Tay waits patiently by the door in his raincoat, rain hat and galoshes. There was a 60% chance of rain, but that was enough for Tay to worry about the weather. As a Boy Scout he was always prepared. “Mommy, can we go to the park with the castle?” Tay asks his mom.
“Sure, sweetheart. It is Tuesday…I mean Tay’s day.” Tay’s mother responds with a smile from ear-to-ear. Every Tuesday was a special day to ensure Tay was not lost between School, work or his siblings.
Tay’s mother lets out a small laugh. The sight of her youngest in full rain gear is too much. She backtracks to the kitchen to grab the camera. “Tay, say ‘cheese’,” she says prepping the camera for the picture.
“No. I need my ‘brella,” Tay says plainly as he grabs hold of his Spider-Man umbrella. “Cheese,” he says with his arm hanging over the shoulder of his imaginary friend, Blue. They did everything together over the past few weeks. Tay’s mother was not concerned as all the books said it was normal.
“Let’s go,” Tay’s mother calls opening the door.
“It’s okay, Blue will meet us there.”
Once at the park, Tay’s mother selects a bench and sits down. A quick glance around the park tells Tay’s mother that all is safe. She pulls out the latest novel and sends Tay off. It did not take much urging for him to run off and play. Several mothers from a play group sit together to gossip a few benches away from her. Otherwise the rest of the parents were separate throughout the park, each with their own personal bench.
Tay ran to the tallest slide. Climbing the stairs Tay surveys the park from the top. “Not here,” Tay frowns and slides down. Making his way over to the sandbox he kept searching, looking more and more defeated at every corner.
Tay made his way over to the merry-go-round, or as Tay’s mother referred to it a spinning deathtrap. “Hi,” Tay greeted his friends. “Have you seen Blue?” Shaking their heads in response, Tay sat on the merry-go-round with them. The kids lazily spinning themselves, none of the children looked happy.
Tay’s mother watches as Tay lays there talking with his friends. She wonders about their conversation for a moment, and then returns to her book.
Without a sound Blue appears, coming into existence at the center of the merry-go-round. The children cheer and continue playing; boys chasing girls, girls chasing boys and Blue spinning on the merry-go-round. The sound of children playing was broken by a scream.
All the parents look up in unison and froze in terror. The merry-go-round had spontaneously combusted at some point. Blue fire rages on the merry-go-round. The fire grew outward from the center of the merry-go-round eating child after child as parents scream in terror. The merry-go-round spins faster and faster in the middle of the park. Parents scramble to their children dragging them from the park as the rest search for their kids. Tay’s mother was in the latter group.
Searching the playground she hoped to find Tay in the castle or at the slide away from the madness. After exhausting all options she edged toward the merry-go-round flanked by another parent and a nanny. The merry-go-round was spinning too fast for them to see anything other than the blue fire. “Tay! Come here!” She calls into the fire.
No Tay. She hears a child scream. That is the push she needs. She reaches out one hand to tentatively touch the flame. It is not hot and retracts from her unlike a true flame. Bracing herself she grabs hold of the merry-go-round. It is more force than she anticipates. The merry-go-round drags her around the circle. She tries to fight for control but could not. The other parent and nanny join in.
The merry-go-round starts to slow, but none are prepared for what they see. The flames that engulf the merry-go-round had not burn their hands or harm the children. The children, including Tay, were clinging to the bars for life. Each of their faces etched with fear and contorted by terror, but at the heart of the blue fire stands a child laughing merrily. He laughs even as the merry-go-round slows to a stop. The flames pulse with each hoot.
Tay’s mother stumbles backward. While the other parent dives in to grab his daughter. Hugging her tight to his body he leaps off the merry-go-round and runs. The Nanny just ran. Tay’s mother is the only one who remains. She wants to save Tay and run, but she could not leave the other child alone with this thing.
The boy at the heart of the flame looks hurt that one of his friends left. A flick of the wrist and a blue wave shot after the father and daughter knocking them off their feet. The father rolled enough to take the impact across his shoulders and save his daughter any pain. Focusing on the fleeing father the boy sent wave after wave of blue fire in pursuit of his target.
Taking this opportunity Tay’s mother jumps on to and urges the kids off the merry-go-round. A scream is the only warning she gets that the boy is done with the other parent. The children leap off as the boy turns to face Tay’s mother. She hears sirens in the distance. They are coming quick, but not quick enough. She edges backward. The merry-go-round begins to spin. She leaps hitting the ground hard, rolling her ankle in the process. She stumbles to the kids.
“Don’t go,” he mutters.
“Run!” Tay’s mother yells shoving the kids away from the boy. As the kids ran for safety, she froze. Tay’s mother squirms and struggles without success. Franticly she fights for control of her limbs.
“Come play.” The boy began pulling her toward the merry-go-round. She could not escape the blue flames holding her no matter how much she fought it. She did not see the kids, they were gone. They were safe. Tay’s mother stops the useless struggling and whispers, “Mommy loves you.”
Tires screech. A door slams. Attention shifts.
She sees a stranger running toward her. His attention was on the boy and not her. He runs by her and dives into the blue flames. The flames recede, releasing Tay’s mother. She collapses on the ground with a loud Thump. Without a second thought she picks herself up and half-stumbles half-crawls to safety. She finds her son giving him a hug and pushing him further away from this chaos.
She only stops when she made it to the arriving Police cars. She could hardly speak, only point and stammer out. “Help… Little boy… Blue fire.”
“Get her to the paramedics. She is obviously hysterical.” The officer calls to her partner and turns to run off. After a few minutes she returns. “Area is clear.” She walks over to the ambulance. “What is going on?”
“Clear?” Questions Tay’s mother as she continues to hug and hold Tay.
“Clear. You will need to come in for a statement.”
“I know. Bye,” Tay says as he waves to an empty spot in all the chaos. He turns to his mom, “Blue says he is sorry and has to go now.” Tay leans in and hugs his mom tight as she watches a tiny blue wisp vanish into a memory.