1 Chapter One

Caleb hops out of the car, laughing happily as he chases after his brother, slipping through the open gate and hopping over the edge of the playground. The mulch crunches under his feet as laughter rings through the air- shouts of joy and happiness as children play on the playground. The sun shines down and gently warms the boy's skin as he pants softly, stopping in the central area where a group of kids, ages ranging from around five to ten, are gathering. He glances back, seeing his mother sitting on a nearby bench a bit away from the playground, watching absentmindedly.

"Let's play tag!" a girl around nine exclaims, hands on her hips decisively. Some kids agree, and some whine lightly, shaking their heads.

"No, I wanna play hide and go seek!" a boy, a little younger, says. Several more kids pipe up after the single dissent, and a huge debate starts up, no one listening, yet everyone talking. Caleb stands quietly, wide eyes looking around the circle in shock at the volume level. He was the youngest, having only recently turned five. Therefore, he stands in the front of the ring so he can see, but now it feels like a trap, the loud voices and heated discussion beginning to overwhelm him.

"Guys! Stop it! Why don't we just compromise?" Luke speaks out, yelling over everyone to be heard. All the kids quiet down, looking over at the eldest for his piece of wisdom. Caleb lets out a quiet breath, shoulders relaxing as he gives his older brother a tiny smile of thanks. Luke sees it, glad he can help his little brother, who has always been shy and sensitive.

"Whaddya mean?" the first girl asks, crossing her arms and tilting her head in askance.

"Well, like… tag and hide and go seek. Both. So… someone starts out as the seeker, and everyone else goes and hides. Then, they search around, and whenever they find someone, they try to tag them. They run around, and if they escape, they hide again. If they can't, they become another seeker. Then, it just goes on and on, until only one person's left," Luke explains to the now thoughtful group of kids. A few of them shuffle, kicking up the mulch and drawing in it with their toes as they think. A lot of them nod in agreement, and Luke's idea is approved.

"Last person sitting is it!" a boy shouts, and everyone scrambles to fall to the ground. Caleb has it easy, being the smallest there, and he giggles at Luke's confused expression.

"You're it, Lukey," he giggles teasingly, playing with a few pieces of mulch absentmindedly. The other kids laugh in agreement, and Luke playfully glowers at them all. The group slowly stands up after making sure Luke knows he's it, and they set the counting time. Thirty seconds.

"Alright, y'all better go hide. It's gonna be a short game," Luke says with a smirk, teasing them before their dissents raise up. "He better keeps his eyes closed," "he better count with Mississippi's in-between," "he ain't gonna find me!"

"One Mississippi!" Luke yells, cutting them off and beginning to count with his eyes tightly closed. The kids all scream and laugh, turning and sprinting off, playfully pushing each other. Caleb runs with them, sneakily slipping under one of the playground platforms. No one else would be able to fit, and he wiggles under, looking up through the small holes in the platform. Caleb pushes mulch up along the edge, hiding behind the tiny wall he quickly makes. He works on slowing down his tired, adrenaline-filled breaths, eyes shining brightly with excitement as he calms his breath. The small holes give him just enough sight to kind of know what's going on, and he knows for sure, no one is going to think to look beneath such a small platform.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Luke calls, and Caleb hears the nearby crunching of mulch as Luke slowly walks in his direction. The slow, measured steps are the movements of a hunter, searching for his prey. Caleb holds his breath, heart hammering in his chest as he freezes, knowing the slightest sound could give him away.

"Gah! Found you!" Luke exclaims, the voice practically in Caleb's ear as he flinches, almost yelling out in surprise, as another kid squeals. There's a slight scuffle as she tries to get out from beneath the botLuke of the slide, but Luke tags her shoulder before she can escape. She huffs, pouting as she climbs out.

"I saw someone go thataway," she offers, pointing in Caleb's direction, but he can't see it.

"Kay, you go the other way, and I'll look around," Luke says with a nod, turning and walking towards Caleb's hiding spot. The crunch of mulch draws ever closer and stops directly to Caleb's right. Luke's shadow falls over Caleb, who waits with bated breath, lungs burning for air. Luke steps up onto the platform, standing directly over Caleb and looking around. Caleb sees his brother's head turn in each direction, looking around with sharp eyes, but he never looks down. Luke eventually moves on, and the little boy relaxes, finally breathing a bit.

"Get him!" the girl suddenly yells, chasing after a small boy sprinting away from her and inadvertently toward Luke. Caleb flinches as the boy jumps up onto the platform, feet hammering down on it as he races onto the next one. The shadow leaves as another grows, several more thuds shaking the pieces of grass and mulch that barely hung by threads from the botLuke side of the platform. The girl's shadow covers Caleb's vision as she sprints by, a few pieces of grass falling loose and onto Caleb's face. He whimpers quietly, feeling the dead plants on him. Gross, it feels gross. The space he's in begins to be too small. He can't lift his arms to wipe off his face. He tries to shake it off, but the dead pieces of plant cling to him.

There's a nearby squeal as another kid is caught, and soon, hammering feet run over his hiding spot every few seconds. Caleb tries to open his mouth to breathe, but there are grass and mulch on his lips. He breathes through his nose, struggling for air. Turning his head, Caleb gets a few things off, spitting the rest out before another kid runs past, a piece of grass falling directly into his ear. He tries to stay quiet, wiggling around in panic and struggling to move, loud laughter and screams echoing out as the game devolved into just tag for almost everyone else.

Caleb begins to cry, flinching with the loud noises. He's trapped. He's stuck here. Only black shadows running past. He can't get out. The grass is almost in his eye. He hates this. Get it off, get it off. He can't move. He tries to breathe, tears leaking tracks down to his temples as he panics, struggling for air. The little boy shifts, beginning to flail around, only for his hand to hit the metal support post with a heavy clang, and he yells out, sobbing and writhing about.

"M-mommy?!" Caleb cries through his panicked breaths. No one can save him. No one else can fit. He's hidden by mulch, he's trapped. Caleb tries to breathe, but it comes so fast, he's hyperventilating. He feels light-headed. His hand throbs in pain. The grass tickles his face in such a horrible way.

"Caleb?!" Luke exclaims, looking down as he stands over the platform, having heard his little brother's cry and searched for him. The little boy hardly hears him, sobbing and gasping for air. His chest burns and he tries to claw at his chest, but his hand hits the top of the platform because it's too small for that movement. He cries out, voice strangled with pain and terror.

"Mom! Mom! It's Caleb!" Luke calls, turning and running towards their mother. His mom stands, rushing over towards Luke, who leads her back, pointing to under the platform. Caleb hiccups, gasping for air in between his sobs, hiccups, and tears. He can't get it off of his face, his hand hurts, he's trapped. Luke and his mother crouch down, digging away the mulch and looking into the small gap at the little boy.

"Caleb? Come here, focus," his mom says softly and firmly, but Caleb can't hear it. His breaths are high, rasping and scratching at his throat. His chest burns. His heart pounds in his ears. She reaches in, laying on her sLukeach and slipping her arms under Caleb's armpits, wiggling her way back and slowly pulling Caleb out. The boy jerks up as soon as he's free, clawing at his chest with one hand, hitting grass off his face with the other.

"It hurts! It hurts!" he gasps, sobbing and struggling for air, his vision blurry with tears and dizzy from lack of air.

"Caleb! Calm down!" his mother says seriously, hugging the boy close. Caleb screams, trying to pull away, but she only hugs him tighter. "Breathe in slowly, slow down your breathing!" she orders firmly. The boy's eyes are wide and panicked, tears streaking down his face, body trembling and shaking with each drag of an inhale and punch of an exhale. He slowly, very slowly begins to calm down as reality comes back. His mother wipes off the remaining mulch and grass from her son's hair and face, hugging him tightly enough to keep him still.

The other kids watch, looking on with confusion as Caleb slowly comes down from his panic attack. The mulch crunches under their feet as they shift nervously, the playground quieting with uncertainty and nervousness as children stand stock-still. The sun shines down and warms the little boy's skin as he pants softly. He closes his eyes and clings to his mother, who hugs him tightly, terror for her youngest son in the rapid beating of her heart. Luke stands to the side, just as confused as the other kids. Caleb's chest still burns, and so do his eyes as hot tears drip down, clinging to his small lashes. Everything is frozen with confusion, everyone is quiet with shock.