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A coffee clown sits in a silver diner

He looks out the window and watches the rain

He thinks about the maddening world and the chaos and the pain

His white face and green mouth are showing sadness

Maybe I should show up at work naked, he thinks. That will shake things up, maybe knock some sense into somebody.

He works at the permanent circus

On the boulevard by the bay

I’ll just stroll in wearing only my make up. People will probably scream, but I don’t care. I’ll give them something to scream about. Someone will probably rush at me with a fire-proof blanket because I’d be so hot. They’d smother my nakedness, blot it out, curse the shame.

The waitress comes by the table by the window where it’s raining outside and refills his coffee.

“I didn’t know clowns like coffee so much,” she says with a smile.

He looks up at her and sarcastically grins. “What do you think clowns drink? Fruit punch?”

“Something like that.”

“Hey, let me ask you something. Do you ever desire to show up at work completely naked?”

“Sir?”

“Do you ever want to come to work completely naked… Maybe wearing only your little waitress apron you got on.”

“Oh, heaven’s no. What kind of question is that.”

“It’s a question too many people are afraid to ask. There is far too much censorship of the mind in this world. I myself would like to show up at work naked, except for my makeup and wig, of course.”

“Why would you do that?” the waitress asks.

“Because nobody ever does. Because I want to rattle people. Because I want to show off my bits and pieces. I want to produce some mental voltage to shock people awake. Everyone is so dead inside.”

“Well, that all sounds a bit screwy to me,” the waitress says. “I would never do anything like that. I think you might be a bit mental.”

“So you believe boldness is a deficiency?”

“No… It’s just, people don’t do such strange things as coming to work naked. You’d probably get fired.”

The clown sips at his coffee and turns back to looking out the window. He scoffs at the world. “I suppose you’re right. I need this clown job or else I’ll starve and die. Isn’t that something? Chasing green paper in order to survive and to get the green paper you have to be a slave to this horrible social system we have. And then they never give you enough green paper so you’re always struggling just to get by. It’s all planned out. It’s rigged to where the worker will always be trapped working until they die. It’s so sad really. You’d think the human race would be so much more useful. But no, there is no end to this I suppose. We’ll keep on breeding and bring more and more desperate souls into the world. Have you ever noticed how children are so much different than adults? Then society takes a hold and molds them into corporate slaves. That’s why school starts so early. They’re already conditioning them to sell their time away for nearly nothing, for meaningless things.”

“Maybe you should pray about it.”

The clown laughs out loud and other patrons begin to stare. “Yes, yes. I’ll use telepathy aimed at a big white man in the clouds who never grants wishes. Do you really think a loving god would allow so much suffering and turmoil?”

“You shouldn’t talk like that,” the waitress sternly says. “That’s blasphemy.”

“Is it? You know what I believe? I believe the angels and the gods are all aliens from other planets. Our ancient ancestors were so shocked by their advanced technology that we dubbed them higher powers.”

“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” the waitress protests. “I don’t have time for this. I have to get back to work.”

“Of course, you do. We all do. That’s all we are in the end. Worker bees.”

---

The clown walks out of the house completely naked and gets into his car. He drives to the permanent circus on the outside of town. He parks, gets out, and walks toward the entrance of the circus. He steps into the tent and thrusts his arms into the air. He moves to the center ring and completely exposes himself to the stunned crowd. Suddenly someone stands up and starts clapping. It’s the waitress from the diner and the clown is shocked to see her. More people stand up and start clapping. More and more. Then the entire crowd breaks into a raucous cheering. And it’s at that point that something very strange happens. The entire audience begins to shed its clothing until everyone under the big top is completely naked and bouncing with enthusiasm.  

The clown looks around at what he has done, and he is happy for it. He grins with joy. I’ve sparked a little rebellion here today, he thinks. A mighty and naked rebellion.

A gunshot suddenly goes off, and the police begin to stream into the tent. Someone barks over a megaphone, “Put your clothes back on! Put your clothes back on! Follow our orders or you will be detained and shipped off to a horrible prison in a foreign land. You should all be ashamed for your indecency!” The clown makes his way to the back of the tent and another exit, and he begins to run. He keeps running and the breeze feels good against his naked body. He soon finds himself in a field of tall yellow grass and stops to catch his breath. That’s when he sees the ship descend and the angelic beings come and surround him. They are gentle and kind. They assure him no harm will come to him. Then they lift him up. Up into the ship. He washes away his makeup and removes the clown wig. He is allowed to remain naked, and he finally feels truly free. And that’s when all of life completely changes for him as he is taken to another planet to live out all his final days in comfort and peace and void of all chaos and hate and greed.