The Upside Down Clown

gloves. The glue was fast drying and Fred was ready to try again but this time he was especially careful going down the stairs and he practiced walking in the snow for quite a while. It was actually fun, he felt like it was his first time in the snow.\ \ \qc\fs24\b Chapter 3 The Circus comes to Town\fs22\b0\ \ql\ Fred now had confidence in himself, it seemed for him normal doing almost every thing upside down. Although he had only been downtown a few times, everyone seemed to be comfortable with Fred s unusual routine. And it did make him feel special and different and he was famous after all, at least in Downeyville.\ \ The Towns people were very surprised to see Fred downtow in the snow. They thought for sure that Fred wouldnt venture out in winter, at least not walking upside-down. Mr. Upletter said Fred was courageous, Mr. Truebill said Fred was extraordinary, and Mr. Gilford said that Fred was sure to be famous one day. Fred was able to make it through the winter well. He had spent extra time planning so he would only have to make trips to town when he needed to. The towns people realized that Fred was serious about this wild thing he was doing. But they were convinced of Freds determination after they saw in him out about town in the rain and snow.\ Winter had past mostly uneventful for Fred, and the towns people had become quite accustomed to seeing Fred out and about town as spring came to an end. The children especially liked it when Fred would come to town; he would perform tricks for them, he could stand on one hand and turn around. He could hop up and down the stairs and had even learned to do a flip off the stairs. Fred was so used to walking on his hands now that he didnt even think about it. He could do almost all the things he used to do when he was like everyone else. But there was something missing in Freds life, he was lonely. People still didnt know how to act around Fred and treated him different than before.\ \ Spring was finally coming to Downeyville; and this summer was special because it was Downeyvilles one hundred-year anniversary and Mayor Bosswell had arranged for a circus to come to town for three days on May Day. Everyone was excited with anticipation and it was thrilling when the circus arrived at Downeyville; the whole town was in commotion. The circus performers were coming down main-street, there were clowns and jugglers and the acrobats were leading the troupe and turning somersaults and cartwheels and flipping up high into the air to be caught by clowns. There was even a woman who walked on her hands and Mayor Bosswell said, Fred Goodwrite is much better than that, maybe he could perform in the circus. Following the performers were horses pulling carts with big cages and wild animals in them. Mrs. Felgord said, Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my. Then came the big wagons carrying the tent and all the equipment and finally several Elephants were at the end.\ \qc\fs24\b\ Chapter 4 The May Day Celebration\fs22\b0 \ \ql\ The circus headed out of town to set up at Farmer Johns pasture that was on the outskirts of town next to the creek; he had donated it for the celebration. All of Downeyville was preparing for the May Day Celebration; baking pies, gathering gunny sacks for the sack race, moving picnic tables out to the clearing by the creek, and a group of men were building a bandstand for the Musicians. And Fred, being so handy with his hands and knowing how to build sturdy things was in charge. Mayor Bosswell said, Fred sure is a talented man. Mr. Gillford said, I think someday he may even be famous. All of the circus performers and the animal trainers and the roustabouts and even the ringmaster worked together and had the Big Tent up with and every thing in it in one day. It was a long day for everyone and when the sun went down they had just finished the work and everyone went home to rest up for the