Aulden eventually caught on to the meaning behind Clarence appearing as a very short clown. Clarence's function was to give Aulden permission to be himself, and clearly Aulden hadn't taken that message seriously. And thus: Clarence was not very big.

Months earlier, Aulden watched Clarence and the iconic figure "Blessing" playing together on the old abandoned Chevy they found in the cottonwood grove. He wondered, "Is it because they're the same size that they stay together, or is it because their functions match in some way?" The iconic figure, with her sharp teeth and wild, ratty hair, had the behavior of a feral creature. Her function was to give Aulden glimpses of his destiny.

Today, they sat in the King's throneroom. Always there was an interesting crowd in that place, having an enlightening discussion. Today the question was "why are you here?" and every person took a turn answering that question.

The time came for the little clown to be asked, "Clarence, why are you here?" Clarence surprised Aulden by standing and taking off his cone hat and pulling off his baggy clown jumpsuit, and then wiping the white makeup off of his face. Clarence announced, "I was a clown but I am no longer."

Under the jumpsuit Clarence wore black jeans and a nice shirt, and around his neck was a chain with a bell. He grew, after removing his clown suit, to the height of a full-grown man - a rather handsome young man.

Aulden was fascinated by the sudden transformation and his mind was filled with questions about what happened. He first asked, "The chain around your neck - why the bell on the chain?"

Clarence answered, "Because I still have a voice."

Aulden repeated the question of the day, "Why are you here, Clarence?"

He replied, "I have the same function as before: To give you permission to be you," and he sat beside Sonny on the edge of the throne's platform.

The Iconic Figure, Blessing, entered the throneroom. Aulden greeted her, "Blessing, why did you come here?"

She spoke in an odd lyric, "Because you asked about the what, the where to be. Now sit and listen, wait for me," and she stopped abruptly when she saw Clarence now grown up. She studied him and said, "This? He was the clown? He - permission for to be? I - do you remember? To tell you glimpses of your destiny."

As she spoke her stature changed, from the twelve-inch tall iconic figure she had been, to the height of a full-grown woman. Her appearance also changed: Her monstrously toothy grin transformed into a beautiful enigmatic smile, and the ratty unkempt hair grew into a multitude of long dark braids. Her gaze intimidated Aulden, particularly because she had a third eye in the center of her forehead.

Aulden felt overwhelmed by her presence, and asked, "How can you stay with us, being so radiant?" She simply responded, "All is well."

He asked her, "Tell us about destiny." She answered, "It takes you by the hand. It is a straight line." Then Aulden asked questions about his own destiny. The answers Blessing gave him can't be shared here, but her final words can be repeated: "You don't know what you want but you will have what you want."

Then she did an odd dance, reminiscent of Tai Chi practitioners Aulden had seen in a park, although her arm movements were erratic - not rhythmic - and she ended her dance by standing on one leg, perfectly balanced, while raising her other leg and touching her toes to her forehead.

Afterward Clarence took her hand and the two of them sprinted up the aisle toward the exit. Aulden called to them, "You're going to leave?" Blessing shouted back, "You'll figure everything out!" With that, the two of them ran away together.

Aulden watched the door slowly close, and he considered, "Clarence, permission to be, goes hand in hand with Blessing, glimpses of destiny. How do those two fit together?"

Sonny stepped up beside Aulden and said, "Clarence and Blessing - they seem so happy together.

Aulden contemplated, "So now Clarence is a man, maybe because I'm taking him seriously, and Blessing is a goddess."