Jon could barely wait until the car stopped, until the turn thingy on the car door turned red, until his mom let him out of the car so he could climb that bright, multi-colored playground. His mommy got out, and he unbuckled his seatbelt even though his mommy wouldn’t like it. He tore out, only slowed down by strong figures lifting him up so his feet didn’t touch the floor. She turned him around and looked him right in the eyes, “We can only stay here for half an hour, I’ll let you know a few minutes in advanced,”
He nodded vigorously, and sprinted onto the tanbark, breathing in the woody smell of the chips underneath his shoes. He went straight for the swing s he could fly for a bit.
Another parent had watched their little conversation, and walked up to her, he scratched his beard, “He doesn’t know what half-an-hour is, why bother?”
“He doesn’t need to know what half an hour is either, just gives him a feeling of control,”
He shook his head and walked away. Jon was having a blast, the sun warming his dark wavy hair, summer was better than winter, he decided, too much rain.
He got off the swing then and hurried over to the main play area with an enormous climbing wall; he got to the top, and saw a little girl balancing a ball precociously on the top.
“What are you doing?” he asked innocently
“Making sure it won’t fall,”
“Why?” His mommy was right it was one of his favorite words, at the thought of her, he looked over the immense tanbark jungle and she gave him a tiny wave. He looked back at the girl, who was now frustrated because it wouldn’t stay.
“Maybe things are supposed to change,”
“What do you mean?” She asked him impatiently, “if things don’t stay the same, then what holds the world together,”
“I don’t know,” Jon quietly climbed down the colorful wall. He walked around looking for variations in what he had seen before. Nope, grass still green, sky still blue, sun still hurts to look at. He walked around, bark still the same, but if I break a piece, there’s less. He ran back over to the colorful playground, and looked for the girl, who wasn’t there anymore. A gruff man with a beard was holding her while she wailed “I don’t want to go home!”
“Five more minutes!” His mommy called to him.
“Aw,” he said. He then continued to look for change. His mommy looked down for a second at her magazine. She looked up and he was gone. She sucked in her breath and began to scan, because even if she didn’t see him, he still knew she was there. “Jon?!” She questioned loudly trying to get his attention.
Jon didn’t hear, he was putting the bark back, but couldn’t find the right tree. He suddenly missed is mommy and ran back to the playground to his mommy with large eyes. HE gave her a hug and said, “I’m ready to go home now.”
She gave him a kiss on the forehead and carried him back to the car.
