Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for September 03, 2021

one does wonder

No. A credible witness saw him running down Broadway. News at eleven.

s’matter wit’you

Who’s to say that there aren’t a multitude of clowns hiding in the ceiling?

The one from the jack-in-the-box?

Ooh, the dramatic tension. Will Jack drop from the ceiling during the performance?

Smatter Smatter…..love it!

No. They did not. And that’s a good thing.

smatter smatter smatter

Petey can’t help but know about the clown because – Alice and her friends, lol

A diary comic strip

Petey, your mind would wander even if you didn’t have an obstructed view.

The Clown is the next act.

Doh! Should’ve never looked up. Now he’ll have to count all the ceiling tiles…

There were eyewitnesses to the clown dropping from the ceiling, but it’s true that we never heard whether it was then captured and contained. However, I suspect it wouldn’t return to the ceiling, since that’s what people would expect. It’s the nature of jack-in-the-box clowns to pop out when one least expects it, and a loose jack-in-the-box clown may well pop out whence one least expects it…

Are the clowns in the ceiling to avoid the monsters under the bed?

Nice callback. And “smatter” as an onomatopoeia is lovely.

Uh-oh!

Aha! At last I have a clear understanding of the puzzling activity called “smattering”. Many thanks!

I thought he did finally fall down and the kids all ran out of the building in fright.

Our unlikely hero Petey, sits obstructed and in relative security, lulled into a tenuous calm by smattering and the drone of adult monologue. Will his wandering wondering gaze see the askew ceiling tile? Will his daydream be broken by a rogue ceiling clown or the shrieks of the pancake taskmaster, er, eh-hem, Princess? Will he and his disembodied buddies avoid the sticky river of the syrup sire? Lil Actors Playhouse sure knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats!

Pretty sure Petey’s not the type to letter a comic in cursive

Bless Miss Bliss, but I think my mind would wander, too, Petey, even without an obstructed-view seat.

—And what ever did become of that clown?!

What is a “Smattering”?

Clearly a major concern….