I was 14 when we found the statues, but even today - after almost ten years, I remember the day as if it was yesterday.
Me and my best friend Matt were riding our bikes around town like we often did. It was a cloudy day and a rainfall seemed guaranteed. But we were not going back to our houses, of course not. We liked the rain. We liked the darkness and the light breeze. So we decided to go to the playground and wait for the rain there.
While we rode to our destination, the town seemed... quiet. I don't think we saw one soul that day. But we didn't think much of it and continued riding till we got to the playground. We had always loved the playground, there were tall trees around and we made up tons of games we could play there, including hide and seek with added twist of Tag. But that day the playground didn't excite us like it generally did.
A few drops of rain started pouring, and they felt nice in the darkness of the cloudy afternoon. Me and Matt quietly went and sat down at the swings. I don't know if we didn't talk because we knew something was wrong that day, or just because we were enjoying the droplets fall on our skin. Nevertheless, it was after a while of swinging that we noticed the first statue.
It was me who saw the rock statue first. It was of a kid, probably around my age. The kid was smiling, but it looked sad. It was as if the kid was smiling but only because he was forced to smile. He seemed... afraid. I pointed my finger at the statue beside the park bench, and Matt followed my finger till he saw the statue kid and gave a look of confusion.
"What is that?" He asked quietly. "I don't know." I replied.
I gave a small smile and nodded at Matt, and we got up to get a closer look at the statue.
"Probably some sculptor kept it here." He said. "I don't know, don't think someone would put it out here to get stolen. Might be that they added the statue to decorate the park." I said without believing a word of it.
The truth is, I knew something was wrong. Not only because the statue of the kid was a bit creepy, but because I recognized the kid. I have seen him at my previous school. He was a real kid. But why was there a statue made of him?
We got closer and started inspecting the statue. It was made from rock and felt rough, but it was hot.
"Why is it hot?" Matt asked. "I have no idea." I replied.
That's when Matt gasped and pointed to something behind a tree in front of us. It took me a while but I could make out a small rock finger poking out from behind the tree slightly.
"Might be another statue." Matt said.
I looked at him, somehow feeling numb despite of all the weird stuff I was witnessing. I nodded and we approached the tree to see that the finger was indeed part of another statue of a kid hidden behind the big tree.
"Oh my god!" Matt screamed in such a high pitch, that I felt my heart flinch. "What is it?" I asked
"I know him. He is my neighbor!" He said, now clearly frightened and on the verge of crying.
I looked at the statue and back at Matt. "Why are they making statues of kids?" I thought out loud.
Matt started sobbing and shaking his head wildly. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He said. "We need to get out of here!"
He ran to his bike and rode away in a speed that seemed impossible. When he was out of sight, I seemed to have come out of some trance. I knew I needed to get out too. These statues didn't feel right. I started running towards my bike and heard something that should have never been possible. I heard two kids suddenly start crying behind me, one of whom's voice I recognized to be the quiet kid I used to know from another school.
I didn't stop to look back. I just got on my bike and rode back to my house. It started raining heavily and while going back to the house, the town now seemed... normal. There were people in some shops while some were walking in the rain under their umbrella.
We never saw the statues again, and the kids we saw that day were reported as missing in a few days. I wonder if we could have helped them in any way.