Not Her First Rodeo

The clown is fired from the circus, so he shows up at the rodeo looking for work. Though he doesn’t smile, his makeup fakes it, and he’s hired. His job is to distract the bucking bull from the rider once he falls. The clown tries his best, heckling and insulting the bull, honking his horn and waving his props around, but he’s the one who takes a hooking. On your first day! tsk-tsks the nurse tending the knot of tissue that had been his shoulder. She stays with him the entire shift, soothing his broken bits and falling in love with him. She’s done it before, and although she only sleeps with bull riders and the occasional matador, she’d make an exception for this particular clown. Today you were one with the bull, she coos, watching him, nude on the gurney─ no wig, no red plastic nose, no big sloppy shoes. She closes her eyes and imagines their future together. He begins to sob.