HAPHAZARD TALE #2: The Man on the Swing.

https://xx-darkcrystal-xx.deviantart.com

It was a cold winter in Nanophille. As any other winter day, people preferred to stay inside, keeping themselves warm with a cup of hot chocolate or sitting around by the fire. However, neither freezing weather nor slippery road will stop these kids with a plan that has been arranged for a week. Maddy and Rue rode their bike carefully and approached the small green house ahead of them. Rue rang her bike bell and a couple of seconds later, two boys got out of the front door. They went quietly side by side with a piece of paper each on their hand.

As they arrived on the playground, they didn’t notice anything strange; so, they went straight to tree near the playground.

“What did you write?” Jake walked closer to Rue as they got off the bike.

“I can’t tell you that. That is why we saved it for later,” Rue explained while rolling her paper.

“You bring the box, right?” Maddy moved toward Thomas who wore his favorite blue glove.

“Yes Maddy. How could I forget?” Thomas slightly rolled his eyes remembering how Maddy always reminded him to bring the box every day.

When they finally made it to the tree, Maddy and Jake dug the ground near the tree. They planned to bury the letters to their future self which they have been planning for a few days. They were inspired by a movie where the characters bury a note for their future self to see whether their dream will come true. Maddy, Jake, Thomas and Rue promised to stay friends together and opened the letter ten years later.

Just as Maddy and Jake finished digging the ground, they felt Thomas tap their back. “Guys, I think there is someone watching us.” Thomas said with a shaky voice.

“Yeah sure, I think it’s the police Tommy.” Maddy replied without looking to Thomas and continued to dig the ground.

“No, he’s not joking Maddy! Look!” Jake tapped her shoulder harder.

Maddy finally looked around and saw a man on the playground. She saw her friends’ face which seemed to be shocked and scared. From this distance, they can only see the face a little; however, they can see that it’s a man strangely sitting on the swing, alone in the cold evening. Maddy tilted her face, trying to get a better look of the strange man.

“Let me take a closer look.” Maddy was prepared to approach the lone man in the playground. But then Thomas quickly grabbed her hand, “Are you crazy? Not so close! What if he turns out to be a zombie?!”

“Don’t be silly Thomas. There is no such thing.” Rue immediately added but fright still could be seen from her eyes.

“It’s true! My brother told me that himself. Please, let’s just go.” Thomas begged while still holding Maddy’s hand tightly.

“We can’t just leave him here. We have to tell somebody.” Jake, who was previously quite, blurted the idea.

“Yeah, obviously. But just let me take a closer look first, we might know who he is and ask what he is doing alone in the playground.” Maddy insisted to go. There was no trace of fear on her face.

“No we don’t, Maddy. It’s dangerous. His eyes are wide open, he doesn’t even blink! I can see that. What if he’s dead?!” Thomas started to freak out and went back and forth.

“Sshhh. Okay, fine. Just hurry up Mads, it’s getting dark.” Rue finally gave out permission for Maddy to take a closer look. Maddy seemed rather excited for this. She was calm and didn’t show any sign of fright. She took a step closer and the moment afterwards was something she would never forget for the rest of her life. Her first encounter with a dead man.

Maddy stayed calm enough, knowing that the man she saw was dead. He was not breathing, not blinking and there was no sign of any living man; therefore, Maddy could quickly assume that this strange man was dead. Running into this situation, she was not afraid. After all, both of her parents are coroners; thus, whether Maddy liked it or not, she was very familiar with this. She hasn’t told her friends yet that the man was dead; she analyzed the man in front of her further. The man was wearing a dark green jacket with white polo shirt under it. His cheeks were hollow like he hasn’t eaten properly in months and the bags under his eyes were prominent as if he hasn’t been sleeping for weeks. His jaw was very sharp and there were traces of blood near his mouth. He was almost bald; the hair was only at the side of his head. Maddy can sense a strong smell coming from him; she assumed that he might have been dead for a while.

“Mads! If I stay any longer, I will leave you here. I don’t care what will happen. Come on let’s just go!” Jake shouted from behind with a look that Maddy couldn’t explain. It was a mixture of fright, cold and annoyance. “One more minute!” Maddy replied and quickly looked back again. She was curious on how the man could stay still on the swing when the man was dead. She finally saw that there was a rope holding the man from falling, and when she took an even a closer look, a fly came out of the man’s mouth. She jumped looking at the view and directly ran away to her friends.

“The man is dead.” Maddy eventually told her friends as she approached them. A silent, a gasp and widen eyes were followed after Maddy’s statement.

“What?!?! Geez Mads! Why didn’t you tell us right away?” Thomas was as white as paper and prepared to run to his bike.

“I don’t know if you are being brave or stupid with that.” Jake mumbled her words to Maddy.

At last, Maddy, Thomas, Rue and Jake went to Maddy’s home and told her parents what they found. Maddy’s parents directly called 911 and of course were very angry to the kids for not calling 911 right away or told them. Maddy’s parents also called Tommy’s, Rue’s and Jake’s parents to pick them up and discussed the situation.

While the parents were busy with the case, they gathered together to hear what Maddy had seen in the playground before. They went to Maddy’s basement as it is their favorite place to hang out. The basement was dark and Maddy swiftly turned the light on. Suddenly, Maddy heard her friends screamed loudly in union. She turned her head and finally saw what their friends saw. The man in the swing was there, staring and smiling at them.