Spring 1981. Jackson Mississippi.

 I'm 6 years old and in the first grade. My entire world consist of Star Wars toys, my best friend Wesley and the area between our two houses that we reigned over. It was our world and the world was great. My house was the first house on the block. Then our friend Roland, then and empty space where I guess a house used to be (all that was ever there was remains of a foundation), and then there was Wesley's house. After his house, there were two or three other houses but that was no mans land. We dared not pass Wesley's house. But our world was good so it was not necessary.......until one afternoon.

Wesley was always the more adventurous of us but we were always in it side by side. If I was in trouble then you can bet he was in trouble too. Whether it was getting in trouble at school or at home, it was always the two of us. Peas of a pod. Two of kind. Birds of feather. Whatever you want to call it, that was us.

Inseperable.

As stated before, our world was good. But at some point we started to realize that, though our world was indeed good, it was starting to get....small. We need to expand our territory. Aggressively if needed. It was Wesley's over ambitious mind that first suggested passing his house and into No Mans Land. I thought it but I wasn't about to say it out loud lest he took me seriously. But there it was. Our only option was to explore what was past his house. Now we had a general idea what was over there. Past his house were about three other houses and at the end was a street that ran perpendicular to ours. Across that street was the legendary and near mythical Park. I had heard there was a park out past No Mans Land but I had never knew anyone that had been there. Or at least comeback.

With fear in our hearts, equaled only by the determination to expand our territory, we set off on our journey. My house was the starting point. Our first stop was to see our friend. We informed him of our plans and he wanted none of it. Weird. He's usually so eager to join. Why was he hesitant now. Did he know something?

Whatever. We didn't need him.

Next was the spot were a house  used to be. It was never there while we reigned. It must have been the ruins of some ancient civilization that was long gone.

Whatever. We didn't care.

Next was Westley's home. The last familiar landmark before we crossed over. Our fear became a kind of excitement that threatened to bubble up and foam at our mouths. However, it wasn't long after crossing over the border that we both spotted a person running towards us. A girl. No more that 15 but to us she might as well be an adult..

She stopped as she reached us, gasping for breath and sweating like a pig. And where her face was supposed to be, I saw only terror. My mind began to race. Who was this girl? Where was she running from and why? We stared at her in confusion until finally, between breaths, she asked " Are you kids going to the park?"

GOOD LORD!!! This girl came form the park!! I couldn't believe it! I had so many questions but my brief excitement was over shadowed by the realization that something was very wrong with her. " Yes", I managed to say. And then she took one breath and unveiled a truth to us that rocked us to our very core.

"DON'T GO TO THE PARK. THERE'S A GIANT MONSTER EATING LITTLE KIDS AT THE PARK!"

And then she ran.

Ho. Lee.  Shit.

She never got a chance to describe the monster but I knew in my mind exactly what it looked like. It was a giant which was the one description she did manage reveal. It had one horn on top of it's head to match it's one eye. It's teeth weren't sharp but chipped, blunted and rotting. It wore a single cloth around it's waste that one can only assume was made out of the skin of children.

It was a blur from the moment the girl ran away and the moment I made home. I remember screaming and crying and refusing to look behind me for fear that the monster had run out of little kids eat at the park and had made it's way to our world. Wesley's house was first and for a time I ran alone with only my fear of being eating by a giant, one-eyed, one-horned monster to keep my legs from giving out beneath me. Once inside and gasping for air, I found my mother in the kitchen washing dishes and retold the incredible adventure to her just has I have retold it to you, the reader. Although it was slightly more frantic and probably infinitely less comprehensible.

My Mother. " Boy shut up. There ain't no monster at no park!"

WTF!!  How could she possibly dismiss this!? Did she not hear what i had just described!? In what world did she live in where this could possibly be ignored??  Unless........ she WAS a grown up. And grown ups were known to be tricky with their ways, and their speaking and this thing called Wisdom they were always talking about. And what did Roland know that Wesley and I didn't. It was strange that he didn't want to go with us on the one day that this all went down. Stranger still, is that I don't have a single memory of Roland after that day. It's as if....

..........no......

I decided to let it drop.  Other horrible truths could be revealed to me if I kept pushing, and my heart and soul had had enough. I couldn't take anymore.

And we never made it to that park.