The world was a circus show for Juniper.
A clown nudged her shoulder with its large, circular red nose. Someone threw a ping pong ball in her direction and the bells chimed continuously, a cheer here and there. The air smelled of burnt hair and gasoline. She struggled to tell the shapes and colors apart. One moment it would all blur together, like staring at a submerged painting, and then the next it would sharpen to the point where she felt the onset of a headache.
Dulled voices called to her; hees and wees and yipees! The cheering intensified, a bang accompanying it. The clowns had done something amazing! The crowd was going crazy with glee!
And then all of a sudden a scream broke through her hallucinations, jolting her awake.
The first thing that she saw was the smear of her blood o
