Brian padded barefoot through the grass without a word, too overwhelmed by the fact his mom had just manhandled him so easily to respond. Meanwhile she placed her hands on her hips and gave the girls a stern motherly look. “Let’s go Rachel… Megan. Scoot.”

The girls did as they were told. They could see there was no room for argument. They stood and followed Brian back to the bright plastic play place, watching him climb into one of the holes and disappear inside. Only then did it occur to Rachel and Megan that they’d left the most important book in the world sitting back in the grass with the bags. Unfortunately it was too late to go back now. They’d just have to wait until the adults weren’t looking to go back for it.

As they got closer to the play place they realised it was surprisingly big. It was clearly built for people their size. The slide reached over their heads in height and climbing up the pink ladder on the side actually looked tricky. Rachel and Megan hesitated, wondering what to do. Brian’s mom was still standing there waiting for them to start playing.

“C’mon guys, it isn’t so bad!” Brian’s voice called out.

The girls looked around and then up, realising he was now standing atop the play place smiling down at them. “It’s huge!” he enthused.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Megan agreed, feeling the plastic ladder rungs experimentally.

“C’mon, don’t be a scaredy-cat!” Brian chuckled.

The girls shared a sceptical look. How on earth could he actually be having fun after what had just happened to them? Still Megan at least decided it was worth a try and besides his mom wasn’t going to go away until she saw them all engaged in silly kid games. So she slipped a bare foot onto the plastic ladder and started climbing. Brian was waiting for her at the top, still smiling. “Look,” he told her.

She gazed around and was amazed at how high up she felt. “This is pretty fun,” she admitted.

“C’mon, let’s slide!” Brian urged, taking her by the hand.

It was an amazing feeling, sliding. The smooth plastic rushing past across her calves, the air rushing over her face, the sensation of speed and falling. It ended with a sharp drop onto the tickly grass and the gleeful screech of Brian as he barrelled into her. It was addictive. Rachel couldn’t resist long and soon all three had forgotten their other troubles, revelling in their play world.

There was no organisation to it as there had been at kindergarten. They didn’t play any particular games, just climbed and slid and tumbled about in the grass. They had lost all sense of time when Megan froze mid-way up the ladder and gasped, looking horrified by something. Rachel, waiting her turn to climb, got annoyed at her friend hogging the ladder. “C’mon Meg! Get a move on!”

Megan didn’t move an inch. She took a hand off the top rung and felt her crotch, letting out a low moan. Rachel recognised now that something was wrong.

“Meg are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

“No,” Megan squeaked meekly, still not budging.

“What is it?” Brian asked, appearing from the other side.

“I dunno. Something’s wrong with Meg,” Rachel told him.