Dreamland

A Walk in the Park

I'm in my mid 20's, walking through a park in downtown Los Angeles with Francisco and Tom, two friends I used to work with 20 years ago. (They're also about the age they were then.) I see an older Hispanic man in his late 50's, walking ahead of us with a little boy, maybe five or six years old, most likely his grandson. The boy is laughing, jumping onto park benches then back off, running ahead then back to man, generally having a good time.

The boy climbs up a steep stone wall, jumps up and catches a low hanging power line. I say "He's gonna get himself killed!"

Tom replies "Nah, he's OK."

I look over. The boy swings out, lets go of the power line, and drops harmlessly to the grass, tumbling and laughing. He continues walking with the man. They stop and join a small group of Hispanics in a picnic area, their family, having a party.

There are a few men about our age in that group. Francisco, looking for a fight, turns to us and says "Come on, lets go start some shit with these guys!"

I'm not into fighting, and I tell them so, but he and Tom go ahead and start harassing the guys at the picnic tables anyway. Soon they are brawling, and in the rumble the little kid accidentally gets pushed over a cement wall and falls to the ground, breaking his neck.

The fight stops immediately. The old man goes over, picks up the boy and holds him, tears in his eyes. The rest of the family look over at us, the strangers who interfered with their party and caused this to happen. They are ready to kill us! I don't know if I should try to run or stay and defend myself...

Now I'm watching the scene in the park on TV, an observer, no longer a participant. The tearful old man leans forward and butts his head repeatedly into the cement wall, insane with grief. Blood starts pouring from his forehead. He leans over the boy, allows the blood to drip onto the boy's lips. The boy's eyelids flutter, open. The man's blood has brought him back to life!

Although I find the show quite disturbing, I realize it's an episode of a weekly TV series I sometimes watch with my wife. I comment to her "I’ve never seen this one before, I thought it was supposed to be a rerun this week."

She replies "It is a rerun, you must have missed it the first time. I remember this episode, it was very controversial."