Emily giggled as she worked through the change on herself; now her clothes and very memories were altered to suit the new reality she created.
A year and a half ago, Emily had gone with some friends to a festival dressed as clowns. And Emily liked it so much that she decided from now on she would live her life as a clown 24/7. Every morning, she would get up, put on a different style of clown makeup, pop on a clown nose, and spay color her hair, which was naturally dirty-blonde. Over the months she had altered her wardrobe to more-colorful-styles that would be well suited for a clown. And all of her shoes were replaced with various styles of clown shoes.
Emilys makeup style and outfit was also chosen to reflect her mood. Most of the time she went about as either a generic whiteface or auguste. However, during exam week, she would style herself as a serious looking Pierrot. And at her aunt's funeral last month, Emily expressed her grief by dressing as a mournful bag lady; she'd even worn a black clown nose.
As Emily continued living like this, her speech and mannerisms became more and more affected. She would usually talk in a very high, almost squeaky voice and punctuate her words with guffaws and giggles. Whenever she was ba g lady or hobo, her voice would be lower and she'd give her guffaws and chuckles a cynical edge. She even carried a bicycle horn that she'd honk to emphasize the meaning of her words, almost Harpo=Marx style.
Emily's parents and the rest of her family thought this was all a phase she was going through. At first her teachers and the faculty at school expressed concern, but decided as long as she didn't disrupt her classes and kept up her grades, they'd let her continue dressing and acting this way. And her friends all loved it.
All this was going through Emily's mind as she waddled in her floppy clown shoes to her bedroom mirror and looked at her reflection For today, Emily would be a.....