost pass out... but no one hears. Except the pale-faced man. The clown man. He's here.