Phineas Frowned

Phineas frowned. In the swirling sea of juvenile chaos at the playground, Phineas sat grumpily on the bench holding his cane firmly on the ground. His wide, square head looked disapprovingly at the dozens of carefree children scampering around the playground. There weren’t normally this many people here, in fact there were hardly any people that would come to this park. Which is why Phineas loved to come for serenity and isolation. But instead, for some reason, today was full of children noisily laughing and chasing each other.

Phineas frowned and watched a kid kick a ball to himself. He thought the kid was somewhat dumb for playing ball with only himself. Phineas rolled his eyes and stared straight ahead, hoping he’d zone out and all the distractions would drown out. That or all the children would disappear. Either seemed fine to him.

The noise grew louder and louder. A kid cried as it fell from the monkey bars. Phineas was increasingly agitated by the kid’s crying. He wanted to leave so badly but his caretaker had dropped him off to run errands, as she always had, per his request, because no one ever came to this park. Except today. And Phineas frowned.

A red rubber ball rolled into Phineas’s block shoe. He looked down and stared at it, bothered by it. Tiny little hands grasped either side of the ball and held it up. Phineas saw it was the little boy who was playing by himself. The little boy held up the red rubber ball and showed it to Phineas. Phineas glared back. The little boy held it closer and insisted Phineas do something with it. Phineas took his cane and swung the ball clean out of the boy’s hands. It shot across the park. The boy ran away.

Phineas inhaled slowly, trying to recover from such a nuisance. He decided he’d shut his eyes, this time hoping he’d be so tired of the chaos that he would actually become tired and sleep through the noise until his caretaker returned. Phineas closed his eyes and concentrated.

His nose suddenly flattened as it was pushed into his face. Phineas opened his eyes and saw the red rubber ball pressed against his nose. The little boy stepped back and smiled wide. He did a little dance in place and held the ball up eagerly, shying away from the ball and waited with overwhelming anticipation. Phineas looked at the boy curiously, naturally frustrated he woke him up, but then he saw what the boy wanted. The little boy that Phineas swatting the ball out of his hands with his cane was a game. Phineas looked down at his cane and then back at the little boy, who was shaking with anticipation.

The red ball shot back in the air, soaring above the playground. The little boy cheered, like a baseball fan celebrating a homerun, and sprinted after it, tripping immediately trying to move his tiny legs too quickly but then found his footing and ran off. Phineas watched him run, growing smaller in the distance. A soft hand suddenly gripped Phineas by the wrist and pulled him off the bench. Phineas looked up and saw his young caretaker lifting him and began escorting him away.

She closed the car door and Phineas looked out the window and saw the little boy running back to the bench where Phineas sat. The little boy looked around for Phineas, peering behind a tree, and even looking under the bench. After a moment the little boy sat on the bench and propped his small elbows on his small knees and put his head in his hands. He sat there alone. Phineas looked around and wondered when one of his friends was going to play with him or invite him to one of their games, but as Phineas watched he saw that the little boy was still lonely. He realized that he didn’t have anyone at all at the park to play with. The caretaker hopped in the driver’s seat and drove Phineas away. Phineas watched behind him until the little boy was out of view. Phineas frowned.

The little boy sat in the mulch on the playground and drew letters in it with a larger piece of mulch. He sighed, trying his best not to look down, but deep inside the little boy was sad. The red rubber ball sat in his lap. The little boy frowned.

Suddenly the red rubber ball sprung out of his lap and shot across the playground. The little boy whipped his head around and watched it fly. He quickly looked the other way and saw Phineas standing beside with his cane in his hand. A smile overtook the little boy’s face and he leapt off the ground, chasing after the red rubber ball. Phineas waited for him to return.

The little boy ran back excitedly and rolled the ball towards Phineas. Phineas wound up his cane and smacked it against the ball. It shot far and to the left. The little boy wowed and bounced towards the rolling red rubber ball. The boy returned and held the ball up to Phineas for another wonderful go at their special game. Phineas smiled.