A breeze stirred his hair.
Warm sunlight spilled across Jin Qiang's face as he lay down on the ground, baking his skin in a soft golden glow.
Then he heard laughter.
Familiar, joyous laughter, like wind chimes on a spring afternoon.
Jin's eyes then snapped open.
No fog. No blood. No chainsaw.
Just a clear, vast, blue sky dotted with cotton-ball clouds.
And the scent of sun-warmed grass and sugary candy drifted in the air.
He sat up slowly, blinking in confusion.
The playground was full of life. Everything was so vibrant.
Far from the desolate, haunted ruin that he was just at.
Children ran across the field, their laughter bright and ringing. A group played tag near the old swings. The broken seesaw freshly painted.
Everything shimmered like a perfect dream.
Jin stared, disoriented.
He then looked down at himself and lifted a hand in front of his face, it was slightly transparent, ethereal even.
"Oh great," he muttered, "I'm dead. And I'm still here."
Footsteps pounded nearby.
A group of children darted past him, giggling, their laughter echoing in layers. They didn't see him. They didn't even disturb the air as they passed through him like mist.
He then walked forward slowly. No pain in his ankle and no wounds.
Then, one girl with braided low pigtails, wearing a white frilly dress, ran by him, her arms outstretched as if pretending to fly.
Jin froze and slowly turned around to look at her.
Mengmeng… Or rather, Chen Mei, her real name.
She looked just like how he saw her ghost version, except she was now bright-eyed and laughing heartily, full of life.
Her braided low pigtails bobbed, and her white dress fluttered as she ran across the grass, trying to avoid the girl in the blue dress who chased a boy near the monkey bars, and a few other kids.
Behind them were two nuns who watched from a bench nearby, chatting softly.
Jin just stood there frozen, watching as she dashed across the field, playing a game of tag with the other children.
She then got tagged, and she ran up to a figure on the left, another nun was standing there.
Mengmeng hugged her tightly around the waist, "Tag! You're it!" she shouted, giggling.
The nun laughed and ruffled her hair.
It was so mundane. So achingly normal. The kind of scene you might forget after seeing it a hundred times.... Unless you knew how it ended.
Jin watched, transfixed.
This wasn't real.
It was a memory. A recording in time.
And he was about to find out that he was just a spectator.
Jin Qiang watched silently as the scene unfolded before him.
A nun gathered the children near the gate. One of them counted heads.
"Twelve… thirteen… Where's Chen Mei?"
"I thought she was with Sister An…" one of the young girls said.
"Didn't she stay back with you?" The nun asked.
"No… The last time I saw her was when we were playing tag a while ago with Sister An with the other kids." The young girl said.
The group then slowly left.
And Sister Xu was already across the street, with her full group.
No one had realized it yet.
Chen Mei was still at the playground.
Jin's eyes widened.
A cold dread spread through his chest.
"No…" he whispered. "No, no, no… This is the day she died."
Jin hurriedly turned his head, and just behind him, in the shadow of the swings, stood a figure.
The clown.
But now, it looked human. Normal. Harmless.
Not yet the grotesque, chainsaw-wielding abomination that had chased Jin through the fog.
No, this clown had a face. Too calm and too blank.
It knelt and offered Mengmeng a red balloon.
She tilted her head. Hesitant.
He gestured again. A friendly wave.
And Mengmeng… smiled as she accepted the red balloon.
Jin screamed. "NO! Don't go with him! Don't trust him!"
But his voice didn't carry. The air swallowed his shouts like a vacuum.
The clown offered to help her find the nuns. It told her to follow him to the merry-go-round and wait there until the nuns came back for her.
Mengmeng nodded and followed the clown.
Jin ran forward, his heart pounding.
"MENGMENG!" He screamed as he tried to grab her shoulder.
But his hand passed straight through her like smoke.
Once they reached the merry-go-round, two other children were there, a boy and a younger girl, sitting quietly on the painted animal seats of the carousel.
The clown said they got lost too, and were waiting.
Mengmeng joined the two children and played as they waited for a while.
The clown then glanced behind once, checking the surroundings, and he then asked if they wanted to eat something. The young girl said yes gladly, so the other two followed.
The clown smiled and then led them toward the trees at the playground's edge
"No, no, no…" Jin chased after them, invisible and unable to interfere.
Beyond the treeline stood a small, run-down house.
They entered the living room, where the clown handed them juice boxes and told them to wait.
Then he disappeared into another room.
Jin stood in front of Mengmeng, arms wide. "You have to leave. Please—run."
Nothing.
They didn't see him.
Didn't feel his panic.
Didn't hear the desperation in his voice.
Then—
Screaming.
From down the hall.
Jin spun toward the door.
A sickening sound that was wet, repetitive, and meaty echoed through the walls.
The boy stood slowly, frightened, and walked toward the sound.
"NO!" Jin charged after him, threw himself into the door, and passed right through.
Inside a room, the clown was stabbing another boy over and over, with a blank face.
No signs of rage or bloodlust.
Just… routine.
Jin turned and ran back. The boy who had wandered in screamed, backing away in sheer horror and panic, but it was too late. The clown was already upon him.
Jin then shouted to the girls.
"RUN!"
And to his shock, they did.
Mengmeng grabbed the younger girl's hand and bolted out the back door.
Jin followed them out into the darkened yard, the clown now in pursuit.
The fence outside broke under their weight as they tried to climb over. Mengmeng stumbled as she landed on the ground.
She then shoved the girl forward and shouted, "Go! Keep going!"
The younger girl ran towards the playground.
The clown was now getting close.
Jin tried picking up a stick on the ground to swing it at the clown's head, but his hands just passed through the stick, like a hologram.
He couldn't touch anything.
Mengmeng, without hesitation, grabbed a rusted pipe and turned to face him.
Her hands shook and her legs trembled.
But she stood her ground.
"LEAVE US ALONE!" she screamed and hurled the pipe.
It hit the clown right in the temple.
He staggered.
But he didn't fall.
Mengmeng turned and ran, heart pounding, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She sprinted into the now-deserted playground, heading for the only place she thought could hide her…
The merry-go-round.
The clown followed slowly. Leisurely.
As if enjoying the hunt.
Jin tried to tackle him, trying to stop him, but he was smoke.
And could do nothing.
Mengmeng climbed up the carousel and hid in the center, crouched behind the painted animals, trying to quiet her sobs.
Then—
"There you are…" The clown's tilted head popped into view from behind a horse.
Mengmeng screamed and stood up to run, but just 2 steps in.
The clown had grabbed her harshly by the arm.
Mengmeng struggled back, she was wriggling and lashing out, trying to get his hands off of her.
But the clown gripped tighter, with both hands, he tried to drag her out, but Mengmeng was in an adrenaline rush of horror.
She flailed around as she sobbed and shouted and grabbed onto a pole that was attached to the animal ride of the merry-go-round.
The clown was frustrated and tried to pull her out of her grip, but it wasn't easy.
It then wrapped one arm around her, and the other around her throat.
"STOP!" Jin cried. "LET HER GO!"
It was such a horrific and painful scene to watch, yet Jin Qiang was there to see it all, he was panicking, and was doing everything he could to help, but it was all for naught…
He was nothing but a ghost.
And the nightmare continued.
Mengmeng gasped for air. Her grip slipped.
She scratched at the clown's hands, kicking her feet wildly, and then one of her feet struck the head of a mechanical horse.
The force bounced back and knocked the clown off balance as he was about to step down from the platform with her in tow.
He slipped and they both fell.
CRACK.
The clown's skull slammed into the metal fence at the base of the merry-go-round, knocking it over, along with its body, which collapsed and then rolled on the concrete ground.
And so did hers.
Blood pooled beneath their bodies.
Mengmeng's arms lay limp, stretched wide like wings.
Jin stood frozen at the edge of the platform, his heart shattering in silence.
Mengmeng lay lifeless, her teary eyes staring toward the stars.
The memory began to dissolve.
The colors faded.
The light dimmed.
And the memory shattered like glass.
– GASP –
Jin Qiang woke up with a strangled breath and shot upright, drenched in cold sweat and tears clinging to his lashes.