The Park

by Jareth Stark

  The Park

  © Jareth Stark

  The Park is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  “Joey! Joey! This isn’t funny now. Come back to Daddy!”

  Brad scanned the park, heat rising through his body, but he couldn’t see his son anywhere. Sweat dripped from his forehead, and he wiped it furiously, desperately looking among the crowd.

  But it was Halloween. All the kids were wearing costumes and masks. There were dozens of them dressed as werewolves. How was he supposed to recognise Joey among all the others when most parents had bought their costumes at the same convenience store as his ex wife… Fucking small town. This wouldn’t be the case if we’d lived in the city liked I’d originally wanted.

  “Joey!”

  Brad ran up to a group of kids and began pulling at their masks, all the time screaming for his son. His ex-wife, Ellen, would kill him. He couldn’t lose him… not on his first visit without supervision.

  “Excuse me sir, what do you think you’re doing? Take your hands off these children this instant.”

  Brad quickly pulled his arm away. He looked up and came face to face with a stern looking police officer. “I wasn’t… no.” He watched as the children’s parents ran over to them and quickly ushered them away, giving him snide, dirty looks as they went.

  “I think it would be best if you left the park sir. Come, I’ll escort you to the entrance.”

  Brad shrugged the police officer’s hand off his arm and once again scanned the park. He began to run, heading in the direction of the Crazy House, but two more officers stood in his path.

  “Sir, it is time for you to leave,” the taller one of the two told him. “Please don’t make us arrest you.”

  “But, my son,” Brad said, his words breathless. “My son is here. I was with him, there near the carousel. We were going to go on one last ride before I took him home. And then…”

  “And then what sir?” asked the policeman exasperated. It was clear to Brad that the officer didn’t believe a word he was saying.

  “And then he was gone. I can’t find him. I can’t find him anywhere. Joey!”

  Brad felt his skin turn clammy, cold. Cool beads of sweat were pouring from his forehead. Fear was taking over his body.

  “Get off me, get off me,” he said again as the two police officers tried to restrain him. “I NEED TO FIND MY SON!”

  “We’ll help you sir. Just come with us.”

  Brad tried to resist, but when he felt the hands of the officers clench tighter on his arms, he knew he had no choice. “You have to find him!” he begged them. “He’s only five. He just ran off, and…”

  “Not much further now. Just come in here and we’ll take a statement. Sergeant Black will put a message out over the Tannoy system and we’ll set up a search party. He can’t have got far.”

  The tallest policeman sat him down in a chair in a small mobile trailer, while one of the others offered him a drink. Brad didn’t respond but took the lukewarm cup of coffee, idly playing with it in his hands.

  “How old is your son?” the taller policeman asked.

  “Five.”

  “Can you describe him? What does he look like? What was he wearing?”

  Brad quickly told the officers what they wanted to know. “Please you have to let me out of here. He’ll be scared. He won’t understand what’s going on. He’s not a very old five-year-old if you know what I mean. He’s terrified of everything, always crying when he doesn’t understand the situation. I need to find him.”

  “Leave that to us,” the officer replied. “Has Joey ever run off before?”

  Brad avoided the question and walked over to the small window in the trailer. He peered out at the crowd. Children laughed and danced. Many were carrying huge sticks of candy floss. Others had large cuddly toys they must have won at one of the stalls. Brad wondered if Joey was still carrying his stuffed rabbit. Bubsy he called it. At least if he had that, he’d have something with him that comforted him.

  “Has Joey ever run off before?” the officer asked again, more stern this time.

  “Once,” Brad replied. “I was watching him and he ran away from me, into a crowd.

  “What happened?”

  “What do you think happened,” said Brad, his tone harsh. “He obviously came back to me or we wouldn’t be here tonight.”

  “How are things at home Mr… erm what did you say your name was again?”

  “Bradley.”

  “How are things at home Mr Bradley?”

  Brad didn’t bother to correct his name. He watched as the two other officers in the trailer whispered to each other and walked into another room. He couldn’t stay here.

  “Mr Bradley?”

  “What? Yes, they’re fine.”

  “Anything we should know about? Can you think of any reason why your son would run away from you like this?”

  “No. Will you stop questioning me and let me out of here?” Brad stood up, dropped his poorly brewed coffee on the plastic table in front of him, and walked towards the door.

  “Sit down sir.”

  Brad didn’t stop.

  “I said sit down!”

  “Sergeant, can we have a word?” one of the officers asked from the other room.

  “Have you found him?” Brad asked, hopeful.

  “Sit down Mr Bradley. I won’t ask you again.”

  Brad did as he was told and tried to listen in to the conversation happening in the other room. Most of the noise was incoherent, but he heard the odd word. Killed, happened before, strangled. He didn’t like the sound of what he was hearing. Seconds later an officer re-entered the room. He was different to the first one, his face was kind.

  “Mr Bradley, my name is Officer Jones. I was wondering if you’d indulge me for a moment… You see, we’ve scaled the park and we’ve not been able to find Joey. Not yet anyway. Lots of kids are dressed in the same costume - checking them all is taking some time. We have a new piece of technology in use at the park this year, which may help us. If you’d be willing to give it a try that is.”

  “What kind of technology? I’m not going to waste my time looking into some stupid cameras when I could be out there, searching for him myself. Do you know how much trouble I’m going to be in with the ex if I don’t get him home safe and sound?”

  “I understand how difficult this is for you,” Officer Jones replied. “But I really do think this may help.”

  Brad looked up and saw the first officer looking at him through the window. Why was he staring at him? Why wasn’t he out there looking for Joey? It disconcerted him.

  “Mr Bradley?”

  “Err… yes, yes of course. Whatever it takes to find Joey.”

  “If you’ll just come this way sir, follow me.”

  Brad followed Officer Jones into a third room in the trailer. It was smaller than the others, and the windows had been covered with dark blinds. Aside from the light emanating from the TV, the room was pitch black.

  “Please sir, if you would,” said Officer Jones, pointing to a black leather chair facing the television.

  As he sat down, Brad noticed a couple of headsets on the desk in front of him. Just as he was about to ask what they were for, Officer Jones spoke.

  “As I said in the main room, this is a new technology that we’ve introduced this year. Missing children are common at these kinds of events, and previous research has found that taking the parents back to the scene of the disappearance can help to trigger memories that can help us find their children. Do you game much Mr Bradley?”

 
“Game? Not really. I mean, I used to when I was a kid. But I’ve not played anything for maybe ten years.”

  “Well, it’s very straightforward and anyone who has played before should pick things up pretty fast. Plus, I will enter the simulation with you and guide you through everything. How long would you say it’s been since Joey disappeared?”

  “Maybe an hour,” Brad replied. The words seemed to remind him that he should return to the park and start looking.

  Officer Jones typed a few figures into the keyboard, and passed Brad one of the headsets. “Now, when we enter the park, things will be different, and this can feel a bit disconcerting to some people. You may notice some people in the simulation who didn’t travel here with you and Joey today, and you may notice certain things stand out. If there’s anything strange that you notice, I want you to let me know so I can make a note of it. Sergeant Black will be following up on my notes as I write them down.”

  “Okay…”

  “Now the researchers who created the software that we’re going to use have designed it to feel a bit like a game. I can tell by your face that you think it’s a stupid idea, and I did too at first. However, you’re going to have to trust me on this when I say that it works. When tested in real life situations, over 90% of missing children were found.

  “You won’t level up, or receive quests like you would in a traditional game, however you will be led in certain directions based on how you react and the things that happen. The simulation will change course based on your experiences, your memories and everything that happened here tonight, and if you seem to be fighting the simulation or going in a different direction to what it requests, I will redirect you back onto course. I will be there with you every step of the way, and if you have any questions or feel uncomfortable, just let me know and we can come straight out. Does everything make sense?”

  “Yes,” replied Brad. He wasn’t especially keen on the fact the game would be able to read his memories. He’d heard of virtual reality, of course he had. Game had a special offer on the Rift the Christmas just gone. But it hadn’t been this involved… had it?

  “Great. If you want to pick up the headset closest to you and put it on, I’ll start up the software. Let me know when you’re comfortable and we’ll head in.”

  Brad did as requested, and was surprised to find how comfortable the headset was. He’d expected to have some wires attached to his temples, or be placed inside some kind of scanner so that the software could see what was happening in his brain. The effortlessness of the headset didn’t make sense, and it seemed, to him at least, like some kind of futuristic design that shouldn’t be legal.

  With Officer Jones watching him intently, though, he had no way of refusing without make himself look suspicious. He would never hurt his son, but he didn’t want the officers thinking that he would when they should be out there looking for him.

  “I’m ready,” Brad replied.

  Chapter Two

  “Everything okay Mr Bradley?”

  “You look different,” Brad replied. “And I do too. I wasn’t wearing these clothes when I came here tonight. Is this supposed to happen?”

  “Yes, as I said, the simulation won’t be an exact replica of your experience. It will take many different things into account, but it should help us to find Joey, or give us some clue as to where he may be. Are you ready to continue?”

  “I guess so,” Brad replied. His heart was thumping through his chest. Something didn’t feel right, but he couldn’t quite work out what it was that was unnerving him - despite the fact his son was missing, of course.

  “Okay, so you know how traditional role playing games work; you walk up to someone and they give you a quest. Well, in this simulation, that won’t happen. I want you to act as you did when you first arrived in the park with your son. If we begin to go off track or the simulation believes we’re missing a key part of the puzzle, it will notify me and I’ll let you know. If you’ve got nothing to hide, just act how you normally would and remember that things won’t happen exactly how they did when you arrived at the park this evening.”

  Brad nodded, signalling to the officer that he understood. Like he had anything to hide. Before he could speak, he felt someone tugging his arm and looked down.

  “Dad, come on. I want to see the dodgems. Robin said they’re his favourite. Will you take me on them Dad, please?”

  “Joey?” And then, just like that, the image of his son was gone.

  “What is it?” asked Officer Jones.

  “My son, he was just here. He wanted me to take him on the dodgems. That was the first thing we did when we arrived.”

  “Lead the way Mr Bradley.”

  “How do I… err how do I walk?”

  “You don’t need a controller for the simulation sir. If you just imagine yourself walking, you will walk.”

  Brad did as the officer suggested and soon found himself walking through the crowds of people. It didn’t take long before he didn’t need to think about it at all; it felt almost natural. It was different to before, though. The people in the crowds didn’t seem to have faces. And their clothes… their clothes were all a mishmash of colour, almost as if they weren’t people at all but an artist’s impression of them.

  Brad walked up close to two women who seemed to be chattering away as they waited for their children to come down from the Helter Skelter. He tried to listen to what they were saying but their words were all jumbled up. Nothing was right. The sound of Joey’s giggles pulled him away from them and Brad wondered whether the game was trying to tell him something. Stop thinking about the semantics, he imagined it saying. This is about you and your son - no-one else matters.

  The uneasy feeling in Brad’s stomach grew as he walked closer to the dodgems. Aside from Officer Jones, no-one seemed real. This was unlike any of the games he’d played as a kid and he didn’t like it. Not one bit. How was he supposed to act natural when the simulation was anything but?

  As the dodgems came into view, Brad was startled by Joey reappearing and tugging his arm again. “I want an ice cream Daddy,” he wailed.

  “I thought you wanted to go on the dodgems?” Brad replied, instinctively. Had he said that to Joey the first time they were here? He must have done.

  “But Dad, please!”

  “No Joey, you wanted to go on the dodgems like your friend Robin. Don’t start messing me about kid. You know I don’t like it when you do that.”

  Joey looked like he was about to cry, but he didn’t. He instead stood next to Brad as they waited in the queue for their turn. His face was sullen, his eyes brimming with tears, and he clutched onto Bubsy as if expecting his stuffed toy to comfort him. Brad almost forgot Officer Jones was watching him as he stood watching his son, the loud sound of pop music blasting through the speakers.

  “Four ride tokens please,” said the young girl manning the dodgems.

  “Damnit,” Brad replied. “We’ll be back in a bit.”

  He glanced at Officer Jones who was idly watching them. In the real world, Brad knew he was writing down everything that was happening as the simulation progressed. Was he appearing like a good father? He hoped Officer Jones had children and understood how they could be happy and excited one minute and annoying and whiny the next. It was normal. Wasn’t it?

  As Brad refocused on the task ahead of him, the lights of the fun fair seemed to go dim, and he shivered at the sight. The dodgems he’d just been standing in front of looked long discarded and were covered in rust. The Big Wheel at the far end of the park was missing some of its carriages. The park looked brown, dishevelled and empty. Where had all the people gone?

  “Something wrong Mr Bradley?”

  “No,” Brad lied. He tried closing his eyes and reopening them but the park still looked strange. Was the software glitching? Joey was nowhere to be seen and he felt cold. Really cold. What was happening?

  And then, all of a sudden and without warning, things returned to normal. Brad felt J
oey pull him towards the ticket counter and he followed him slowly, trying to erase the weird incident from his mind.

  “Tokens?” the woman behind the counter asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll just get twenty pounds worth,” Brad said, pushing the money through the tiny opening in the plastic box separating him from the cashier. Like anyone would try to rob this place, Brad thought.

  And then it was back, the sombre feeling, the muted tones surrounding him. The park was dead. There was something wrong with the simulation. It was glitching. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

  “Mr Bradley,” said Officer Jones, shaking him. “Are you okay? If you want to back out, we can do. Just say.”

  Brad clutched his head, and almost fell to his knees. His eyes strained as he tried to open them, and he could feel a migraine - if not an aneurysm - attacking him. He tried to stuff the ride tickets into his pockets but he couldn’t get them in. Why wouldn’t they go in?

  “Okay Mr Bradley, I’m just going to take this headset off you and we’ll return back to the real world.”

  Brad didn’t respond. He fell to the floor clutching his head. The park was clawing at him, he could feel it. Something wasn’t right. The pain was burning through his skull, seeping into his bones.

  Everything went black and he passed out from the pain.

  Chapter Three

  “Here, have a glass of water,” said Officer Jones kindly. He passed Brad a glass and watched him closely.

  Brad could feel Jones’ eyes piercing through him, but he was too disorientated to care. He could hear the children outside laughing, and the music from the carousel drowning out the chatter of happy parents. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “Nothing to be sorry about. Sometimes this happens. It is a pretty weird experience at first, and can take a bit of getting used to. Do you remember what happened just before you fell?”

  “Not really,” Brad lied again. He couldn’t help himself. If he told the officer what had really happened, he’d think he was crazy, and his ex was doing a good enough job telling people that as it was.