A clean breeze swept the autumn leaves off of the trees. The sun glaring its bright rays across the entire forest, intermittently blocked by the clouds as the sky shines blue. Within the forest, lies a kids park with all the essentials for kids to enjoy: climbing frames, wooden ladders, swings and a tunnel slide.
A mother arrives with her son and tells him to go play while she talks with the other parents. The boy nods with a huge grin and runs to the climbing frames. The mother seats herself on a bench nearby where two other mothers greet and smile at her. The boy climbs the frame, looking over his shoulder to see her mother gleefully talking to the other mothers. As he comes to the slide, he sees a short line of two other kids.
The child closest to the slide prepares to slide down. As they go, the boy hears their screams of joy echo through the tunnel slide and see them come out the other end at the bottom. The kid in front of him moves closer but is soon called by their parent to go home. They insist on going down the slide before leaving but the parent denies their request so they leave with a look of anger. The boy moves closer to the slide.
He stares down into the tunnel. It looks pitch black with a faint red tint. The boy turns to see his mother still talking to the other parents and finds no one behind him in line for the slide. He takes a deep breath before seating himself at the start of the tunnel. The clouds block the sun as he starts his descent. His surroundings become pure darkness, sliding in a short spiral until he sees the light to the outside at the end. He comes out of the tunnel.
The boy looks around to find no one at the park. No prams. No other kids. Not even a single parent, including his own mother. The boy shouts for his mother but nothing but silence answered back. Trembling with fear, he continues to shout for his mother. The silence repeatedly greeting him every time he shouted. Tears begin to form in his eyes.
Without any clue of what to do, he climbs up the frame and sits atop the park in wait. Looking around, he sees nothing but trees. Not a single sign that anyone was ever at the park and no sign of anyone or anything other than trees for miles. The sky's bright blue coloring faded to a dull grey. The sun no longer shining.
The boy closes his eyes, thinking that he must be dreaming. Suddenly, he hears the clanging of metal. It was coming from inside the slide. He stands up, paralyzed with fear. He looks around to still see no one around. Staring at the slide, the boy trembles further as the sounds of metal being hit gradually become louder until it sounds as though whatever is inside is at the entrance.
Once the sounds are at their loudest, they suddenly stop. No more metal clanging. The boy still staring. Nothing there at all. Confused by the noises, he walks slowly towards the slide and looks inside. The inside of the tunnel is pure black. No colored tint. Just black.
The boy decides to go down the slide. As he slides, he can tell that the slide is now longer and in fact has more than one spin. Confused, he continues the slide until he reaches the bottom. It had felt like he'd been sliding for minutes on end until he finally came out but there was no light. It was dark. The sky like a black hole, not a single star, not even the moon was visible. Looking around, a thick fog covered the tree line.
The boy, now even more terrified, shouts for his mother again and still, no answer. He trembles even more. He looks around to see a torch lying on the floor. The boy stands and picks up the torch. As he picks it up, he discovers a viscous red liquid covering the handle. He wipes it on his jacket and turns it on. Where the light shone, a figure swiftly moved, leaving nothing but the sounds of rustling leaves.
The boy inhales sharply. The torch shaking. He aims it everywhere, hoping to see what hides from the light. As he feels unsafe, he climbs the wooden frame again. Maybe higher ground can help save him from it, he thought. As he climbs, he reaches the entrance to the slide again and sits with his torch facing the frame he climbed.
He sits, breathing heavily, terrified of what lies beyond the darkness. The torch begins to flicker. His breathing becoming more rapid, he taps the torch, trying to get it to stabilize. Pointing the torch to his face to check the bulb, it stabilizes. Drops of a clear liquid fall from above onto the torch lens. The boy's eyes fill with fear as he slowly leans his head upwards.
The torch falls to the floor as the boy's screams are silenced by whatever he saw. Blood splattering the lens. The torch shines towards the tunnel of the slide. The last thing to be heard: the sound of metal clanging within the slide.
