The Park

by Jareth Stark

  “You’d just bought some tickets from the cashier. I think you were going to head back to the bumper cars with your kid. Please try and remember, it could be important.”

  “Yes, yes that was it. I didn’t have any tickets so I had to run and get some before we could go on the ride. Joey loved the dodgems. He was always asking me to take him on them. We were just heading back when I felt a migraine coming on. I get them sometimes, you know how it is.”

  Brad watched as Officer Jones scribbled something down.

  “Do these migraines always incapacitate you that quickly?” Officer Jones asked, a look of concern on his face.

  “Sometimes. I don’t get them often, it’s usually when Joey’s being a bit of a pain. I mean, not that he’s a pain, I didn’t mean that, I mean well you know, he’s five, what do you expect? He always wants to do stuff. He needs attention all of the time. I think it’s normal, isn’t it, to become a bit overwhelmed by it all?”

  “Does your child often overwhelm you Mr Bradley?”

  “What? You’re taking this out of context! I’m just talking in the usual way that a young child can be a bit much. Every parent experiences it. I’m not saying I couldn’t handle him. Just that sometimes, at the end of a long day, it gave me a headache. The doctor gave me some tablets for the migraines - take two tablets he told me when you feel one coming on. But I didn’t have any in there with me did I? Usually I take them and it just passes.”

  “I think it would be useful if we went back in,” Officer Jones replied. His voice was stern but not unkind. “You’re doing great, but we still haven’t got anything to go on.”

  Brad drank the remainder of his water and nodded. When he was done, he lifted the headset up and placed it back on his head. His hands shook lightly, but the pain in his head was now fading. It was the glitch that had caused it, he was sure of it.

  “Now Mr Bradley. When we go back in, the simulation’s going to start from the beginning again. I imagine we’ll get back to where we were pretty quickly now that you know what to expect. If you’d like to take any tablets before we head back in, let me know now. We don’t want to waste any more time. The first few hours after a child goes missing are the most important as I’m sure you understand.”

  “No tablets. I’m ready,” said Brad.

  “Okay, just like before. In a few seconds, we’ll be back at the entrance to the park. Joey will be there with you and he’ll want to go on the bumper cars. Just walk me through everything as it happened, and forget I’m there unless you need anything.”

  “Sure,” Brad replied, only half listening to what the officer was saying.

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

  “Sure son, come on.”

  Brad took hold of Joey’s hand this time and walked with him through the park. The extras in the simulation were just as blurry as before, but he tried to push the weirdness to the back of his mind. This is about finding Joey, he told himself. Stop trying to pick holes in the software - it won’t help!

  As the dodgems came into view, Brad steered Joey off towards the ticket counter.

  “But Dad, you said we could go on the dodgems!” Joey whined.

  “We need ride tokens first son, can’t do anything until then.”

  Brad’s words seemed to placate Joey. Knowing that he’d also be asking for an ice cream in a minute, Brad attempted to alleviate the tantrum before it had a chance to take place. He picked up £20 of tokens, and walked Joey over to the ice cream truck.

  “What’ll it be?” a friendly woman with a brown afro and a huge smile asked Joey.

  “No ice cream Dad, you said we could go on the dodgems! Dad you promised!”

  Brad wasn’t sure how to react. He’d rushed through the early parts of the simulation, attempting to keep Joey as happy as possible, not wanting another migraine to take full force in his brain.

  “Is this supposed to happen?” Brad asked Officer Jones who was still closely following them. “How can it already be so different?”

  “You could do this simulation twenty times and every experience would be different Mr Bradley. It’s best if you stop trying to second guess what the software wants and just go ahead with what you’d normally do. The software doesn’t just want to see what happened this evening, it’ll be putting you in situations that didn’t happen just to see how you or Joey reacted.”

  “How can it tell how Joey reacted?” Brad asked, frustrated. “He’s not even here.” Brad felt the simulation of Joey tugging on his arm but he ignored it, it wasn’t real.

  “It changes based on your response to certain stimuli or actions. Please, try and stop over thinking it. Act as naturally as you can as trying to placate the simulation of your son, for whatever reason, isn’t going to help us find him.”

  “Fine,” Brad muttered. He grabbed hold of Joey’s hand and dragged him back over to the dodgems.

  The loud pop music wasn’t playing by the time they arrived, but the bright lights were still the same. Despite being unable to see the faces of the children in the simulation, he could hear them laughing every time one car bumped into another one.

  “It’s gonna be so much fun Dad!” Joey said, a big grin on his face.

  Brad didn’t respond. It was too weird. He didn’t like being watched so closely and having to speak to a simulation of his son was not improving his mood. How can so many parents be willing to go through with this? he wondered. Surely they’d rather be out there looking for their kids!

  When the loud dance track finally stopped playing, the bumper cars drew to a halt. Brad held Joey’s hand tight as they walked down the line, passed their tokens to the young girl manning the ride, and climbed onto the platform.

  “Dad! Can we go in the blue one? It’s got a monster on it! Look!”

  “Sure Joey.”

  Brad helped his son into the car and fastened his seatbelt. When he was sure he was secure, he climbed into the other seat and waited for the ride to fill up.

  “It’s gonna be so much fun Dad!”

  Ignoring Officer Jones who had taken his place with the parents watching kids who were old enough to drive themselves, Brad smiled. “Hope you’re ready for some speed” he said.

  “Yeah Dad!”

  Joey was happy and excited, it made a change.

  As the next song began to play, the lights above the platform shone brightly, and the cars jolted as they came back to life. Brad put his foot down on the accelerator and began to steer their car around in a clockwise direction as fast as possible.

  Bang! They bumped straight into two young girls who hadn’t yet worked out how to use the controls. Joey giggled tentatively, and the sound spurred Brad on. He reversed and instantly went straight into the same cart. The acne ridden teen manning the ride quickly jumped on and glowered at Brad. She attempted to give the girls some help getting moving, while Brad reversed again and looked for his next target.

  When he was driving, Brad seemed to forget about everyone else around him. He’d been banned from driving real cars two years previous, and this was the first time he’d been properly behind the wheel with his kid. He let the music flow over him, basked in the warm lights, and looked for his next victim. Seconds later they were banging into another bumper cart hard.

  “Dad, I feel sick,” said Joey.

  “What are you? A man or a mouse?” Brad replied laughing. He found his next victim and slammed right into the side of them, pushing their car sharply into the corner of the platform.

  “Dad…”

  Without warning, Brad suddenly found himself back in the glitched universe he’d found himself in before. The bright lights had faded, the car he was in had turned to rust, and rather than his son sitting beside him, there was just a pile of bones. Brad screamed loudly, frightened by the experience, and urgently looked over into the crowd. But there were no people there. Even Officer Jones had disappeared. He was alone, surr
ounded by rust and decay.

  “Joey!” he shouted, the fear clear in his voice. “Officer Jones!” No-one was there to answer him. Brad’s hands were once again caked in sweat. His skin was cold and clammy, and his heart rate sounded like a thousand freight trains passing him from all directions. “Just take me,” he begged as the white heat in his head rose to uncontrollable proportions. “I can’t cope with this! Take me!” He closed his eyes and waited for the darkness to come.

  “Mr Bradley?”

  Brad opened his eyes and quickly looked around him. Joey was sat at the side of him crying, and Officer Jones was pushing him gently on the shoulder. The car had stopped at the corner of the platform, and people in the crowd were looking at him like he was insane.

  “Mr Bradley, is everything okay?”

  Joey’s high pitched screams pierced through his brain.

  “Please stop crying!” he shouted a little too loud.

  “Mr Bradley, I think we should move away from this ride…” Officer Jones repeated, his voice curt.

  “Ger’off of me,” Brad said, pushing his hand away. “Whose stupid idea was this simulation? It’s never going to work!”

  Brad unclipped his seatbelt and got out of the car, and then unclipped Joey. He lifted him out and placed him on his hip, ignoring the disapproving stares he was receiving from the parents surrounding the platform.

  “Too young to go on a ride like that,” one particular busybody said.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Brad replied with a snark. “And how come you can speak all of a sudden?”

  Brad lowered Joey to the ground at the side of the dodgems, out of the way of the crowd. “Please stop crying,” he begged him. “It’s Halloween, we’re supposed to be having fun!” He closed his eyes and tight as he could, trying to push the pain away.

  “I want Mummy,” Joey whined, a large tear rolling down his face and landing on the floor beneath him.

  “Well you can’t have Mummy Joey. She’s gone out with Derek. Why do you think she let me have you on my own for a few hours? She never does that unless she’s desperate.”

  “Mummy!” Joey wailed.

  Brad had no clue what to do but he was getting frustrated. A heavily pregnant woman walked past them and tutted haughtily at him. “Ah go screw yourself,” he shouted. “You’ll soon see how easy parenting is. I hope yours is a real bastard!”

  The second he’d said it Brad knew it was wrong of him, especially in public. But this wasn’t public. In the back of his mind was the reminder that this was all a fake simulation, and it seemed to be purely existing to provoke him. He needed to get his anger in check. This was not who he was!

  “Why are you putting me in these situations?!” Brad asked, suddenly turning on Officer Jones.

  “I’m not doing anything Sir,” the officer replied calmly. “This is just the software trying to work out why Joey could have run off and where he could have gone to.”

  “So you think I did it. You think I made him run off? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Officer Jones replied, his voice calm.

  “Well, Joey doesn’t usually act like this okay. He’s a good kid! You can’t turn him into some kind of monster just to paint me in a bad light. Every parent knows how many tantrums kids have, and there’s nothing you can do except for ignore it and wait for it to end - especially in a public place!”

  “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do,” said Brad, walking up close to the officer, dominating him. “Everything I’ve seen in this simulation so far has been designed to provoke me, make me look bad. I’m a good father! Joey loves me and we have tons of fun together usually. I haven’t been able to hang out with him for a while, not since his mum left last year. She painted me in a bad light and it’s been completely up to her when I’m allowed to see him. Do you know how hard it is to bond with your son when you’re only allowed to see him two or three times a year? I’d never do anything to upset my son.”

  “Please Mr Bradley, calm down.”

  “I will calm down when this software starts painting a realistic picture of what happened here tonight. I don’t even know why we need to go through this. None of this stuff even happened! You have to make it stop!”

  The lights of the dodgems faded, and the rusty theme park was back. Brad felt jolts of pain shoot through him and he once again dropped to the ground, hugging his knees, waiting for the moment to pass.

  Chapter Four

  “Brad, Joey. There’s my two favourite boys!”

  “What? Why are you here?” Brad asked, getting to his feet. “Has Derek left you already?”

  Brad watched as Joey ran to his mum, his arms outstretched. Despite his size, she lifted him up effortlessly and rested him on her hip.

  “Derek? The new boss at work? Why would I be with him?”

  “You said… oh never mind. What are you doing here Ellen?”

  “Oh come on Brad, don’t be like that, I thought it’d be nice to surprise you. Joey’s been so excited about coming here today. What have you been on so far darling?”

  “Just the dodgems,” said Joey, wrapping his arms around his mother’s neck. Brad was glad that he hadn’t told her what had happened… how he reacted. That was a one way ticket back to no contact with his kid.

  “How about we go on the Big Wheel?” Ellen asked Joey, a huge grin on her face. “You’ll be able to see the whole fairground from up there. It’s incredible!”

  Joey’s mood suddenly changed, much to Brad’s disappointment. Ellen always had a way of bringing Joey out of himself, exciting him. He had never managed it. Most of his conversations with Joey involved him upsetting him for some stupid reason, and then begging him to stop crying. It was the worst feeling ever to feel like such a bad dad, especially when he couldn’t help comparing the way Joey acted around him to the way he acted around his mum.

  Brad walked behind Joey and Ellen as they made their way to the Big Wheel. He’d forgotten all about Officer Jones watching him, forgotten that he was inside a virtual simulation. Instead, his mind was angry. Sick of the way his kid always chose his mum over him.

  He’d done everything for Joey when he was born. Ellen had had postnatal depression, and so for the first months of Joey’s life, Brad had basically been his sole carer. He’d taken a few months off work, freelanced on the side to ensure they had an income, and looked after Ellen too. He’d done as much as he physically could to keep their family together - to make Joey and his wife happy. But it was never enough. Joey was two when Ellen began to cope better, and he’d returned to work to keep them afloat. Ever since then, Joey had only been interested in his mum, never his dad.

  And then the bitch had left him for her boss at work. After everything he had done for her! She’d taken Joey with him and convinced Social Services that he was a poor father. The court case that had led to a driving ban hadn’t done him any favours. And neither had the way Joey acted around him when his mum was there. Maybe he was a rubbish dad. Maybe he would be better giving up and moving away. It’s not like he was making anyone happy.

  “Are you excited Joey?” he could hear Ellen asking as Joey bounced up and down on her hip. The kid could walk, why did she feel the need to carry him everywhere? It was embarrassing.

  “Are you coming on Mummy?” he asked. Brad couldn’t see his face, but he imagined it was hopeful. He wouldn’t want to go up into the sky just with his father. Why would he?

  “Of course I am sweetheart,” she replied.

  Brad ran to keep up with them, and pushed through a crowd of people who were standing in his way. They began to tut at him and his anger intensified. “Fuck you,” he mouthed as he walked past, not bothering to look back.

  The people queueing for the Big Wheel were boarding as Ellen, Brad and Joey approached, and Brad handed over his ride tokens and pushed past Ellen and Joey into the carriage. “Come and sit with Daddy,” he motioned to Joey. But his son clung to his
mother and sat down next to her.

  “You’re not scared are you?” Ellen laughed kindly at Joey. “We’re locked inside, see? I used to love coming on this ride when I was a child - when you get to the top it’s almost magical. You’ll see all the bright lights below, and all the people will look like teeny tiny ants.”

  Joey giggled at this. “Really Mummy?”

  “Really! Just you wait and see.”

  The carriage began to slowly move around, jerking to a stop every time a new family boarded, but within a minute they were moving around properly, and Joey was able to see what his mother had described.

  Brad watched as Joey’s eyes widened, never having been this high before in his life. He guessed it must be quite a weird experience to be this far from the ground if you’d never done it before.

  “Look over there,” Ellen pointed. “That’s where you and Daddy went on the dodgems. And ooh, look over there. That’s the carousel with all the horses.”

  Joey, eager to see everything Ellen was pointing at, stood up and found his balance. Brad was surprised that he’d even attempted to stand up. He was always a little scaredy cat when he was in his company. As per usual though, Ellen brought out his good side. Brad just made him shut down.

  Ignoring Ellen, Brad looked out of the other side of the carriage, across the open farmers’ fields, and into the sunset. It was a beautiful, calming view, and he tried to take it in, while ignoring everything the bitch was saying. Why did she even have to join them? Brad knew why - she didn’t trust him.

  As he continued to stare out over the fields, the voices of Ellen and Joey grew muffled. And as they reached the top of the rotation, he turned to look at them, deciding to see whether Joey was enjoying it.

  Brad screamed.

  Rather than his ex-wife and son sitting with him in the carriage, there was a pale woman, her clothes covered in blood, cradling a skeleton. Her eyes bore into Brad’s, piercing through into his soul.

  Brad clutched onto the handlebars of the carriage and moved his body as far back as he could. The clammy, cold feeling had washed over his skin once again and he was terrified. Who the fuck was this woman? Why was she in the cart with him? Where were his wife and son?