by Sarah L., 16
After the 8th-period bell rang, I asked if we were meeting up at our usual time in the evening, and of course, the answer was yes. The weekend had officially started! We ended up settling on the PNK team from the movie Monsters University. Ally, Sam, and I figured that if any of our other friends wanted to be a part of it, that it would be easy to add to.
Once I got home, I decided to go and wash my face before going out to meet at the park with Ally and Sam, to try and get rid of this haunting feeling. I focused on the warm water and the harmless, fragile bubbles in my hands. How easily they washed away with some water. But my mind focused on some things water couldn’t wash away, like permanent markers. The black lines of ink seeping into every part of your skin, and the darkness… the dark… and shadows. I tried to clear my mind, but became overly aware of the shadows dancing around me, and felt as one of them reached out to tap me on the shoulder. My heart started to beat faster, and I rushed to get this soap out of my eyes. But this time it grabbed my arm and shook me.
“Emma! How many times do I have to tell you to shut off the water when you’re not using it? That’s money down the drain right now!” My mother scolded. “I’ve been calling your name for the past five minutes, didn’t you hear me?” She sounded disappointed.
“Sorry, Mom. No, I didn’t hear you, I was just… thinking. Do you think you could drive me to the park? I’m meeting up with Ally and Sam.”
“Yes, I can bring you,” she sighed. “As long as you three are staying safe. You know the rules, make sure your phone is charged, no staying out past dark, and—”
“And no talking to strangers. I know, I know. I’ll be safe, don’t worry. Thank you!” I hugged her, happy that whatever trick my mind was playing on me was just a hoax.
We got in the car and pulled out of the driveway. I saw the white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe like it was making its own clouds. The feeling remained, relentlessly sinking further into consciousness. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and the crawling eyes never left my head. The best I could do was stare out into the chilly state of the world and take in some frozen breaths of air.
——————–
First one here, I muttered to myself. “Thanks mom! Sam is right around the corner and Ally is on her way. I’ll go wait on the swings.”
“Alright Em, be safe, I love you.” She blew me a kiss and I got out of the car. I waved to her as she started pulling away.
I turned my back towards the parking lot and headed to the swings. As I turned, my breath hitched. A kid was there on the swings, but the thing was, no one else was in the park when we pulled in. It looked to be a young boy, short scruffy hair, black hoodie, pants, and gloves. Surely I would have seen him when we pulled up; there’s nowhere to hide by the swings. Wide open, separated by a couple of yards from the main playground. Oh, well. I have been feeling off today, maybe it’s just my nerves. What’s so wrong with seeing a kid on the playground?
I set my course for the other end of the swings, closest to the forest. I was conscious of the kid, who hadn’t moved yet. As I got closer, I took one more glance at the boy. My eyes met with his pitch black pupils. A surge of nerves poured through my body, feeling almost electric, but that cold stare seemed to dig daggers into my being, yet his features remained emotionless, like a doll. Quickly averting my attention to the ground, a chill ran up my spine. I shook the feeling and sat down.
Despite my fears, I asked, “Hey. Where are your parents? Are you here alone?”
“You’re the one that’s alone…” a gruff voice said.
I abandoned the safety of the ground, and turned to face the kid. There’s no way that voice came from him, there has to be someone else here, I reasoned. But my eyes searched and searched for what could have said that, yet all I found was an empty swing, motionless… He was right there, I saw him. Yet no one else was around, and the silence became deafening.
“Hey! What’s up with you? Look’s like you’ve seen a ghost!” Sam’s voice snapped me back to reality.
“Haha, yeah. Definitely scared myself, but you know I don’t think that kind of stuff happens out in the open. There would have to be a reason for a ghost to show up. And ‘nothing on this playground has happened in 10 years,’ your words. Remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. Alright, so we’re waiting for Ally now, right? I was almost positive I’d be the last to show. Kind of a specialty of mine!”
She was grinning, I could tell she was thinking about the countless number of times she’d strolled into class late. I felt better that she was there. Not that I believed I was actually alone, or in danger.
Ally’s dad pulled up with his car and she got out. Along with her, her little brother in a jean jacket and sweatpants. He had the same eyes as Ally, bright green, but he was only 11. I guess she’s on babysitting duty tonight.
“I’ll text you the plans, dad. Don’t worry! Bye!” I heard her call back. She hurried over to us and jumped onto a swing, her brother, AJ, trailing behind her. “Hey guys, so what are we going to do? I kinda want to play a game.”
“Yeah I’m down for that, what to play though?” Sam said.
“Well, what do you want to do, AJ? I doubt you want to sit here and play some silly ‘girl game’ as you like to call it,” Ally asked.
He seemed to be reluctant to answer, but replied with: “How about freeze tag?”
No one else objected, so freeze tag it was. Ally was chosen to be “it” first. The runners had a 10-second head start, but something caught AJ’s eye, which made him call out “Hey! Want to play with us?”
Fear prickled at my mind as I looked up to see the little boy in black answer, “Okay,” in a child’s voice. I thought he had vanished, but here he was again… Calm down now, it’s just your mind… right?
He joined our circle, and with a closer look, couldn’t be older than 9 or 10. The rules were explained, and the playground was our boundaries.
“Okay guys, I’ll count to 10 to give you all a head start. Starting… Now!” Ally’s voice called out. We all started running. The rush of adrenaline let my nerves loosen up, yet I was still weary as I watched the boy start towards the forest.
As the game went on, Sam, the first to get frozen, and AJ, the second, went to swings. Since it was just me Ally could see left, she asked if I had seen the other boy.
“Not since the start,” I replied. “But I hope he didn’t go into the woods. That’s out of bounds anyways.”
“We should go check then. Game is paused, guys!” She called out. Ally hurried over to me as I waited at the path into the forest.
We walked in together and took note that the sun was starting to set. We should be going soon, but some part of me wanted to make sure this kid was okay, I decided. As we went along the path, both of us began calling out, “Hey! The game is over now! You can come back!” but we received no answer.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowy figure run out. A slight relief came over me as I believed the search for the boy was over, but as I turned around, I let out a shrill scream. Before me stood a monstrous shadowy figure with skin as pale as paper, and eyes as endless as a puddle of ink. Ally screeched, telling me that I wasn’t crazy, that I wasn’t seeing this alone.
A smile bearing razor-sharp teeth seemed to consume the face of the thing in front of us, and it grinned. I try to get to my feet and run, but fear froze me in place. Ally, I could tell, wanted to run as well.
“What are you…” I murmured.
“Your own creation,” it gruffly said. “Does this mean I’ve won?” the now childish voice giggled…
Congers, New York
Bridge Ink 