Opening Lines: Clowns!

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by Julie, surviving a wintry mix in Somerville

I am a fan of public art, and love when it surprises me. In the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, there is a new exhibition of public art that has Bostonians talking. (Here’s an article. It’s a very interesting and fun exhibition.) My friend Dawn M. Simmons posted pictures and agreed to let me use one of them for this “opening lines” prompt. This piece is called “End Game” and is by Max Streicher. The heads are resting in an alley between two buildings. They are very large. I suspect the subject will foster some wonderful opening lines.

“End Game” by Max Streicher. Photo by Dawn M. Simmons

Barb: “Heads will roll!” Dan cried.

Sherry: I told my Aunt Bess and Uncle Bill to quit clowning around but they never listened.

Edith/Maddie: Max didn’t listen when I told him if he enlarged his head one more time, it would stick. At least he and Dawn were together when it happened, but they’ll never recover. This is the end of them.

Julie: Coulrophobia wasn’t funny. Ben’s fear of clowns had held him back from parties and circuses his entire life. Clowns as big as a building would probably kill him. At least I hoped so.

Readers, share your opening lines with us!

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Published by J.A. Hennrikus

One woman, three names, many books. As Julia Henry I wrote the Garden Squad series for Kensington. As J.A. Hennrikus I wrote the Theater Cop series, and as Julianne Holmes I wrote the Clock Shop series. I've been an arts administrator for my entire career, mostly in the performing arts. Currently I'm the ED of Sisters in Crime, a wonderful organization that promotes and supports crime writers. www.sistersincrime.org Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram! @JHAuthors

17 Thoughts

  1. Their spat had them feeling boxed in making it hard to “make up”.

    Sorry having once been a clown, I automatically came up with that line. By turned away from each other it’s like they had a spat. They are in what looks like a box. Plus clowns wear make up and people can make us. 🙂
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  2. What a wild idea for an art exhibition! And I enjoyed your first lines. Julie, the last sentence of your opening was a twist I didn’t see coming!

    Here’s my opening lines… When a portal to another dimension opened, the second shock was the form of the representatives coming to visit this dimension. No fan of science fiction had predicted the existence of Gigglelandia, nor the size and shape of the citizens living there.

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  6. There was only one reason to have clown heads this big. I just hoped no one would figure out I had them until it was too late.

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  7. Will was never fond of clowns since a demented writer from the north created an image in his mind that couldn’t be erased. Now an artist from Beantown added a new layer of terror in Will’s mind and this time someone had to die.

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