Sometimes the two boys were joined by the strange kid from up the street.
They usually played across the road in the park, just the two of them. They would climb on the equipment in the playground, one thing at a time. Sometimes competing with one another, sometimes not. Often just sitting down, talking. Today was going to be different because the weird boy was already there, waiting for them. They pulled faces at each other, but neither of them meant him any harm. He was just different! Their parents had said that; they said that they should be nice to him. They were resigned to the fact that they would include him. They waved as they approached and immediately started clambering over the colourful structures that were spread out over a rubberised matting for safety.
At first the strange kid just squatted on the grass and watched them play. After a while he stood up and wandered across the adjoining football field and disappeared from sight. They both watched him go and shrugged.
When the boy returned, he seemed to have something in his hand. He went to one of the several benches and sat looking at it for a while. Then, he got up and made his way back to where he’d been. Not long after, he appeared again with something. Again he spent time at the bench for a while before taking off again, this time walking much faster.
Of course, the other two were aware of this peculiar behaviour, but played on regardless.
The boy’s trips back and forth went on for some time, but eventually he knelt in front of the bench, as though he was arranging something. It was simple curiosity that brought the other two down from the play equipment to see what was going on. When they arrived they could see the display of grass that the boy had been forming. Several individual blades were neatly laid out in a criss-cross pattern. The boy stood up, and said, “What do you think?”
“Yeah, great!” one of them said.
The boy looked pleased with the response. “You wouldn’t believe what I found,” he said, with enthusiasm.
“What? Where?” said the other.
“I’ll show you.” Having said this, he started out across the park.
With even more curiosity building, they followed. Beyond the park’s boundary of trees, they all arrived at a point where they stood looking out at a large area of unmown grass.
The boy went forward and plucked a blade and brought it back to show the other two. He held it up with pride. “There you are, you see!” He turned back to the overgrown field. He waved his arm. “Just look at that, there are so many of them!”
The two boys looked at one another.
One sighed and shook his head.
The other said, “He’s right you know, there are a lot!”