….the Clown Wing.
It was the latest addition to the resort, neither Claire nor Kevin had read about it when they booked the vacation. But once they heard about it on arrival, Claire decided she wanted to stay there. Kevin was unsure-as a boy he had a deathly fear of clowns. He had gotten over it but still felt uneasy about the idea of looking like one. But Claire insisted, and he could never refuse her puppy-dog face.
The change the clown wing enacted went thusly-within an hour after settling into the room, each guest would become a clown that would be an outward manifestation of that person’s usual personality, although often exhibiting traits one had been repressing. The guests’ complexion would first become either creamy white from head to toe or pink orange or even peachy yellow with white around the eyes or mouth. Markings would develop around the face to exaggerate their features, such as wide smiles or black arches for eyebrows. Hair would become blue, green, yellow, red or even a variety of colors, and style itself into bizarre hairdos. Men commonly went bald-although Kevin was assured if that happened, his hair would grow back when he and Claire left and became human again. Weight gain was common with most guests becoming rather plump especially the men. Two features all clowns would share was their feet growing into ridiculously enormous sizes and their noses inflating into red balls that honked when squeezed.
The change was more than simply cosmetic; it was accompanied with a subconscious compulsion to behave like a clown. The changes to their body shapes typically made them waddle in a funny manner as they walked and would use exaggerated body language as they talked. Clown-guests would speak in silly, goofy voices reminiscent of cartoon characters, and punctuate their sentences with guffaws and giggles while honking their noses to place emphasis on words. They would act this way even with other guests, providing amusement and entertainment for everyone involved. The resort even provided appropriate clothing to match their new appearances. Finally, Claire was assured that the child she was carrying would not be affected-unless they stayed long enough for her to give birth, in which case the baby would be born a clown.
Once they got into their room, they locked the door and walked over to the mirror. Stripping naked, Claire and Kevin kissed as they slowly turned into....