Rachel had been working as a library assistant at the Derry Public Library for the past several months. She loved to read, and was into drawing, as well as performing arts. She belonged to the Derry Players' Theatre and was playing as the lead in their production of Cinderella.

One afternoon, on her way home from work, she was going over some of her lines in her head. She had a stack of books that she had checked out at work, as well as her drawing portfolio in her hands. Not paying attention, she tripped over a curb and stumbled and dropped her portfolio, some of her drawings flying loosely to the ground. One of them flew into a sewer drain. "No," she gasped. She set down her books and dropped to her knees, collecting her sketches. Luckily none of them are damaged. Rachel reached for one that has fallen right in front of the sewer drain.

Right as her hand touched it, she pulled back with a gasp. Two icy blue eyes stare back at her. "Hiya there, girly," a voice says as his face emerges. It's a clown. Two buck teeth show out between his smiling, red lips. Her heart started beating fast.

"H-hi," Rachel stammered.

"I believe you dropped something." His voice is soft, with just a slight squeak to it. He holds up a piece of paper.

"My drawing!" she exclaimed.

"Interesting sketch," the clown says. She frowned in embarrassment when she realized what it is. A girl standing in front of a well, leaning in to kiss the frog that she was holding. The Frog Prince. Not her best piece. She drew it at work, because it was such a slow day.

"Keep it," she said.

The clown held it out to her. "You don't want it back?" He seemed confused.

She shook her head. "That's alright. It's not one of my best."

She had no idea who this man was or why he would be in the sewer, but the total oddness and unexpectedness of the situation was more than a little freaking her out. "Look, I really need to go." She started gathering the rest of her drawings.

"So what happens to the frog?"

The question stopped her. "The frog?"

The clown showed her the drawing. "In your picture. After the girl kisses him?"

Rachel blinked at him, slightly taken aback. Had he really never heard of the story of The Frog Prince?

She straightened her stack of drawings out. "He turns into a prince."

The clown giggled. "A prince? That sounds nice."

Rachel let out a small laugh, appealed by his seemingly innocence. She were about to stand up, but something stopped her. "Do you live down here?" she asked him, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Why of course, silly." The clown giggled. "The whole circus lives down here."

Rachel nodded, trying not to roll her eyes. "Right." She started to gather her books.

"You like the circus, don't ya?" The clown asked eagerly.

Rachel paused and sighed. "I've never been to one."

The clown gasped. "Never been to one? Well then you should come down here." His face lit up into a grin again. "There's lots of neat stuff. Good food as well. There's cotton candy and hotdogs."

Rachel giggled again. This clown was sure a trip. She glanced around quickly, glad that she was down a side street that had few traffic. She could only imagine what if would look like if people saw her talking to a sewer drain.

"And maybe you'll get to see some neat tricks," said the clown.

Rachel gave him a polite smile. "That sounds nice. But I don't know if I like the idea of being down in a sewer. Plus I don't even know you."

"Oh, well I'm Pennywise the Dancing Clown." He shook himself, and Rachel heard the jingle of bells.

"Rachel," she said.

"Well nice to meet ya, Rachel. Now we aren't strangers anymore," said Pennywise.

"I guess not. See you around, Pennywise," she said. She finished picking up her books and headed for home.

"See you around, Rachel," Pennywise said to her retreating form. He glanced at the drawing in his hand, at the girl standing next to the well. His blue eyes turned yellow and his face lit up into a maniacal grin, displaying two rows of sharp teeth. "Yes, I'll be seeing you around for sure."