[Short Story] A Play Place Reaching To The Skies (Patreon)

One day a giant play place appeared in our yard. You know, one of those tube things like you find at a Chuck-Es except all multicolored tubes and bigger than our yard could fit. It reached to the skies!

Anyway, I was around 12 and my sister 7 so while strange, we were over the moon. Not that we were allowed in for a month. Which, fair enough, looking back it would have been stupid to let a couple kids explore a strange structure that appeared . However, as kids we didn't see that and just wanted to play, maybe invite some friends over?

Well, my sister wanted to invite friends over. I, well, I didn't have friends. Acquaintances? Sure, and I called them friends, but that's about the most of it at the time. Not that it would have mattered. Whose parents would let their kids come over with what happened?

But you might notice that I said we weren't allowed in for “a month”. Because by the end of that month, the adults had run out of practical ideas. See, my father had been in the military and after getting out worked as a nuke engineer. So even if he didn't personally have connections, when he reported what happened? He knew who to report it to and what to say

So I can't rightly remember the exact timeline, but within a few days our entire yard was cordoned off. Which was not Easy! Our house was in the middle of a hill with a forest and farmland to one side.

Honestly, at that point we probably should have been shuffled off to a hotel or some other temporary housing. We weren't and I'm pretty sure whatever organization took over forced us to stay? At least, my mother wasn't happy. Dad on the other hand was fine with it because they put him on paid leave and he wasn't having to make the hour drive out to the plant.

My memory of the time is of being a bit conflicted. Mom was a nervous wreck, but we were being brought out to do all kinds of things! Zoos, Aquariums, Parks, and long walks on nature trails. I was in heaven! As for my sister, Belle?

Well let me get in front of you all, yes, like the princess. No, it wasn't her actual name, but rather a nickname. Though she did love the princess, so there is that.

Anyway, Belle was young enough that while she might have picked up on the tension all that excitement and activity wore her out. So when I'm already not the best at picking up on others? Yeah, you'd have to ask her and I'm not sure where to find her.

I do know we both got very stressed after that first month passed. Whatever organization was crawling all over the structure had failed. Any adult they sent in the obvious openings would vanish the second they were out of sight. As for making a new opening? I'm not sure what all they used, but given a crater or two I saw before they fixed them? Explosives were on the table and yet they couldn't make a scratch!

Not that there weren't scratches. The tubes didn't look new. Their colors muted with sun exposure and the structure had scuffs and scratches you'd expect on a well used playset. Heh, one day before we left I watched a guy in a suit scrub away at a scuff, starting with steel wool and nothing worked! It was hilarious. Me and Belle laughed about it for most of the car ride.

Maybe we shouldn't have laughed at him? Apparently they'd been sending kids into the place and they'd come out just fine. The only problem being they couldn't find  a way to get higher than our house was tall.

Now, our house was a nice two-story deal with a peaker roof. So that was still quite a height for a kid. Except from the outside, it was clear there were tubes going above that point.

So it was that after a month of that, me and my sister were recruited. Now, neither of my parents were okay with that. My mother in particular was violently against it.

That didn't matter.

I don't know what they did. Was it money? Did they drug them? Something stranger? All I know was that my mother was weepy as I entered the tubes first, Belle right behind me.

Now, I'm going to be honest. We had a lot of fun in there over the coming days and weeks. If it wasn't for the men in suits with badly concealed guns? I'd be comfortable declaring it as the most fun I ever had!

To give you an idea, I'll tell you that first time in the tubes as I remember it the best. Likely all that stress carving it directly into long term memory.

The men in suits gave us a print out with the turns to make and colors to expect. Green, blue, yellow, red, green, orange, purple with a T-split, take the left into a pink (at the time I was tempted to go right as that tube was blue). But yeah, normal tubes from a play place. No windows which thinking back would be odd, but with how bright it was, me and Belle expected each new twist to have one. Ignoring the fact the print out didn't mention any.

Oh, don't know if this is important, but I just remembered. It wasn't regular printer paper. It was that continual feed stuff with the holes on the edge that you had to tear off? The men in suits didn't bother tearing off the holes, but I worried at them so by the time we reached the purple tube with the T-split I had removed the edges with the holes.

Anyway, we were well past where they could see us by an S-bend and a tight curve at that point. Oh, and we couldn't hear them anymore either? Strange that as they had been tapping on the tubes before that.

I'm a bit shocked right now as I keep remembering more as I retell this mess. Whatever, we followed the instructions and went left into the pink tube which was supposed to get us into what would be about the second story on our house.

This is when the plastic smell went way down. We were happy about it because it was quite powerful after the first couple tube segments. Maybe the trip would have stopped being stressful at this point. Except this was also when the print out stopped being correct.

They had a few options written down, but there was no red S-bend, I couldn't spot any yellow curves, and there certainly wasn't a blue ramp. Instead we saw a green pipe that spiraled downward. Belle wanted to turn back right there and I don't blame her. I wanted to as well! Except the men in suits very specifically told us to keep going even if the instructions were off.

Which I thought was stupid and had argued with them about. Why give us instructions if they weren't accurate? They just repeated the instructions with a glare and I figured better to let the matter drop.

So here we are, spiraling downward in a green tube when it opens up into a Giant ball pit! The walls were the same tube material colored green and blue. Odd in itself as up until now every segment of tube was a single solid color, but we were kids and it only seems odd now to me looking back on it.

What I did notice right away and think of as quite weird is the top of the area was a giant plate of clear plastic. And all either of us could see was a clear sky. No trees or signs of the house. And more than that, no tubes. Including the tube we entered the area though that discounting everything else, very much should have been visible. Nevermind the fact this ball pit was bigger than our yard and house together.

Thinking back on it now, I'm a little freaked out on how willing we were to just go out into the balls. Oh sure, the pit ended up only being deep enough to reach Belle's belly, but we had no way to know that! We could have hopped into the balls only to keep sinking! And I was definitely old enough at the time to think of that. I just. Didn't.

Instead of worry, the two of us played around in that ball pit for a time. I'd be more specific, but it felt like only ten minutes to us. Admittedly, I've never had the best sense of time. But it certainly wasn't three hours! Which is how long the suits timed out adventure at. I'm half afraid of how long would have passed if there had been an exit tube that we could have kept going deeper.

Anyway, the scientists with the suits were quite excited by our trip. Seems that every kid before that had only found more and more tubes until they reached a dead end. We were the first to find an area. And the fact that area had a window? More than a few cried tears that they hadn't sent us in with a camera.

Now, I'm not sure if my parents made some sort of deal or this was just a part of their experiment, but for months after that first trip? They only sent me in. Actually, thinking back they probably wanted to keep Belle as a backup in case something happened to me.

Whatever the reason, every other day they would send me into the tubes. Different entrances or just the “main” tube. Identified as such simply because it was the only tube with an end piece. Every other open tube? They simply stopped, as if someone had planned to attach another tube segment, but hadn't gotten around to it.

Sometimes these trips would have printed instructions. Often they gave me a Polaroid camera. Though always I would go a distance in and then come across a completely changed area. I have gotten to that purple T-split so many times! Left or right, pink or blue. Doesn't matter. What comes after is always different.

Another oddity made even odder when I learned every other kid to get there would always experience the same set up. Oh sure, it was different for each kid and even each unique grouping of kids, but if you send the same kids through? It was always the same arrangement of tubes. Only me and Belle found a constantly shifting maze. Though we only found out about Belle a little less than a year later when they once again sent her in with me.

And every trip after.

See, while I did find some interesting stuff over that time period? It wasn't too out there. A segment with those padded poles you dodge through. Some areas with netting to crawl around on. But not a single window and certainly no giant open spaces like that first trip. There hadn't even been another instance of a multi-colored tube segment.

Yet on that very first trip back for Belle, we found a dead end area as big as our yard with multiple layers! It was one of those spider climb net things and once again, the ceiling was clear plastic looking out onto an open sky.

I snapped a couple pictures and made sure everything showed up how it should. A continual problem with the other kids they have been sending in. I kind of feel bad for them because they'll reach a dead end and snap a shot, only for the picture to reveal an open tube. They'd see that of course and touch the wall, but it was there for them.

The only reason the suits eventually believed them is because they send in multiple kids at once and get back physically impossible photos. Stuff like a kid leaning against nothing where they claim the wall was.

One particular photo they showed us had a kid floating in the air. It seems that group came across a dead end that wasn't just a flat plate, but instead one of the bubble caps that would normally have a window or be completely clear. It wasn't to them, but it did allow the small kid in the group to curl up in the bubble for that photo.

Me and Belle? Whenever we reached a dead end and took a pic, it was a proper dead end. No pictures of open tunnels. So of course the suits and scientists were excited about us.

And I must admit, I don't think I was the best of brothers. There are a bunch of excuses for this. I had been in the tubes for basically a year by myself. Not a recipe for a stable lad. On top of that, it isn't like I was allowed to skip school.

And sure, I was a loner before, but with the structure? Well, kids on the bus saw and so rumors spread. All resulting in what few kids I used to hang out with no longer doing so. So like, did you want some social isolation with your physical isolation? They didn't break the mold when they made me. They never used a mold to begin with!

Anyway, we didn't talk much that first trip in and after a year of lonely exploration? Well, I probably should have paid more attention to the fact she didn't say anything. Looking back, her friend group had shrunk and rarely visited them. An oddity compared to before It appeared.

Still, we had our fun. Time and again we would explore the tubes and with her joining in again? Well, me and Belle together would always end up at a giant play area. Ball pits, spider web climbs, obstacle courses, and more. All with a clear plastic roof showing a clear view of the sky.

A sky that definitely wasn't local. Though I only realized that when I managed to overhear a scientist going on about how the sun was at the wrong angle for the time of day. Nevermind the fact that we would play in those areas for hours (they'd given us watches by this point) and yet always seemed to leave the tubes just in time for dinner.

I think. I think at some point in the coming months Belle stopped being allowed to have friends? That they started sending her in alone on the off days. And I don't know what she found. I don't think the scientists did either.

Time passed and school was over which made things worse for us. There were no more days off. Every morning saw us being escorted into the tubes with the instructions to keep going all day. I think this is when we both truly broke.

Each day we were in there longer. Our watches showed that! Well, they did until I learned to adjust them. My own form of rebellion.

No, we weren't spending 20 or more hours in the tubes Mr. Scientist.

That's a lie of course. We just wandered through the pipes until forced out. I don't know how Belle felt, but I was trying to get lost in there. To not come back. I think all of us kids did at some point? I couldn't exactly ask the others, but I saw it in their faces as they ended up leaving with us at the same time. Just in time for dinner.

It would be just me and Belle, wandering through the tubes. Trying to keep our bearings because sadly, the few times they tried sending us in with a compass, said compass would fail. Two had the needle spin so fast it broke the stand holding them. Another wouldn't spin at all, like, I would turn around and the needles wouldn't budge! And the last compass? It uh, it pointed too many directions.

So yeah, we could only go by feeling and I'm pretty sure I saw just about every angle possible with a tube in there! But no matter how much we tried or how long we waited in one place or another. We'd always end up taking a blind turn and finding ourselves back one of the tubes leading out. Always just on time for dinner.

You know, they sent us in with food and water? I don't think we ever ate more than a bite in there. Even for our longest stay. Me and Belle had found a really nice set up. In a normal play place it would be a little corner for girls to play house. In the tubes? It was an entire town! Just cheap plastic buildings big enough to be real buildings.

I took the library, which sadly didn't have actual books, but by this point they were allowing me to enter with a couple. Belle on the other hand took a house on the other side of the place. We'd have to yell if we wanted to get the others' attention. Not that we bothered.

If we entered together it was impossible to truly get separated. I could leave Belle playing somewhere and wander the multicolored tubes for hours! Only to turn a bend and run into Belle with her having just left wherever she had been to explore the tubes more. And of course our watches didn't match. Though our first attempt at separating was well after I had figured out how to change the watches so the scientists never knew.

But yeah, we stayed in that town for a good month? I reread the three books with me many times by that point. I uh, I don't know what Belle did for that time. Anyway, I synced our watches and we left. Just in time for dinner.

I. I uh. I don't think I would have left of the library had been stocked. Told my sister to go and explore the pipes, because I wasn't too far gone. I wouldn't force her to stay with me the entire time. But yeah. I was. Yeah.

Then one night Belle came to my room. She said she had to find something. That there was something calling for her in the tubes, higher than we ever went before. That she didn't want to go alone.

I didn't question it. I didn't care. At worst? We'd just come out. In time for dinner.

So the two of us snuck out. The tubes were watched, of course, but by this point the guards weren't serious about it. Nothing dangerous had come out, any adults that went in never came out either, and kids would all end up leaving at the same time. Just in time for dinner.

Still, we didn't manage to get in the tubes unnoticed. The guards saw us. We were just kids trying to sneak around like you'd see in movies and shows. Still, we go far enough and made a run for it. A guard came close, but they weren't paid enough to follow us into the tubes.

We didn't have food, cameras, backpacks, or watches. No tech or equipment. Nothing except the clothes on our backs.

I don't know how long we were in there. I don't think it was that simple either. We reached the purple T-split and went pink. Then it was ever upward. There was no end to it, at least, I certainly didn't find it.

So many times before we had been ordered to go up and inevitably, we'd dead end. Not this time. There. Was. No. End.

I followed Belle. I followed her for so long. We didn't get tired. We didn't get bored. Belle was pulled upward and I followed. A steady pace ever upward.

But I wasn't being pulled. Not like she was. Who knows what would have happened if I had managed to keep up with her? In the end though, I stopped and Belle kept going.

And I stayed there as if frozen in time, not even my mind truly processing anything at that point. We had simply been climbing for too long. But she came back for me and I don't think she had to.

Belle came down from in front of me and she had two friends with her. They were. And she WAS.

The trip back down was short. We turned a few corners and the four of us were back at the purple T-split, coming at it from the pink side. It wasn't anywhere near dinner time.

Given the guards' reactions? I think we had been in there, to them, for about a month. I guess even the tubes have a limit. What didn't have a limit was Belle.

As she came out of the green main entrance tube with her two friends and the guards were gone. The scientists and suits vanished. It was just me and them now. And all around us? An empty field.

It seems that without us, they didn't feel a need to keep our house, the forest or farm, and certainly not our neighbors’ houses. Belle didn't like this so our house, the forest and farm, as well as the neighbors’ house were there again. So were our parents.

Except while I don't think Belle has limits, she wasn't willing to go too far. Our parents weren't together. I never learned the reason because I think Belle grew up while climbing and experiencing whatever she did up there.

So instead of returning everything to before the tubes? She instead returned everything to nature. The people once again gone, along with the houses and fields.

The forest was still there though. A lot of forest in fact. I don't know if things were returned to some past appearance or there was simply a new nature covering everything.

Anyway, I had been alone on the tubes for a long time. It gave me time to come to terms with myself. So when me and Belle were on a bluff? Overlooking some town, I can't remember the name. I asked her one thing. Change Me.

I don't know why, but she did. Then she too was gone. Probably back with her two friends and once again at the top of whatever those tubes actually were. And I'm stuck here.

This story? I felt someone needed to know and it isn't like you'll find me even if you know who I was. He's dead now. I'm me.

And for those of you asking if I regret not going all the way to the top? Maybe at first, but not anymore. That was hers. Belle didn't need me to follow her that last climb. It wasn't meant for me, but maybe? Some day I'll find my own way up. I've grown as a person and I might be ready for it now.