The Horror Squad 2 by TJ Weeks

didn’t
understand why this was bothering him so
much.
    He sat there nervously shaking his leg up and
down like a drummer getting down on some
serious beats with the foot petal for about
fifteen minutes. “Fuck it!”
    He grabbed the knife once again and pressed
down hard before making his slice. Even
though he couldn’t feel the pain, he could feel
the blade scraping around his bone. The bone
was too thick to cut through so he walked over
to the door and looked out to make sure it was
clear. There was no one in sight so he put his
arm in the door and used the force of his hip to
break it off. It took six bounds at the door
before it finally snapped, but he still had to
brace his foot at the bottom of the door and tear
backwards for the final removal.
    Tears began to fall from his old withered
eyes. He opened the door quickly and looked
around once again and grabbed his arm. The
whole arm had turned a greyish blue like those
of the rotters. He dropped it next to his bedside
before flopping back into his bed. Lying there
on his back and tears rolling down both sides of
his cheeks, he finally drifted back off to sleep.
***
    S teven heard laughter, cries, chatter, and
screams of happiness. He opened his eyes to a
plethora of small children in front of him. They
swung back and forth on monkey bars, some
were sliding down slides, and three little girls
were gathered on the swings dragging their
shiny shoe covered feet while they talked.
    Steven furrowed his brow in confusion as to
why he was at a playground with children that
he didn’t know. He looked around for all of
their parents and did not see an adult anywhere.
“Am I supposed to be watching these kids?” He
questioned himself. The children paid him no
attention as they went about their fun.
    Steven took a step from the soft grass he
stood on to feel the small pebbles roll beneath
his boots. The crunch of the rocks echoed
through his ears with each step he took. He
made it to the other side of the playground to a
picnic table and sat down. He watched the
children playing and running back and forth
with no worries of any kind. Steven began to
smile, remembering being little and not having
a care in the world except how fast he could
make it down the slide or how high he could get
on the swings before jumping off.
    He peered around to look for any other adult
that may have shown up to be able to tell him
where he was or why he was there. He could
not see anyone but children. As he scanned the
grounds, he was able to see a bouquet of
balloons flapping on the other side of the green
and yellow play scape filled with kids running
across the swaying bridge.
    Steven rose from the red wooden picnic table
and walked on the edge of the small rocks
towards the blowing balloons. The tablecloth
was a bright green and balloons were tied to
each corner of the table. A huge green iced cake
sat in the middle of the table that read Happy
Birthday. Presents sat on the ground and ninja
turtle plates and cups sat inside a small bag at
the edge of the wooden bench seat. Two plastic
grocery bags sat next to the presents filled with
two bottles of punch.
“A birthday party?” Steven questioned out
loud.
    He peered back up at all of the children as
they ran from one side to the other of the small
bridge and shot down the slides that were
attached. The three little girls had moved from
the swings to a sand box nearby. Two little
boys were racing to see who was able to get
higher faster on the swings. A little girl sat off
to the side of the groups playing with a Barbie
in the rocks. Steven noticed that none had even
noticed him walking around.
“Was he invisible?” He thought.
    He sat at the edge of the colorfully decorated
table and wondered which child’s birthday it
was; and again why there were no adults to
watch all of these kids.
    He then peered down at his clothing and
realized that he was dressed in a pair of shorts
and a blue