“It’s three-hundred dollars!”
“You don’t understand, Pat. I’ve always wanted to go in a bounce house, but my parents were never able to afford it when I was younger.”
“We don’t even have any kids. You will probably use it like one time and then never use it again.”
“Pat, please. It would mean a lot to me. We can afford it.”
“Okay, fine. If it’s that important to you.”
I clicked purchase. The refurbished bounce house was on its way. My wife, Evelyn—overjoyed and beaming with energy—ran up to me and hugged me. During the day it arrived, she had me set it up immediately in our front yard. As I was inflating it, I noticed what appeared to be patches of mold along parts of the nylon fabric.
“Guess that’s what I get for buying something used.”
“I’m heading in!” Evelyn flung off her shoes like an eager child and dived head-first through the entrance. “Are you going to join me?”
“Not today. I just had that big lunch. Don’t want to shake up my stomach.”
I watched Evelyn jump around for ten minutes. It was the most animated I had seen her in years.
“Are you going to be in there awhile?”
“What do you think?”
I chuckled and headed back inside the house. I’m deep into a book when I realize an hour has passed already, and there is no sign of Evelyn.
“You’ve been in here the entire time?” I asked, slightly annoyed, after noticing she was still jumping in the bounce house.
She shook her head up and down and smiled. There was something off about her body language. Her arms swayed rigidly, almost robotically. I brushed it off and let her continue to enjoy her moment. Our older neighbors Carol and Steve stopped by during their walk.
“Wow, look at her go,” Carol said. “How are you doing, Pat? Are you having a party we don’t know about?” she said in a way that sounded like she was jealous of Evelyn bouncing around.
“You are welcome to join her. I’m sure she would love the company.”
Carol glanced at Steve. “You only live once, right honey?”
Carol and Steve slipped off their shoes and entered the bounce house.
“Evelyn, I’m going to pick up some garbage stickers. I’ll be back in like twenty minutes or so,” I said.
She didn’t respond. The three of them jumped together as I drove off. When I returned home, I peeked my head inside the bounce house, stunned that they still had the energy to hang out in that thing. Evelyn’s arms and face were dirty, covered with little dark spots. Same with Carol and Steve. It looked like the three of them had rolled around in dirt. I glanced at the nylon fabric. It had turned completely black, even though it was blue when I first set it up.
“I think you three should get out of here. It looks like there’s mold growing or leaking from inside the fabric.”
Nobody said a word. My chest tightened. In the corner of my eye, I spotted something slithering beneath the fabric.
“Get out now!” I shouted.
They ignored me and swayed side-to-side like inflatable tube men. The dark spots expanded across their bodies until their skin looked completely charred. I thought about going in to drag them out, but I didn’t want to get infected by whatever had burrowed inside of them. Before I could decide what to do, the gunk beneath the fabric slithered to Evelyn’s feet, and then broke off into two additional forms, sliding over to Carol and Steve. A slimy substance traveled up their skin and stopped at their necks.
“I can’t… I can’t breathe,” Evelyn murmured.
A waterfall of gunk gushed out of Evelyn’s mouth and sticky strands of it enveloped her head, covering her face entirely like a cocoon. I glanced at Carol and Steve, and they were already covered in darkness. And then the most disturbing image appeared before my eyes. Evelyn’s head bubbled and then exploded, spraying goo and blood across the bounce house. Moments later, Carol and Steve’s heads popped.
I fell back, shuddering with fear. The entire bounce house collapsed inward, and a flood of gunk materialized into one giant pool of goo. I ran into the street and yelled for help. The goo and chunks of flesh slithered to the street and dropped into the storm drain.
I was in complete shock, unable to move. That parasite—or whatever it was—took my wife and two friends. And I know it’s still out there somewhere.