By Tom McEachin

Mama said stay in the backyard to play because of the bad man around the corner. I had the red ball I got for my birthday but no one to play with, so I kicked the ball against the side of the garage. When it bounced back to me, I’d kick it again and again.

One time, I kicked the ball crooked, and it bounced down the driveway. I ran after it, but it rolled faster than me. The ball bounced off a parked car and into the street, stopping in front of a man driving a black pickup truck. He skidded to a stop. I could’ve ran to get my ball, but I was too frightened to move because Mama said never go in the street. The driver jumped out of the pickup. He grabbed the ball and booted it high and far up the street and drove off.

I ran after the ball as fast as I could. When I stopped to catch my breath, I realized I was already around the corner, standing in the middle of the bad man’s yard. I looked around for my ball. It sat under the bad man’s porch.

I froze. A few droplets of rain falling from the silver sky startled me more than I already was. I wanted to run home, but I wanted my ball. I hid behind a bush and looked in every direction. Nobody was around to help me. The bad man’s house was dark, the blinds shut, everything quiet. My knees shook. I wondered what to do.

The slats over the front window abruptly rustled, making a gap at the edge of the blinds. In that gap was an eye and that eye was looking right at me. All the breath slipped out of me. I dove down and closed my eyes. My heart thumped. I grabbed a handful of grass in each hand and tried to pull myself into the ground to make myself as small and flat as I could. 

I heard a roar in the distance. I hunched my shoulder and peeked under my arm. A red sparkly car lurched forward, towards me—it was the bad man’s car. The engine was loud, vroom! vroom! yet the car moved slow. Like a turtle. It kept creeping towards me.
When it got close, I saw the bad man driving. Smiling at me and driving. Vroom! Vroom! the car went. But it barely moved. I grabbed clumps of grass tighter and tighter. I pulled harder than I ever tried in my life. Suddenly, the front door opened behind me. The sparkly red car drove in front of me. I tried to make myself invisible. Tried to pull myself all the way into the ground.