Playground
Cezille07
Chapter 3. The Worse of Two Monsters.
Something caught his eye. Something just outside the window, almost hidden from his view but just close enough for him to see it, moving. Something big, red, really clumsy, but really amusing.
Zick's last few hellos to people he just met were successful enough. He lifted a hand to greet the creature, but it didn't see him.
"Zick, do you want to say something?" Teacher Petty asked. She paused from writing down the first five letters of the alphabet for the fourth time or so.
He returned the questioning look but didn't answer.
The creature continued to trample over the flowers, trudge along the dirt, and even put a shoe in its mouth. It laughed loud that Zick heard it through the glass windows.
The whole incident was unforgotten even as the bell rang for recess.
It didn't take long to find his way to the school yard. The red 'monster' was playing there with a couple of low branches and the shoe it was chewing on.
"Hi," he said uncertainly, "uh, good morning." It barely heard him. "Excuse me?" He came closer. No reaction.
He sneezed.
Zick remembered his inhaler. He sneezed again.
The monster finally noticed him. "Hi there! Me be Bombo!" it said. It attempted to hug him, but he stepped back a few feet and fumbled in his bag for the inhaler.
Ahh. To breathe freely. "Sorry," he said weakly.
The creature, 'Bombo', spit out the shoe and held it in front of him. "You want to play? We play find shoe and eat shoe!"
Zick tried to shrug away the laugh, but it formed anyway. "I don't eat shoes!"
"You must try! It be very delicious!" it pressed.
"No thank you."
At that moment, a string of people emerged from a nearby statue and filed into the Tourist bus. The lost girl earlier was with still not them; she was still in the playground. The voice he imagined her speaking in was exactly the same as her real voice. "I don't like statues! I wonder why people have to come here and see this," she was telling herself.
The Bombo grinned broadly. "You want to find good shoe?" He pointed at the mass of people now waiting to get inside the bus. "We can share."
Zick felt an insane dread at the thought. "That might not be a good idea. People wear shoes, not eat them." He looked at the girl. She might like the Bombo, he thought, somehow hopefully. "Let's talk to her."
"Who?"
"See that?" and he pointed to her. She had just followed the people inside the bus.
"They leaving. Field trip to this school only for statue."
Zick sighed. "What's with the statue?"
The Bombo balanced the shoe on its nose. "Bombo no know about statue. Bombo like looking at shoes. Shoes very interesting."
"Why do you like shoes so much?"
"It be very tasty!" It licked its lips with its large tongue. "Bombo...like your shoes!"
"Oh," Zick's voice trailed away. He went on staring after the yellow bus. Its engine hummed into life, but it didn't move.
Then a voice brought him back to reality.
"Who's your friend?" It was Patty. She wore a strange, disgusted look on her face. "And why are your shoes wet?"
"Wet?" Zick looked down at his feet and saw that the Bombo was trying to lick the shoes off his feet. "Bombo! Please stop eating my shoes!"
Mattie was laughing behind her hand. "Who or what is a Bombo?"
"It's this big thing!" Zick said, half to the inquirer and half to the monster. "Let go of my shoes!"
"You can pretend really well," remarked Mattie. "You can stop now."
"What do you mean? Bombo is trying to eat my shoes!" Zick turned to the monster. "Come on! Stop it!"
"Whatever." The girls started to walk away. Patty slightly turned her head, and in a low voice, added, "...Loser."