David Andrews awoke suddenly from the most vivid dream that he had ever had. There was a boy he had once gone to school with in the dream, and the boy was trying to tell him something.
Tyler Evans had been David's classmate fifty years before and one day he just disappeared. As far as David could remember, no trace was ever found of Tyler.
David had not thought of Tyler in years and found it odd that he would be dreaming about him and what was the message that Tyler was trying to tell him?
The next night, Tyler once again appeared to David in a dream and David found himself in an old playground where the kids would sometimes go after school. Tyler was happily playing on a swing set and then dark clouds appeared overhead.
The playground was on the other side of town and out of curiosity, David decided to take a drive over there. As he expected, the playground had long since been abandoned. The swingsets and other equipment were broken and rusted. A large sign indicated that a new government housing project was going to be constructed at the site.
David stared at the dilapidated swing set and suddenly Tyler was there. Still eight years old, Tyler smiled at him. "Is it really you Tyler?" David asked. The boy looked away as if remembering something from long ago.
"There was a man... a stranger...he did terrible things, but when it was over, I came back here. There were lots of kids to play with back then." David looked over the deserted playground. Indeed, all the kids were gone.
From somewhere, Tyler produced a bright red ball and he and David played kickball until the streetlights came on and it was time to go home.
