I was eight when it happened.

  It was a warm spring day, warmer than usual for that time of the month. In fact, the weather was the whole reason my Dad even took me to the park in the first pce. My parents were the kind of people who loved to be outdoors, they loved the sun and the heat. So when the sun disappeared during the winter months, their energy waned as well. We still went out sledding and ice skating, but we ayed out for long. So when the weather forecast showed that it would be a nice 69 to 70 degree day my dad was more than ready to leave the house, bringing me along with him.

  As a child I had always loved the way my Dad’s energy matched the sunshine, making every outing feel like an adventure. His energy didn’t match his appearahough, one look at my dad and you’d think he worked all day in a lumber yard. He wasn’t fat he was just big, he did have some fat on him but underh the yer of fat ure muscle. He was big, at least to me, an unshakeable force to be reed with.

  Whe to the park my dad had dragged me over to the py area and offered to push me on the swings since he khey were my favorite, but I refused. I was eight ahat I had gotten the hang of the swings and o be more indepe when it came to learning how to do things on my own. So my dad nodded and poio a wooden bench that sat a little ways away, telling me he would be right there if I needed anything. At that moment, I didn’t care; I just wao swing.

  I had started to gain some momentum enjoying the breeze in my hair and the feeling of weightlessness as I climbed higher when I felt a sudden shift imosphere causio slow down and look towards the entrao the park.

  It was hard to tell if it was just a very rge family or an after schoram, but there were a lot of them. Five boys and two girls in all, with an adult couple ushering them along.

  Immediately the children took off running ughing and shoving each other as they made their way towards the huge py house. The pyhouse was fitted with slides, dders, and monkey-bars, the whole nine yards. I was admittedly scared of the whole traption, it seemed too fusing. The swings however, were simple, and I liked simple things.

  Looking at the group I hat they didn't look that much older than me, a year or two at most. I felt a little uneasy at the thought. All of the older kids at my school, even if they weren't all that much older than me, picked on me and all of the other kids in my grade because we were younger. I didn't want that to happen here. I gnced over at the bench where my dad was sitting but he was too absorbed in the book he was reading to sense my eyes on him. Tearing my gaze away from my Dad and back to the kids in the pyhouse, I watched as one of the girls snuck out from uhe slides and rushed over to the swio me.

  She smiled up at me but didn't say anything. Her curly chestnut hair whipped wildly around in the breeze, hiding her freckled face from view. I watched as she gave me annce before hopping on the swing, and minding her own business.

  The two adults, though smiling, watched carefully as their children pyed, a sliver of etched on their faces and their bodies stiff and alert. The eyes of the man that stood there met mine, his eyes were a dark shade of gray I had never seen before, and seemed to look into my soul. As he looked in my dire his brow buogether and he looked like he was about to say something before his curious stare was interrupted as one of the boys came running up to him, g about a cut on his hand.

  I rexed thinking that nothing would happen and slowly resumed swinging. I had regained some of my previous momentum when suddenly I was flung forward, not expeg the sudden ge in force. I found myself sprawled in the wood chips fused and shocked, but despite the few scratches on my hands and knees I didn't cry. I got up from the unfortable position dusting myself off as I went to stand back up and turned around expeg to see the little girl but instead came face to face with another set of gray eyes.

  Surprised, I gasped and took an immediate step bad realized it was one of the other boys that came in with the group. The boy looked like a younger version of the man that had been staring at me, only his eyes seemed to shine a little brighter, his nose was different and he had fuller lips. His bck hair was thick, and his skin had a light tan from being outside all day making his eyes stand out even more. He couldn't have been no more than ten years. He didn't say a word, but the way his fiightened around the swing sent a shiver down my spine. I hadn't just fallen off the swing, HE had sent me flying.

  While I was trying to figure out how he mao sneak up on me, all he did was stare at me. He didn't move an inch, didn't try to say anything, I wasn't even sure if he was breathing. His strange behavior had me knit my brows in fusion and begin fidgeting with the hem of my shirt and shifting from one foot to the other pting oher or not it'd be a good idea for me to head bay Dad.

  “Why did you push me? I demarying to keep my voice steady despite the fear creeping in. The boy's gray eyes bore into mine, but he remained silent.

  As I looked down at my scratched hands, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Why was he just staring at me like that?

  Why was I ag like I was the o fault? I thought as a sudden wave of anger washed over me. He was the one who made me fall off the swing and I wao know why he did it. I lifted my head and opened my mouth to ask the question only when I looked back up to front him, he was no longer in front of me.

  He was behind me.

  That's when it happened. At first, I felt fusion, then shock as I felt arms themselves around my waist, holding me ihen fear as a hot, shooting pain seared through my left shoulder and out to the rest of my body. My fragile little frame shook, and my eyes watered from the sensation. It hurt and I didn't like it.

  I let out a scream that echoed across the pyground.

  The couple who had been helping the boy with his hand sheir heads up, pure horror evident in their eyes, my Dad was quick to follow. As quickly as it had begun I was released, the arms holding me were no lohere and I was left in the wood chips holding my shoulder in agony. My Dad made quick strides towards me and lifted me from the ground.

  "What is this?!" he yelled while iing the wound that I now realized was dripping blood.

  "What happened?" He asked, g his voice while he wiped away my tears.

  "I- I-" I stuttered while pointing to where the boy had stood only to choke when I noticed that he was no lohere. I frantically gnced around the pyground looking for the couple, the other children in the py house, and the girl on the swing and soon realized that not only was the boy go the other people he came in with were gone as well. They were all gone. Almost as if they had never existed.

  "Did you fall? Is that what happened?" My Dad asked.

  "No! It was-" I started only to figure out that if I said that it was one of the boys that came in after us he wouldn't have believed me. A new wave of frustrations and ay grew within me.

  "It's okay honey." My Dad soothed into my hair "We'll go get you ed up and the some ice cream, okay?" he asked and I nodded my head eagerly. He held me in his arms, carryio the car. I stole o g the swings from behind my dads shoulder and my breath caught in my throat.

  The boy was there again, standing at the swings. A small smile graced his face, but his eyes held an unfamiliar emotion that overwhelmed me. I shuddered, more tears spilling from my eyes. As he watched me being carried off, he mouthed the words that would e to haunt my dreams for the welve years of my life.

  “I'll see you soon…”