The Thirst

The sun was unrelenting.

It was supposedly the hottest day on record, and Hailey Greene believed it. She was lucky enough to find a spot under an umbrella, but even in the soft shadow, the heat seeped into her bones. Beads of sweat had become permanent residents on her brow, and she had never been so thirsty in all her life.

She felt like an insane person being out in conditions like this. She’d rather be back at her apartment, even if it is the size of a New York shoebox. At least it has air conditioning.

She looked down at the book in her hand, a random story she’d picked up off her roommate‘s shelf on her way out the door, then back up. Several yards ahead of her was the large, ankle-deep pool full of kids. At the center, where the majority of the children have congregated, a tower that continuously spit out water garnered most of the attention. Sometimes it spun around, tossing water in all directions, which usually earned a response from the kids, especially the younger ones.

The whole reason she’s suffering at the water park splashed through the water, being chased by another kid his age. Malcom was her charge, one of the three kids she was tasked with watching on a weekly basis. He was also her favorite. A sweet kid that genuinely loved life, he always had a smile on his face and he had enough energy to power the sun.

Unlike many of the other kids Hailey watched, Malcom could make Hailey laugh with just one of his goofy grins. He was genuinely a ray of sunshine on earth, and his happiness was contagious.

Which was why she agreed to bring him here today, as long as he promised a couple of things: he didn’t leave the pool unless she called him out, and he kept his water bottle close by so he could stay hydrated.

Back at his house, under the blanket of the whole-house A/C, he had bounced in place, clapped his hands, and nodded in agreement. It was all he could do, unfortunately. She had never asked his parents why, and she refused to pry, but Malcom didn’t speak. He’d laugh and he’d giggle and he’d sigh dramatically, but he hadn’t said a word in the three years since she’d started watching him.

It made her sad sometimes, when she wasn’t around him and had time to think about it. But that quickly vanished when she was with him. He was so charismatic, so energetic, that he didn’t need words to express what he wanted or needed.

Hailey smiled as she watched him. He made friends everywhere they went. She’d made it a point to bring a small notebook with her when they went out now, only because parents of other kids inevitably wanted to set up play dates.

Today was supposed to be one of those dates, but the other kid, Hailey couldn’t remember his name, had fallen ill the night before. But that wasn’t going to stop her or Malcom from enjoying the day. Even in this Godforsaken heat.

Hailey slid back on the squeaky plastic chair, making sure to stay under the hood of the umbrella, and adjusted the book on her lap. She wanted to sleep, but she knew that was the heat more than anything else. Plus, with Malcom in the water, she didn’t dare. But the book might push her over the edge, so instead of diving into the words on the page, she did what everyone in her age bracket did: she pulled out her phone.

Her attention on the display lasted only a moment, though. She saw something out of place just to her right, captured in her periphery. Something tall and black. At first she thought it was a pole, but when she finally looked she saw it was a man, probably in his mid-50s with graying sideburns, holding a brief case, dressed in a full, ink-black suit.

Even with the space between them, Hailey could see the perspiration pouring down the side of his face.

She looked around to see if anyone else had seen him, if anyone else was staring in shock the same way she was, but it didn’t look like anyone else had noticed him yet. Hailey thought about raising an alarm, mostly because he was just so out of place here, but instead she only watched as he bent at the knees, set the briefcase down next to him, then straightened his back.

He stood, perfectly motionless, for several heartbeats, before he started to speak.

The kids yelled and laughed and splashed. Hailey had to focus to hear him. At first, she thought she was making it up, a fever dream brought upon her by the heat, but, no, he kept saying it over and over again.

”So . . . thirsty . . .”

The man in the suit started forward, as if he were shoved by invisible hands. He moved with an intensity that made Hailey uncomfortable, which only increased as he reached up and pulled at his black tie, loosening it from his neck. She watched as he dropped it on the ground behind him, still moving, still motoring towards the pool as if it were the most important thing on the planet.

Hailey stared. She knew others were watching, too. She wasn’t hallucinating this complete stranger in the black suit.

People around her were talking about him now. Some were saying they should call the police. Others were saying they should get their kids. A few were already standing, making their way towards the water, calling for their children.

The man in the suit stepped into the pool, shoes and all, and propelled himself against the shifting water towards the tower. Most of the kids stopped what they were doing to make way for the adult who, apparently, wanted nothing more than to just stand under the tower and let the water fall over him.

Hailey sat at the edge of the chair. Malcom, to his credit, stood near the edge of the pool, but he had been on the other side when the man in the suit made his way into their space. He watched the man the same way Hailey did: completely entranced.

It wasn’t so much fear as it was curiosity. It was hot outside and this guy clearly needed some relief from the sweltering heat — that wasn’t so scary, was it? Couldn’t every single person here relate?

As if to prove her wrong, the man suddenly tilted his head back sharply, so that his face was directly under the water, and then . . . opened his mouth. Hailey, the kids, and all the guardians around the pool watched in stunned silence as this man let the water fall into his open mouth, his neck rhythmically, if not frantically, rising and falling as he swallowed.

No one else in the vicinity of the pool said anything or moved an inch.

The tower rotated, moving the steady stream of liquid away from the man. At first, he remained motionless, as if waiting for it to return. But once the tower stopped and he realized the water had moved, too, he shifted to the right. One of the kids was knocked out of the way, but if the man in the suit noticed, he didn’t make it obvious.

Malcom and Hailey made eye contact. She waved him towards her, and, like the good boy he was, he immediately started towards her. But then there was a sound that Hailey didn’t immediately recognize, and all eyes turned towards the man in the suit.

The same hand she used to wave Malcom over went to her mouth as she took in a sharp breath. The man had grown in size, easily doubling his previous rail-thin frame. His stomach, his arms, his legs, and his head — all bigger. Rounder. And the suit refused to change with him, torn at the seams and hanging loosely along his appendages and torso.

The man dropped to all fours, his knees up to his chest, and his arms between them, in front of his chest, his hands in the water. He kept looking up, kept his mouth open, kept guzzling down the water that rained down.

Hailey watched in real-time as the clothes kept peeling off his body, and more of his flesh was revealed beneath. He grew in size in real-time, his body taking in every drop of water it could and finding somewhere to store it.

His thighs and his biceps were bigger than the rest of his legs and arms. The more Hailey stared at him, knowing somewhere deep down that all of this was happening within a matter of seconds but completely unaware of the world around her any longer, the harder her brain worked to make sense of what she was seeing.

He — he looked like a toad. His head grew to match his torso, making his neck disappear, and his skull flattened. His eyes had moved to the sides of his head, bulging in the same way his thighs did.

And then the man in the black suit was mostly tatters now, let out an incredibly loud belch, which was quickly followed by the familiar, albeit macabre, call of a frog.

Hailey was on her feet now, out in the sun, waving with both arms for Malcom to come to her. She yelled his name in the same way the other parents and guardians yelled for their own charges. Some broke for the pool as the kids scattered and screamed, the pool caught in a raging storm.

The man-toad let out another terrible riiiiiibbit, hopped in place as it turned, and then swallowed a young girl in a bright pink swimsuit as she tried to run past him.

More screams followed.

Hailey ran to the edge of the pool. There were so many bodies of all sizes, it was impossible to makes head or tails of anything. Hailey lost sight of Malcom and all she could do was call his name, wave her arms. Hope that he could still see her somehow and he was still making his way towards her.

The monstrosity hopped and swallowed. Hailey watched as people simply vanished from sight, disappearing into the massive, undulating gullet of the man-frog. Hailey wanted to run, to get as far away from the beast as she could, but she had to wait for Malcom.

Where was he? Should it take this long to get from the other side of the pool to her?

She looked for him, even as the monster‘s dark shape bounded around in her peripheral vision.

There! She finally jumped into the water —god it was warm— and reached out for him. Hailey didn’t realize, or didn’t care, how many people had made it out of the pool by the time she wrapped her arms around the young boy. He cried against her and she cried against the top of his head, telling him over and over again he was okay, that everything was okay, he’d be okay.

But then he jerked against her, down and away. He slid down her torso, his arms still wrapped tightly around her. He squeezed so hard it took the breath out of her lungs. She fought to keep him there, to keep him against her, but he kept sliding, kept falling away from her.

Hailey looked up to see something long, slick with moisture, and pink wrapped around one of his ankles. She blinked. Once again her brain had to work overtime to make sense of what she was seeing, even if the parts, individually, were clear as day.

The man-frog’s tongue, wholly human in design, but just as long as a giant frog’s would be, held tightly to Malcom’s leg. It pulled and tugged. Jerked with furious intensity and strength. Malcom screamed.

Hailey fought to keep him in her arms, but she wasn’t strong enough. In terrible, futile slow motion Malcom was yanked away from Hailey. His body splashed into the water, some of the droplets stinging Hailey’s eyes, but she couldn’t stop watching.

She cried as Malcom thrashed. The man-frog dragged Malcom into his giant, open maw. His screams died away as the tongue slithered back into the darkness and the beast’s mouth snapped shut.

Riiiiiiibit.

The monster’s gullet spasmed. The tanned skin rippled from the bulbous stomach up to the beast’s chin. Then, in one abrupt movement, the beast’s mouth opened again and a parade of gore tumbled back into the pool.

Arms. Legs. Heads still attached to the necks. It all came tumbling out, staining the water red.

Hailey screamed. Only a few of the water park patrons remained, but they screamed, too.

She blacked out as the man-frog hopped out of the pool.