The Mysterious Girl at the Playground

I stand at the sandbox at the playground close to my house.

Actually, it’s not close to my house. It’s far away, but no one knows about it.

That means I get to use everything at the playground by myself! What a great place!

I started to build a mini castle. When I started to gather some more sand, I notice a girl my age standing in the distance. 

“Hi! What are you doing there?”

I yell out to her, but she doesn’t move. She continues to just stare at me.

Is this stranger danger? But she’s not an adult. So I think it’s ok to go to her.

I brushed off the sand on my pants and started to walk to her. 

“Hi, I’m Arthur! What’s your name?”

She continued to stare at me. Maybe she’s afraid of me?

“I’m not a dangerous person! I promise!”

I reach out for a handshake, but she does not move. As if she were a doll.

I put my hand down, a little embarrassed.

The girl in front of me has very long red hair, as if she hasn’t combed it ever. She had an unusual green eye and bright skin as if she had never gotten a sunburn. She is about my height, so just under 5 ft tall. She is wearing a dress, I think? It’s made out of material I have never seen.

“I’m building my super awesome castle! Want to help me build it?”

I tried to make conversation with her, but she still won’t talk.

I reach out to grab her hand, and she flinches a little when I hold her hand.

Her hand was a little cold and rough; did she live in the forest nearby?

I started to drag her to the sandbox where my super cool castle was, and she started to follow me. 

I started explaining how my super duper cool castle is going to look, with a moat and a big dragon protecting it! There were going to be five pillar things and a gigantic bridge! She was just staring at me.

I reached out to the shovels and handed her one. She looked at me, very confused.

Oh my, had she never made a sandcastle before? Well, I’m a pro at this, so I can teach her!

“You just put the shovel into the sand and raise it up to scoop it out!”

I demonstrate as I explain.

She started to repeat what I did, and I stood up in excitement! She’s alive!

We started to build a castle, and by "we" I mean me, but it was still a lot of fun! The other girl only dug at the sand, but when she noticed what I was doing, she was also helping me create the castle!

By the time we finished, it was getting really dark. If I don’t go home now, my mom is going to be really worried.

“I need to go back home now. Are you going to be here tomorrow?”

She once again stared at me, giving no response.

I wonder if she can’t speak? Oh well, that doesn’t matter.

“I’m going to guess I’m going to see you here next time! See you tomorrow!”

I turned around and started to run back home. I hope I can see her tomorrow as well.

*********************

The next day, I left my house to go play outside. Normally, I would go back to playing with my friends at school, but I promised I would play with the girl from yesterday, so I went to the faraway playground.

When I arrived, I saw her again. She looks the same as when I saw her yesterday. Still wearing the same dress. I can even see the sand on her dress.

I wonder where her mom and dad are. No way she is living by herself, right?

“Hi! I guessed correctly that you would come!”

She still stood there and continued to stare at me. Oh well, that doesn’t matter.

“What do you want to play?”

She continued to say nothing and stared at me but then suddenly pointed to the sandbox where we last played. Oh no, does she not know how to use the playground?

“I’m curious, do you know how to use the playground?”

Again, only silence. I’m going to guess it’s a no.

“Well, follow me! Let me show you how fun the playground is!”

I grabbed her hand and started to drag her to the other equipment. This time, she didn’t flinch when I grabbed her.

Let’s see… I know, the swings is a fun one! Let’s see if she’ll have fun in this one.

I dragged her to the swings, and I started to show her how it works, even with the little trick about swinging the legs at the right time.

Once I finished my demonstration, I dragged her to sit down on the swings. She stared at me again.

Maybe she is a little nervous?

“Don’t worry, if you fall I’ll catch you!”

I then moved behind her and started to push her. She must not have expected that, as she grabbed the chains tightly. She started to move a tiny bit and her legs are moving as well.

Would you look at that? She remembered my little trick with the feet.

I continued to push her as hard as I could; she is a lot heavier than I thought she would be since she looks about my size. It’s like if I am pushing my mom on the swings.

When she started to swing on her own, I plopped down on the ground, tired from the pushing.

I noticed that she is smiling and looking like she is having a lot of fun. I’m glad I showed her how to use the swings.

Midway through the swing, she turned around to where I was and started to look around to find me. Her expression was worried. I guess she can show emotions.

She stopped the swing immediately and started to run towards where I was lying down. She stared at me again, but this time with a worried face.

Oh, was she worried I was dead? I started to sit up immediately.

“Ta-dah! I’m not dead!”

I stand fast and make a little pose. I did this to not worry her, but her expression is still making a sad face.

Oh no, is she going to cry? What do I do? Panicking, I went to hug her. That’s what my mom does when I am about to cry.

I went to wrap my arm around her, and she was frozen, like she didn’t know what to do. I wonder if she is doing well at home and if this is a surprise for her.

She then started to mimic what I did and put her arms around me. We were stuck like this for a while.

Alright, hug time is done.

I tried to end the hug by lowering my arms, but the girl kept putting her arms around me. When I tried to force her arms to open, she only made them tighter.

“Hey, you’re crushing me. Can you stop hugging me?”

She then stared at me, and when she probably noticed my serious face, she let go immediately.

She then went back to a sad face, maybe because she thought I was angry. 

“I’m not angry, I promise!”

I then give her a big smile with my fingers holding the edges.

Her face went from sad to smiling, then from smiling to laughing!

So she can laugh too! Her red hair starts waving everywhere as she is laughing hard. She is really cute when she laughs.

With a happy mood, I started to drag her to different equipment.

“Here, let’s go on the seesaw this time!”

And that’s what we did for the entire day.

Pushing really hard on the seesaw when I had to raise her, and she was sending me to space every time she went on the ground. On the monkey bars, she mimicked my exact speed and can even skip bars like I do. Going down on the slides, sometimes together in our excitement.

When I noticed the time, it was dark outside. Oh no, Mom and Dad are likely really worried. I need to go back home now.

“Hey! I need to go back home; I’ll see you next time! Let’s play again!”

In my rush, I didn’t even look back at her, worried that my parents were going to be mad at me. In fact, I didn’t even tell her that I can’t see her tomorrow or for the next few days because of school. Well, she probably knows that as well. Right?

******************************

I spent the entire week of school doing normal things. Talking with my friends, reading books, listening to the teacher, and doing the classwork. But when I started to see rain outside on the window, I started to worry about my friend at the playground. I ran home so fast that I didn’t really get to say goodbye. I hope she is doing well.

When Saturday finally came, I once again went to the secret playground where I see her. Her red hair was a mess with leaves on top. Her clothes were wrinkled, as if she was wet and was air-dried in that same position. Don’t tell me she stayed here every after school for me!

When I started to get close to her, her head rose up quickly. Her green eyes, initially unfocused, were now focused only on me. She ran to me at a speed that would make every boy in school jealous and, mid-run, hugged me.