""Did I tell you about Anton?" Loots said.

"Anton?" I shook my head.

It was a week ago, Loots said. There had been a knock on the door of his apartment and when he opened it his old friend Anton was standing there. Anton was a clown. He belonged to a circus that toured the provinces, playing to small towns and villages. They talked about the old days for a while, but Anton became increasingly restless and distracted. In the end Loots had to ask him if there was something wrong.

"This is going to sound strange." The clown coughed nervously into his fist. "It's The Invisible Man. He's disappeared."

Loots stared at his friend.

"He just vanished," Anton said, "into thin air."

"The Invisible Man?" Loots said.

"Yes."

"He's disappeared?"

"I told you it would sound strange," Anton said."
— Rupert Thomson (The Insult)