Reflections of Light

Playing Ground

Luci watched her young son charging loudly around the play equipment, causing havoc to whatever imaginary world he was playing in today, his arm wrapped tight in a white bandage.

He hadn't really been at all hurt after getting his arm wedged behind the radiator, a little achy and red, but nothing that wouldn't be ignorable or go away after some ice.
Or at least, that was Luci's opinion.

Billy on the other hand had decided he'd obtained the most severest of war wounds in the history of everything ever, an agonising, crippling pain; which Luci noted had somehow been way to painful to quickly nip into a shop on the way and get him some new trousers, but seemed completely fine for playing on the monkey bars with.

However, he'd adamantly insisted it be treated accordingly, and so Luci, in an attempt to pacify him, had wrapped it up in a bandage from the first aid box, which he was now wearing with pride.

Almost as if on cue, he ran up to her, clutching at his arm pitifully.
"Mummy, my arm hurts."

"Oh, dear." Luci acted sympathetically. "Could it possibly be all that hanging from the monkey bars making it hurt? Maybe we should call it a day and go home if it hurts so bad."

Billy thought about it for a second, then shook his head. " 'S not that bad. Da playing ground makes it feel better!"

"Really? Well, you learn something new every day!" Luci chimed. "Maybe later, we can see about getting some ice cream if you'd like, how about that, yeah?"

Billy jumped up and down excitedly, clapping his hands and nodding his head.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

Luci ruffled his hair fondly. "Now, go on, have fun. And play nice with the other children. No being mean, like you were to that little girl whose pigtails I saw you pulling."

Billy pouted. "But dere boring." He complained

"What, everyone? I doubt that."

"It's true!" Billy insisted. "Dey don't know anyfink, dere all stupid and I don't like dem!"

"Aw, Sweetheart." Luci cooed, stroking his hair comfortingly.
"Are you missing your friends?"

Billy nodded, looking forlorn.

In truth, Luci couldn't blame him. Her usually quite charismatic son was used to having a gaggle of adoring pals waiting to play whatever mad game he came up with next, but being plucked away from them and moved to the new house had taken him completely out of his element.
Whilst she knew if he really wanted to he could win over almost anyone here using his cheeky-charming personality, fact was, he didn't want to.
He'd been set off kilter by recent events, and his behaviour recently had shown it, with his misbehaving changing from his usual jokey tricks to become almost vindictive, becoming a much more angry little boy, although probably not sure what he was angry at.

Not for the first time, the thought that maybe he'd have been better off staying with Wesley's family crept into her mind, only to be forcefully banished again.

"Uh... Oh, look, the swings free! I bet you can't swing higher than that little boy there just did!"

"Can too!" Billy said, drawing out of his reverie.

Luci shook her head, grinning. "Nah, I don't believe you. I don't think you can swing that high."

"Yes I can! I can swing all the way up to the sky! An' I can do it all by myself!"

"Nah, I don't think so. You're going to have to prove it."

He didn't need a second telling before he'd taken off,  charging eagerly towards the swings, the apparently now unfastened end of the bandage trailing joyously after him like a flag, much to Luci's amusement as she hurried to stifle her giggles.

As she watched him attempting to climb up onto the swing- an exercise which was clearly going less successfully than he'd planned, given that he was just a tad too small to push the swing off successfully and so was sort of just sitting there, his toe tips barely skimming the ground, attempting to make it swing by wriggling his body and yanking back on the chains- Luci felt the bench shift a little as someone else sat down on the opposite end.

"Young William seems lonely." A familiar voice purred.

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