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Percy climbed all the way to the highest tower of the playground. He waved at his mom, sitting some distance away on a bench and watching him. She waved back. Satisfied, Percy turned to the slide. It was a big one with a twist in the middle. He sat down and pushed himself into the tube.
At the curve, his feet hit something. A boy! The boy yelped. They slid a little ways before coming to a stop, all tangled up. Then the boy moved and suddenly Percy was free, sliding underneath him and between his legs like the boy was only part of the slide tunnel that Percy crossed beneath.
Percy came to the end of the slide. His boots barely touched the ground. He looked back up the slide but the boy wasn’t coming down. “Hello?” Percy called up.
There was no answer.
Percy peered up the slide but he couldn’t see the boy. Maybe he climbed back to the top. So Percy went the long way around. He did not see the boy at the top of the tower. He sat on the slide with his knees drawn to his chest and began inching down into the slide. This time he wasn’t going to hit the boy. It got harder as the incline got steeper but then he saw the boy.
The boy was still wedged in the twist of the slide. He had no jacket, no hat, no gloves. His shoes were regular sneakers, not snow boots like Percy’s. His blond hair was long and tangled and his face was very, very pale like the snow outside. Even in the dim light of the closed slide, Percy could see the raised goosebumps on the boy’s bare skin. The boy’s eyes were very blue and wild like a stray dog.
They stared at each other, sizing each other up.
“Are you cold?” Percy asked.
The boy hesitated before nodding.
“Where’s your jacket?” Percy asked.
“I don’t have one,” the boy said.
“Where’s your gloves?”
“I don’t have any.”
“Where’s your -“
“I don’t got none of that stuff,” the boy snapped. He squinted suspiciously at Percy.
Enclosed in the tube of the slide, Percy noticed something. “You smell...different,” Percy said. “Not like my momma.”
This got the boy’s attention. He gave a few deep sniffs like a hound dog on the scent trail. His eyes widened fractionally. “You smell different too. Is your dad a god?”
That was a weird question. “I don’t know. Momma said he’s lost at sea.”
The boy nodded as though this made sense. “I’m Luke.”
“I’m Percy,” Percy said, embarrassed that he forgot to tell the boy his name. Mom always said to introduce yourself. “Do you want my jacket?” He offered, because he had another one at home.
Luke shook his head. “I don’t think it would fit me.”
Percy eyed Luke critically. Luke was very skinny and a jumble of limbs that didn’t look like they would stretch out to be longer than Percy. He was wedged in such a way that his hands were free and he kept them tucked against his chest.
Percy used his teeth to peel off his mittens and very carefully tucked them into his jacket pockets. His hands became cold immediately. He made sure that he wouldn’t slip and crash into Luke, then held his hands out to Luke.
Luke stared at him, confused and distrusting.
“I’m going to warm up your hands,” Percy explained. He waited.
Slowly, Luke reached out. He didn’t touch Percy. His hands shook.
Percy took Luke’s hands and was shocked by how cold they were, like holding ice. His arms broke out into goosebumps. He cupped Luke’s hands in his and drew them close to his face. Percy blew his warm breath on Luke’s cold hands.
Luke’s eyes never left his face, watching every move that Percy made. The suspicion in his gaze slowly faded. All that was left was his cold exhaustion.
With two of them in the slide tube, it was a little warmer. Percy breathed warmth on Luke’s hands until his mom called for him.
When Luke heard mom shout Percy’s name, he yanked his hands back and all of the wildness came back to his face. “Don’t tell her I’m in here,” Luke hissed.
Percy didn’t like keeping secrets from his mom. He didn’t say anything, only took off his scarf and draped it over Luke’s hands. Then he scooted back up and out the top of the slide.
He saw his mom standing, shading her eye as she searched the playground for Percy. She looked worried, how she always did when she lost sight of Percy.
Percy waved to her. “Hi momma!” He called. Then he began to climb down the playground to her. Percy didn’t tell her about Luke and they left the park.
The next time that they visited that park, Percy went to the tube slide but it was empty. Luke was gone.