Raackman - The New Strange

    >You take a breath of fresh air and admire the open space of the large park.
    >Gentle breezes cause the grass to rustle and sway in small waves.
    >Agreeing to go to the park with Fluttershy turned out well enough.
    >Today is quite pleasant, with clouds blanketing the sky and dimming the light of the sun, giving the whole area a slight grey complexion.
    >A drop of rain falls onto your arm, you notice the darkening clouds in the sky and soon you hear the drops of many more begin to hit the ground around you and Fluttershy.
    >”Hey Sunset, I think we should find something to get underneath, in case the rain gets worse,” Fluttershy suggests.
    “Sure, I’d rather not get wet.”
    >You spot a pair of picnic benches underneath a metal awning at the top of a shallow hill.
    >Soon, you and Fluttershy are underneath the awning, the rain and wind slowly begin to pick up, and distant rumbles of thunder.
    “So, do you like the rain?” you ask.
    >”I don’t really like it because all my animals get wet, then I have to clean and dry them off,” she quietly says.
    >You nod, half listening.
    >The table shakes as someone sits on the opposite side of the picnic table where you and Fluttershy sit.
    >You look back and see that he is soaking wet.
    >They’re facing away from you, wearing a dark grey hoodie, black pants and some gloves.
    >He speaks up.
    >”I saw a bear heading this way from over there it’d be a bad idea to stick around.” he says, pointing to a treeline some distance away.
    >You look past him and see something in the shadows of the trees.
    >He quickly moves in front of you, blocking your sight to the trees.
    >”No seriously, you need to leave,” he says urgently.
    >”Sunset, I think we should do what he says and go already.” Fluttershy urges you as she stands up from the table.

    “You go ahead Fluttershy, I’ll catch up.”
>The table shakes as the man rapidly stands from his seat.
>”No, seriously, I really need you to get away from here, if you need any more convincing just look over there again,” he says, thrusting his finger over to the treeline again.
>”Sunset please, we need to go!” Fluttershy anxiously says, already taking several steps away from the tables.
>You look again to the trees and see something beginning to cross the field between the treeline and the awning.
>It’s something that you have never seen before, it’s walking upright, and has a large, dome shaped head.
>He snaps his fingers in front of your face.
>”Hey, stop looking at it, and get the hell out of here already,” he says, his tone becoming more frustrated.
>You give a slow nod and quickly run down the hill and hide behind a nearby tree.
>From here you can still just barely see him.
>He leans on one of the tables, and faces towards the direction of the creature.
>Oddly, you start to hear a quiet sound, like someone is humming, and it’s strangely clear over the noise of the rain.
>The sound grows louder, until it becomes audible singing, and then the source of the sound comes into view, or at least half of it.
>It stops in front of the boy, and the singing ceases.
>Now you can get a better look at it, it seems to be a very tall humanoid with a massive, dome shaped head comprised of… large eyes and mismatched body parts.
>As you look at it, you start to feel uneasy and worried.
>Many of the eyes begin to stare at the boy, unblinking.
>He reaches out and grabs one of the creature’s hands, then slowly leads it back in the direction that it had initially come from.
>You crawl back up the hill as slowly and quietly as you can, just barely keeping the two of them in sight.

>You make it back to the benches and notice that the creature is wearing a long, thin dark dress.
>The lower part of the dress is ripped, dirty, and drenched, and the rest of it seems to be in poor condition as well.
>He leads the creature out to the trees, nods, and the creature walks back into the trees.
>The man turns around and begins to walk back over to where you are.
>Soon, he is back and he sits back down on one of the benches.
>He looks up at you, leaning on one of his hands.
>”Can’t figure out why you wanted to stick around.”
“I honestly don’t even know, either. Guess I was just curious.”
>He laughs and further relaxes on the bench.
>”Well, I bet you’re real confused right now, I’m willing to answer just about any questions that you ask.”
>What should you ask him?
“How about… what was that thing?”
>”That’s a tough one, hard to describe, but I’ll say that it’s an old friend.”
>His cocky smile slowly fades.
>”Friend is a big stretch, actually. She was just glad that I could talk to her without going insane.”
“Without going insane?”
>He nods and leans forward.
>”Yeah, we talked using our minds, and due to her nature, a living human would go insane talking to her.”
“Living human? So, you’re not alive?” you ask as you tilt your head.
>He slowly nods his head, then reaches up to his face and wipes off some makeup, revealing pale grey skin.
>”Guilty as charged, I’ve been dead for a few years now, and occasionally my body gets fixed up.”
“Wow, okay. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen anything like that before.”
>Before you can ask another question, he looks down and pulls out a phone from his pocket, then reads something on it.
>”Ah, sorry, looks like I have to go. Was good to meet you, don’t tell anyone about what you saw here or they’ll think that you’re insane,” he says as he starts to walk away.