Chuckles, the dancing clown, woke to the sounds of her shutters flapping back and forth against her trailer. A fierce thunderstorm was brewing. Chuckles flipped, climbing out of her hammock to shut the window.

"Ouch!" She'd landed flat on her nose.

"Are you alright," the ringmaster stuck his head in her doorway.

"I guess," Chuckles rubbed her aching nose.

"Looks like you won't need a big red nose for tonight's show," he snickered. "Practice for tonight's show is in fifteen minutes. We already have a small audience."

"I will meet you in the ring."

"Be prepared to jump into the ring if something goes wrong; there's bad mojo in the air today."

Chuckles put her black and white checkered ballerina outfit with an orange tutu on and proceeded to the main tent. Whenever they had an audience, they were expected to give their all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, we are proud to present James E.'s Amazing Circus. Today, we have new shows, great circus acts, and pure entertainment. And to get started, we are going to shake a leg..."

Chuckles was late entering the ring, but the rest of her teammates: Bongo, Buttercup, Jimmo, and O-Jim, dressed in various clown costumes, were already on the floor, shaking their legs as the ringmaster presented the opening speech.

"They fly through the air with the greatest of ease..." the ringmaster was in the middle of introducing the daredevil high wire act, performing without a net, when Jean-Francois swung through the air missing Philippe's extended hands. He plummeted sixteen feet to the ground, landing on top of Buttercup as he tried to break the falling performers fall.

Stunned, at the sight of her injured fellow entertainers, Chuckles trembled with concern.

"It appears we are one clown short of a circus!" The ringmaster bellowed.

Parents covered their children's eyes. The clowns rolled and bounced onto the scene, distracting the families while the emergency crew did their job.

"The show goes on.." the ringmaster declared after the ring was cleared.

Once the ringmaster introduced the animal show, Isaac revved his motorcycle. A signal for Chuckles to release his two favorite lions: Caesar and Nero. Scurrying, Caesar ran in front of the bike as if he were afraid. The children could be heard cheering the lion onward. Nero jumped on the back of the motorcycle and rode along in pursuit with his trainer. Thunderous clapping overlapped the rumble from the approaching thunderstorm. Isaac and Nero jumped off the bike after Caesar had been lassoed. Instead of returning to his cage, Nero turned and unexpectedly bit Isaac on his leg.

Shocked, Chuckles and her team ran into the ring, flipping and kicking to capture the lion's attention so Nero could be returned to his cage without causing any more harm.

Although his leg was severely mangled, Isaac managed to finish his show. The crowd exploded with cheers and whistles, praising him for a job well done.

While the lion tamer was loaded into an ambulance, Chuckles stepped into the ring to perform her goofy ballerina act. In the middle of her performance, she did a high-kicking movement, and her leotard split down the seam revealing her 'I love cheese' undergarments. The audience pointed and roared with laughter.

With the elephant trainer, William, taking the center ring, Chuckles didn't have time to change. Tonight, she was William's assistant, riding Mumbo the elephant into the ring. On Mumbo's back, Chuckles twirled while he did various stunts. She was stepping on pointe when she felt the animal jump. Something had startled him. Involuntarily, he kicked out, catapulting William twenty feet onto concrete.

Frightening the children, Mumbo ran out of the circus tent with Chuckles on top, clinging to his ears, so she didn't fall off. She tried to soothe the animal with no success. A shot rang out, and Mumbo fell to his knees.

Chuckles pushed herself away from the massive beast, protecting her dancer's legs so that she wouldn't be pinned under him when he fell.

"The ringmaster wants you back inside. Hurry," the ringside vet instructed as he leaned over to check on the unconscious Mumbo.

Chuckles let out a brief sigh and scampered back towards the main tent. Passing stragglers as they paid their way in to see the show.

"Look, mommy! It's a ballerina clown," the child holding cotton candy yelled, pointing her sticky finger at Chuckles.

The human cannonball was climbing into his cannon as she re-entered the main tent.

"Three. Two. One," the ringmaster counted down.

Bang! Smoke filled the air behind the cannon as Gus was fired from it.

Right away, Chuckles knew there was a technical problem. The bang wasn't as loud as it should have been, and Gus barely rose into the air. He landed ten feet short of the net.

By now, the crowd accepted the mishaps and waited patiently for the crew to remove his body and equipment from the ring.

Jimmo hefted a weight between his legs, pretending it was heavier than it really was while walking wide-legged into the ring. Dropping the weight, he rolled forward when he tried to pick it back up. Chuckles leaped her way into the ring, stopping beside the weight, she lifted it with one hand and twirled her way out of the ring as a dumbfounded Jimmo stared after her.

The crowd loved it. The children's giggles and squeals were music to their ears.

Bongo walked out to the center of the ring, wearing a red robe. Chuckles entered from the opposite side of the ring, dancing with a broom. Seeing Bongo trying to wipe dirt off his robe, she unscrewed the broom's brush and dusted his robe. When Bongo turned so she could reach his back, Chuckles used the brush to fix his hair. Once more, laughter filled the main tent.

O-Jim entered the ring riding a giant red tricycle, a large green umbrella connected to the seat had several balloons dangling from it. The crowd cheered as he made a loop around the ring. Chuckles ran behind him, pulling balloons off one by one. The crowd roared with laughter. To reward them, she handed each balloon to an audience member. While giving the last balloon to a very handsome man, she kissed the balloon first before handing it over. To everyone's dismay, his girlfriend jumped up out of her seat and punched Chuckles in the face, knocking her red nose off. O-Jim left his tricycle and restrained the woman. Chuckles put up her fist and pretended to punch the angry woman, which only enraged her. Chuckles fled the scene and stole O-Jim's tricycle, taking it around the ring for a spin. The crowd roared with laughter when O-Jim noticed and chased after her with the girlfriend in hot pursuit. Chuckles refused to get off the bike until security removed the crazed woman.

Walking behind security, holding his girlfriend's bag was the handsome audience member, Chuckles, left the bike to dance her way over to him. Placing her arm through his, she waved goodbye to the girlfriend and led her boyfriend back to his seat. The crowd's cheers rattled the tent. As they sat, the boyfriend's balloon popped. Startled, Chuckles sprinted across the ring and into the path of O-Jim, who had taken back possession of his tricycle.

Wham!

Up, up, and farther up into the air flew Chuckles, tumbling down onto her foot, twisting her ankle in an odd position.

The crowd stopped cheering. Everyone froze mid clap, waiting to see if their new favorite clown was alright. Silence filled the tent, and occasionally thunder rumbled, disrupting the stillness inside.

Even though she was in pain, Chuckles stood. The crowd cheered. O-Jim, who had rushed to her side when she landed, bowed to the masses. That was when Chuckles hobbled to his bike and stole it for the second time. The children in the crowd pointed at his tricycle. O-Jim took their warning calls as cheers, and he continued to bow as Chuckles rode out of the tent.

The medical team met her outside. They poked, squeezed, and tapped her ankle.

"You are going for a ride in our big red machine, Chuckles. We need to take some x-rays of your ankle."

"Is it broken?" She asked as they laid her on a stretcher.

"Possibly. You have had a long day?"

"I had a long, bad day," Chuckles corrected.

The medical team wheeled her away from the main tent. The crowd inside chanted her name over and over, "Chuckles! Chuckles! Chuckles!"

"Your fans want you back," the medical worker told her.

"I can't take another day like today. Removing her big red nose, "Looks like I won't be needing this anymore."

The sky opened, releasing its floodgates upon the cursed circus as they closed the doors to the ambulance.