all god's orphans

The honking horn had sent a few animals scurrying from behind the dumpsters. Wes watched them disappear into the small playground that sat behind his shitty apartment complex. He hadn’t seen anyone else around except for one of the Gonzales’, whose name he didn’t know. When he tried to ask what was going on, only silence came. He could’ve sworn he’d heard them speak English before. He must’ve been wrong. He wondered if he was one of the last people on Earth and then he heard a faint sound. Rolling down his window, he strained to hear it. There were children laughing, and they were getting closer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something dart between the cars. Then another. Slowly he got out of his van and walked towards it.

“Hello?” he called out, but no one answered. “Anybody there?” Still no response. He tried to look under the car, but he could see nothing. As he stood, a figure leapt out from behind another car.

“BOO!” said a little boy of about eight, scaring the shit out of Wes and causing his heart to stop pumping for moment. “Ha! I got you!” yelled the boy and then he dashed off, running between the apartment buildins now joined by other children who seemed to be coming from everywhere. As they ran past him, he counted about fifteen of them, all about six to ten years old. Some of them he recognized, but others he had never seen before.

He got back into his van and watched them play, still wondering what was happening. He kept waiting for adults to come and collect them for school or whatever, even though he knew that was a ridiculous idea. It was just weird to watch a bunch of unsupervised kids running around.

One little girl stood off to the side, looking at yellow flowers that grew near one of the benches. When the other children began an impromptu game of tag, she didn’t join in. Soon, the others had run off somewhere else, leaving her behind. She didn’t seem to notice. Wes watched her play and then decided he needed to do something about this. He got out of his van and walked towards her, expecting her to notice him and run off towards the woods to join the others, but she never did.

Not that he was an ogre or anything. He was only twenty-eight years old and he knew plenty of guys fatter than he was. If you were casting a “serial killer”, this isn’t the guy you would pick. Still, girls had always said he was weird. Even little girls, so he was slightly surprised that this one simply waved at him as he neared her.

“Hello.” He tried to sound as friendly as possible.

“Hi.” She said, still playing with the flowers.

“What’s your name?” the little girl was silent for a moment, as though thinking of what she should say. She was about nine years old, he guessed, and she was dressed like she was going to church.

“Daisy.” She finally said and laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Wesley.” He took a seat on the bench. “But my friends call me Wes.”

“That’s funny.” She roared with laughter.

“What’s so funny about Wes?”

“I dunno. It’s just funny.” That ended the matter as far as Daisy was concerned and she plucked one of the flowers from the ground and held it up for him to see.

“That’s very pretty.” He assured her. She smiled. Wes looked around for any sign of her parents, but there was no one. It was eerie. “Where’s your mom and dad, Daisy?” She shrugged.

“I dunno.” She didn’t seem concerned.

“Are they at home?”

“I dunno.”

“Where were they the last time you saw them?” Daisy pointed in a vague direction across the apartment complex.

“We were at a house over there with some people. Then they stopped talking so we went outside to play.”

“They stopped talking?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they stopped talking. So we went outside to play.” Wes searched her face for any sign that she was joking, but there was none. Whatever had happened, she was telling all she knew.

“Do you think you could show me where they are? You should get home.”

“It’s kinda far.” She told him.

“That’s okay,” he said. “We can go in my van.” He offered his hand and Daisy took it. Together they walked towards his van.

“The Future is Bright!” exclaimed Daisy, reading the side of the van.

“That’s right!” he smiled and opened the passenger door for her, “Very good.” Daisy hopped in, feeling very proud of herself. “The future is bright.” He said, shutting the door.