[Demon-Mask]

Last night, my dream was kind of disturbing, but not in the gory way most of mine are.

I was out in some neighborhood for no apparent reason, I must have been lost. In reality, I know my way around that neighborhood to a decent extent, but in my dreams it is much, much different. The layout is impossible to remember.

It was getting kind of dark, and it became apparent that there was no way I was going to get out of this labyrinth of a neighborhood. So I went to a random house, and knocked on the door. The guy who lived there, probably near forty-five welcomed me in. Something about this guy was disturbing, it was hard to place. I think it may have been his clown makeup, which had actually stained his skin, and so it was faded, but still blatantly there. He said: "You see that, kid? That is the couch. Feel free to sleep there, I don't mind. I leave for work early, so I'll try not to wake you."

I was tired, so I accepted.

The guy accidentally woke me up in the morning, he was dressed rather fancily, like a business man. He apologized and said "Now, I'll return from work in a few hours, keep yourself busy how you see fit, but don't make a mess."
So I think I just sat on the couch the whole day, until he returned.

He went right to bed when he got home, and I followed suit, I guess I was tired.

In the morning, he saw I was awake before him, and he started dancing and singing in his pajamas, it was weird. Eventually he left the living room, and came out a few minutes later dressed for work. More singing and dancing.

So I sat around the house until he returned, and when he did return, I asked if it was okay for me to go outside.

So I did. I just wandered around the neighborhood for hours and hours. I heard the clock strike ten, I guess I hadn't realized I'd been outside for so long. It was getting dark, and I started running back towards his house, or so I'd assumed, seeing as I had no idea where I was.
It was down a hill, and I got their soon, but something about the look of the house disturbed me, so I went around the side of it, looking to sleep in the back yard. So I did, but as I walked past the side of the house, I looked into one of the windows, the one that was his room, which I had not seen. And there he was... hanging. I thought he was dead. I just went out into the back yard and slept.

Morning came, as did time for the man to depart for work, and he did just that. I turns out he hadn't killed himself, but rather he just slept that way. I inquired about it upon his return.
He had this to say:
"Now kid, I know this is going to seem strange to you, but I'm dead. The makeup on my face, the stains, are from long ago. I worked in the circus, and I had hanged myself, and it killed me. No one ever found out, but somehow I was just awake... alive. I don't know how I managed to do so, but I cut myself down, and washed my face, started life anew. Now the reason I hang myself at night, is more of a comfort thing than anything else. It's not significant, but that was how I was for years and years, so my body became accustomed to it, it's the only way I can sleep anymore."

And then I woke up.

I don't know how it was disturbing, but the things leading up to me finding him hanging bugged me worse.