Natasha gripped the shoulder of the driver's seat and pressed her hand against her window as Fin stepped on the accelerator. She braced as the sudden speed forced her body unwillingly backwards and her back slapped against the black leather. Her heart was racing and she felt panic start to rise.
"Fin! What are you doing! Stop speeding!" she managed to gasp out as her throat tightened in shock.
"What are you talking about babe," Fin replied drowsily, "It's fine, isn't it fun?"
Her boyfriend was at the wheel, tearing down the 70 zone at over 100km and hour and looking as if he were half asleep, already dreaming. Natasha was petrified. Not only of the mad speed they were travelling at, but by her boyfriend's unnerving behaviour. He had told her before they had gotten in the car that he was not drunk, and trusting him, Natasha had ignored the faint scent of alcohol on his breath. But never in the four months she had known him had she seen him boozed up and certainly not to this extent. It was frightening, like a whole different side of him. A side she did not like at all. The road was rushing past at a distressing speed and she glared Fin angrily.
"Stop!" she screamed and she felt the car abruptly slow down then come to a halt. Fin looked at her dazed and confused. Natasha gathered her purse and grey coat and opened her door, letting the cool night air rush into the black Holden Commodore. She climbed out and leaned in to look at her boyfriend.
"I am never driving with you again! You're crazy!" She slammed the door on Fin's face just as he was opening his mouth to reply.
As she marched down the street, the shock and fear she had experienced washed over her like a wave and her eyes started watering as she tried to hold in her emotion. She walked briskly across the deserted footpath, only a few lights were on in the houses of the neighbourhood. She checked her phone and saw that it was 1:30am and felt tears slip out as she felt even more hopeless. She didn't know where she was and couldn't recognise anything in the dark. The only light was the dank orange glow from the street lights. She passed the houses and parked cars, looking for anything familiar. Cars passed swiftly through the quiet neighbourhood and their lights grew and faded as they disappeared into the night.
She started to lose hope and spied a colourful and empty playground. The grass gave way to sand which crunched under Natasha's velvety high heels. She looked around at the different attractions of the playground. There was a bright yellow slide, glowing in the light of the dim moon and a faded red see-saw in the far corner. Shallow pits underneath the seats had formed where tiny legs had gorged out the sand. The metal chains of the double swing set glistened and stood silent and Natasha felt an eerie calm settle around the playground as the light and noise of the road faded. The trees around the playground were as silent and motionless as statues and the whole landscape was so still it could have been a painting. Natasha made her way to the main part of the playground, three platforms which included a rock climbing wall, the yellow slide, a fireman's pole and humped metal bridges connecting all the platforms. Natasha kicked off her black and grey shoes, not caring where they flew and clambered up the slide, gripping the edges to pull herself up. When she reached the top, she sat down on the platform and swung her legs over the side beside the Fireman's pole. She sat there, sobbing and shocked, unsure of what she should do.
All of a sudden, the temperature seemed to drop. The change was sudden, there was no wind but somehow, as if the cold had creeped into the playground, the air chilled and Natasha was aware of the goose bumps forming along her arms. She realised how lonely and isolated this place really was and she couldn't help feel the sensation that she was not alone. She heard a creaking from the left side of the playground and whipped her head around, startled by the sound. It was the swing. The black rubber seat was moving. Forward and back, as if someone had just sat down and started swinging. She sat there frozen and as she watched the swinging died down. Had that been her imagination? Surely. But there was no wind, nothing that could have made that swing move. A lower, deeper creaking came from behind her and she turned slowly around to see the see-saw. There was a long low screech as one side moved to the other and a loud bang resonated around the field as the seat clattered down hitting the ground. Natasha started at the clang of metal and felt her hands start to tremble. She felt a different type of fear rise up in her. A helpless, slow fear. A creeping fear. One that she could not see, hear or touch, something paranormal. How was this happening? Her brain could not take in what she was seeing and she stared at the see-saw dumbly. Then she heard a sound which caused her to stop breathing. The absence of her breath leaving no sound but that of soft footsteps hitting the metal bridge just beside her. She didn't breathe, her heart seemed to be caught in her chest and her eyes were wide with terror. Did she dare look at what was making the sound? There had been no one in the playground, she would have heard someone approaching in the thick silence. And yet there were footsteps, steadily closing in on her. She looked up nervously, shaking in fear. But there was nothing. No trace, no shadow or any sign of another person. The bridge lay empty and cold. She blinked, squinted and placed her hand on her forehead. What was wrong with her? She shook her head and prepared to jump off the platform onto the sand. She didn't like this place, didn't like it at all. She slipped off and landed in a crouch on the glistening sand. As she looked down, she saw a stream of dark, almost black substance trickle into her view. She raised her head and saw a pair of small feet with black school shoes drenched in blood. She stood up fast, almost knocking into the fireman's poll and looked in front to see nothing. The owner of the feet was gone, there was no sign of blood and the air was dead with silence. No cars were passing by and all the lights in the houses had been turned off. She breathed deeply and quickly now, her blood pressure rising and her skin crawling. Get away, I have to get away, I have to leave, Run! Her mind was racing as fast as Fins car and she started walking, then jogging towards the foot path.
One minute there had been nothing blocking her way, the next, he was standing there. A pale little Boy with dark brown hair and deep black eyes. He stared up at her, a worn out soccer ball resting against his chest, held up by small, filthy hands. She stared at him, speechless. She knew right then it had been him, this little boy, who had made those ghostly sounds. As she kept her eyes fixated on his pale, cold face, she realised with foreboding that she could see through the little boy, clad with a blue school uniform. Natasha stepped back in shock as the boy opened his mouth and spoke.
"Are you my mummy?"
Natasha didn't know what to say but even if she had, she found that she could not raise her voice to answer and felt her throat seizing with unease. Something about this boy was not right.
"It's you Mummy, isn't it? I miss you Mummy, stay and play with me, don't leave me,"
Natasha's mouth was dry and her eyes bulged. Some force was not letting her move. Not letting her run. The boy lowered his soccer ball. He tilted his head in a questioning way and looked at Natasha with devilish eyes.
"Play with me Mummy," she cupped her hand around her mouth as the soccer ball dropped to the ground and 5 blood red gashes appeared on the boy's chest. They began bleeding profusely and soon his shorts and school top were stained crimson in the moonlight.
"You have to stay here Mummy, stay here and play with me forever."
And it was then that Fins car came back, crashing across the field from the road, heading straight for the playground and the teenager cemented to the ground, unable to move. The boy giggled and vanished.
