The Horror Squad 2 by TJ Weeks Page A

and red striped t-shirt. His tennis
shoes were black and red and he had on white
socks that stopped just above his shoes.
He grabbed one of the presents to see if it
had a name on it of whose birthday it was.
    ‘To: Steven’ the tag on a small present read.
“My birthday?” He questioned.
    Steven was confused. He looked over at the
cake and read the full cake. Happy Birthday
Steven! Steven shook his head and tried to
grasp the reality of the situation.
    Steven got up from the table and walked to
the metal slide that no one wanted to go down
because it was always so hot, he leaned over the
very end of the slide and a mirrored image shot
back at him, he quickly pulled away; he leaned
over again and looked at the image staring back
at him. It was him as a child. It was his
birthday. He reached up and felt his face and
could feel his moustache with his hand but that
is not what he saw in the reflection.
    Steven looked around and noticed a little girl
in a yellow dress sitting on the edge of the
jungle gym swinging her legs back and forth. It
was Sarah, his crush from grade school. A little
boy ran past him.
“Little Fast Freddy?” He questioned out
loud.
He turned and began watching all of the kids.
“Come down the slide Steven!” A boy yelled
from the top of the play scape.
    Steven stepped towards the small ladder that
led up to the small platform where he stood and
he climbed up. Once he reached the platform,
he tried to stand and hit his head on the top of
the awning that covered it. He ducked quickly
and put his long legs into the green slide next to
the yellow one the little boy sat in.
“Ready, set, go!” The little boy yelled.
    Steven pulled himself down the slide by
holding onto the top of it and pulled himself
into the tunnel as he had when he was a child.
He remembered it being bigger, but he
eventually came out of the other end with the
little boy standing there.
“I win!” Screamed the boy.
Steven smiled at him before he ran off to
race someone else down.
“Hi Steven.” A sweet voice squeaked.
Steven turned to see a little girl in a blue
dress.
“Margie?” He quietly questioned.
    Margie had been the little girl next door that
left him love notes on his doorstep. His parents
used to think that it was the cutest thing and
encouraged Steven to play with her.
    She giggled as she strolled over to where the
other girls sat in the sand box. She said
something to them and they all looked at him
and began to giggle.
    Steven remembered when he was younger
and all of the little girls used to crowd around
him on the playground to try and talk to him,
but he only had a crush on one, Sarah Granger.
She was part of the small group giggling, but
peeked her head around and smiled at him and
then whispered in another girl’s ear.
    Steven stood there and wondered why he felt
uncomfortable since he wasn’t really a child,
but now an adult. He did miss being a child and
decided that if this was going to be his chance
to be a child again, he was going to take it for
what it was worth.
    He ran to the swings and sat down and began
to move his legs back and forth. He had to bend
them sideways so they didn’t drag the ground,
but got higher than the little boy next to him
and then jumped as far as he could. He heard
his knee pop and fell down to his butt on the
gravel. He stood and wiped himself off and
looked over to the group of girls to make sure
they were watching. He was not the show off in
school and had always been shy, so liked that
he was able to show off some since they saw
him as the child he used to be. He waved at
Sarah and began to climb the nearby ladder to
the cross the monkey bars. He hung on with all
of his might and lifted his legs and began to
take the monkey bars two at a time. Though the
group may have seen him as a child. He
remembered his military days of doing this
exact thing. He made it to the other side and
jumped down. The little girls giggled and