ALL THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND

A Haunting Past

He watched the heavy kid leap into the air off the skyscraper, plunging to the ground in slow motion. The kid shrieked and flailed his arms, as if they were wings that would fly him to safety. They didn’t, of course.

            He plunged to the ground.

            Jarrod flinched with the thump he made as his podgy body hit the ground.

            He was silent for a moment, before breaking out into full out hysterics.

            “Mommy! Mommy! Help me!” he wailed endlessly.

            The woman jumped off her park bench and hurried towards the child. The autumn coloured jumpsuit type thing she was wearing blended into the dulled fiery leaves cluttered all over the ground. She bent over towards him and held his plump little body in her arms.

            She cooed at him, kissed his red hands and brushed off the injury for the kid. When the wailing concluded, she began to scold him.

            “Why would you just jump off there Jimmy?”

            The kid shrugged his shoulders, and wiped his wet nose on his sweater. “I don’t know,” he mumbled.

            The woman sighed, but smiled and said, “Okay then, go back and play. But this time, try not to jump off the play structure, alright?”

            The boy nodded and ran back to play again.

            Jarrod looked away and stared at the stripping trees. Most of the trees were almost completely bare, as all the leaves had fallen to the ground in dead piles, preparing for the big sleepy winter. He always liked fall, but not knowing that snow was just around the corner.

            The wind seemed to whisper, but he couldn’t quite make out what it was saying. It carried the words of the world far out into the distance, away from his waiting mind.

            A few moments later he heard that strange whispering again, but at the moment, the twisty branches weren’t shaking in the wind.

            He stiffened, and sat up straighter, trying to capture something to his comprehension.

            “…found…in a park…” he heard the whispers say.

            That definitely wasn’t the wind.

            He couldn’t hear the rest of whatever was being said; it was nothing but meaningless mumbles to him. The frustration of not being able to grasp the spoken words began to burn.

            When the whispers fell silent, Jarrod casually glanced around the park from his bench.

            Nothing was visible from the oak trees beside him, and nowhere near the playground. Whatever it was, it was coming from behind him.

            Experimenting, Jarrod examined the area, got up, shoved his thick bare hands into his pockets, and marched over to the woodchip area by the swings. His steps crunched over the crackling leaves, and approached the mother of the chubby jumping kid, whom was sitting on a park bench with a perfect view.  

            He stood before her, beaming what he hoped to look like a friendly smile. The woman looked up, tucked a piece of hair that fell free from its ponytail behind her ears, and bashfully gave a nervous smile. Jarrod nodded, rocked on the balls of his feet for an awkward moment, before taking a seat down next to her.             There was a nervous haze in her big brown eyes.