Chapter 15: Making a Splash

The summer sun shone down from a cloudless sky on Ms. Grimm’s Daycare, warming the play areas outside of the idyllic cottage pleasantly. The foliage above provided just the right amount of shade to ensure the heat was bearable without making it too cool. Together with the lack of wind, it meant the conditions were absolutely perfect for Friday’s Splash Day.

Kids clad in swimsuits splashed in shallow inflatable pools under the watchful eyes of their teachers while others played in buckets or frolicked beneath sprinklers. Still more ran across the soft grass as they hurled wet sponge balls back and forth or slid down the tentacles of a giant octopus-shaped slip-and-slide set in the center of the play area. The octopus playfully spouted water at the passing kids from its mouth.

Sofia stepped back from the action for a minute to rest. She’d been tasked with manning the hose, which she’d initially assumed just meant refilling the various water features as their contents inevitably soaked into the ground below. But that was evidently not the case at all. Instead, most of her responsibilities revolved around using said hose to bombard the delighted kids who got too close—that, and evening the playing field when a water fight was starting to get too one-sided.

As she watched the chaos unfold, she watched one of the four-year-olds attempt to coordinate a group assault with a few twos and threes. The younger kids did end up launching their sponge balls roughly at the same time as the older ones, mostly out of excitement to be part of something.

This area was a different one than usual, its layout specifically tailored toward special outdoor activities such as this. It was sectioned off with see-through lengths of thin wooden fencing. But rather than dividing by each class individually, splash day grouped everyone into one of two areas—over two years old or under. Each half of the play area therefore contained three classes and their respective teachers.

“Gather around, children! The time has come to receive a snack.” A teacher that Sofia didn’t recognize called out. Her skin and hair were so pale that she would have guessed she was an albino or something. Her eyes, however, were a piercing blue that matched her striking makeup and the iridescent sweater she somehow wore even on a hot day like this. How exactly she managed it without sweating buckets was beyond her. But she managed to look perfectly composed against all odds. There was hardly even a hair out of place in her elaborately braided bun.

“Line up here. I will pass out popsicles to those who desire them.”

“Popsicles!”

There was a sudden and immediate shift as the kids made a beeline for the woman. She produced a small plate stacked high with the frozen treats and had the kids line up before handing them out one at a time.

Sofia nudged Ashley. “Who's that? I don't think I've met her.”

Ashley followed the direction of her gaze. “Oh! That's Miss Winters. She's in charge of the Dragons class—the fours. Well, for the summer at least.”

She cocked her head. “Just for the summer?”

“Yup! That class is a little special. They switch teachers every season.”

“Huh.” Sofia looked again at the woman. Her name certainly fit, and not just because of her appearance. Her entire demeanor exuded a cold regality that felt completely at odds with the sight of her interacting with the kids. It was kind of like seeing the CEO of some massive company building a sand castle in a formal pantsuit.

I wonder if Winters is her first or last name, though? Everyone else I've met has been called by their first, but Winters sounds more like a last name.

“Do either of you desire a popsicle?”

After the kids had been served, Miss Winters glided over to Sofia and Ashley with a cool smile. A significantly reduced pile of red, orange, and blue popsicles lay on the plate, each with irregular swirls of white cutting through them.

“Strawberry, orange, and blueberry cream are the flavors,” Miss Winters explained in response to Sofia's unasked question. “All three are quite delicious, but I will express a strong preference for the orange. Though perhaps that will come as no surprise.”

Ashley chuckled before dipping her head slightly. “Thank you for the offer, Miss Winters, but I'm all right for now.”

“I understand.” The woman turned her gaze on Sofia. It seemed to pierce through her, though she sensed no malice or judgment from the woman. “What about you, child?”

It felt a little strange for the woman to address her as “child”, especially given the context of the daycare. But then again, maybe she was older than Sofia thought. Between the white hair and her perfectly smooth skin, it was hard to get a good estimate of her age.

“Sure, I'll take one. Thanks.” She reached out and plucked an orange cream popsicle from the platter. It was still frozen solid without so much as a bead of moisture running down its surface.

Huh. That’s weird.

Miss Winters nodded in approval at her choice before turning away. She seemed to practically float toward Marge and another much shorter teacher with pink hair who stood beside the brawny woman.

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Shrugging, Sofia gave the popsicle a tentative taste and closed her eyes in bliss. The refreshing taste of the dessert filled her mouth with bright citrus and luxurious vanilla cream. It had been ages since she’d had a popsicle, and this one tasted like all those nostalgic memories condensed into one to make the perfect treat.

Dang. These kids really do have it good here.

Sofia savored her treat, along with the brief reprieve that came with it, as the kids did the same. They'd gathered along the sidewalk running along the edge of the building as they ate. As the popsicles gradually transferred from their wooden sticks to the bellies—and faces—of the kids, they one by one returned to playing in the makeshift water park.

“Miss Sofia!” Little Naomi scurried up to her with a broad grin. “Can I play with the hose?”

Sofia chuckled. “Sorry, Naomi. The hose is for teachers only. But,” she continued before the girl had a chance to look disappointed, “I’m happy to turn the hose back on and play with you.”

“Yay!”

The little girl scurried toward the hose and waited with obvious anticipation. Chuckling, Sofia stepped forward to follow. But as she did, her contented smile slowly turned to a frown of confusion. Things were going… fuzzy. Strange. The details of the world around her began to blur and shift in bizarre ways before her very eyes.

She stopped in her tracks and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh no. Not again.

The sensation wasn’t exactly unfamiliar. It was pretty close to what she’d felt just two days before. Just before she’d started having those hallucinations.

The popsicle. Dangit.

She hadn’t even thought to be wary of it. Why should she be? Tainted chicken was one thing, but what in the world could a popsicle do to her?

Evidently quite a lot. She was all but certain that Gretchen had to have prepared those as well, meaning there was a clear connection between the two events. An especially troubling one, considering how good her food tasted.

Maybe there is something to the getting drugged theory…

“Sofia? Are you ok?”

When she opened her eyes, she came face-to-face with a concerned Ashley. Only, it wasn't quite Ashley. Her skin had taken on a vibrant green tinge, while her long ash brown hair had solidified into a tangle of matching branches and vines. Clusters of small oval leaves sprouted from all over her body, replacing the shawl and skirt with clothing that looked to be woven from foliage.

Sofia forced a smile to her face. “Fine! I’m just fine.”

“Are you sure?” The other woman pressed. Her “hair” rustled as she tilted her head. “If there’s something wrong…”

“I’m ok, really. I…” Sofia searched for a convincing lie. “The popsicle just gave me brain freeze. That’s all.”

Ashley’s eyes widened as she laughed. “Goodness! It did seem like you ate it quickly. I expected that kind of thing from the kids, not you!”

Sofia shrugged and shook her head. “What can I say? Gretchen makes some tasty food. Now, I shouldn’t keep Naomi waiting.”

She hurried away from plant-Ashley and toward the hose, her head still spinning. She half expected the length of rubber tubing to morph into a snake or some sort of giant beast’s tail. But it didn’t. It remained a standard garden hose, even when Sofia picked it up.

Ok. So not everything is going crazy, at least. That’s good to see. Maybe I will be able to make it through this after all.

The obvious play would have been to write the day off, go home, and sleep off the effects of whatever malady was afflicting her once again. Yet Sofia didn’t want to. For one, she’d already done that earlier in the week. Taking what was essentially a second day off in her first five days of working was not the kind of good impression she’d wanted to leave. Especially not after the trouble her mom had gone through to help her get the job in the first place.

I can make it through. True, things look a little crazy, but they’re still the same underneath. As long as I remember that, I should be just fine.

Maybe her priorities were a little skewed. Or maybe she was just feeling especially stubborn today. Either way, she had no intention of letting this get to her. Not like last time.

As she turned on the hose and began spraying after Naomi and a few of the other kids, she scanned her surroundings to see what had changed. The children all remained the same, thankfully. None of them had suddenly grown feathers or sprouted horns, even if Todd possibly deserved to with how much of a handful he’d already been today. The teachers, however, were a different story.

Just like Ashley, Marge’s skin had also turned green. But rather than becoming wreathed in foliage, the burly woman had once again affected the same orcish characteristics she’d hallucinated last time—that is to say, protruding tusks and even more muscle. The number of similarities between the orc-like Marge and her actual human self had Sofia chastising her subconscious a bit.

Miss Winters, in contrast, looked almost exactly the same as she had before. The only differences she could spot were a slight point to her ears and a strange, ephemeral quality to her hair. What strands weren’t pinned up in her bun or braided simply hovered about her face as though suspended there by an unseen breeze. The features of the short teacher with Marge didn’t seem to change much either, beyond becoming more pointed and elongated. Though she wasn’t familiar with the woman, so it was difficult to make a good comparison.

Ok, that’s not too bad. The people look a little different, but I can manage that.

Those weren’t the only changes, of course. More of those ghostly floating lights hovered at the edges of the clearing and Sofia swore she once again was seeing faces in some of the trees. But all of that was easy enough to ignore if she tried hard enough.

Out of curiosity, Sofia tried to peer across the fence to see what strangeness she could spot over there. She only managed to pick out a dark purple form and a shimmer of something scale-like before her attention was drawn back to her more immediate surroundings by a strange, warbling screech behind her.

Whirling around, Sofia’s head snapped toward the source of the noise. Where there should have been an octopus-shaped slip-and-slide was now a living and breathing eight-armed monster, a beak protruding from its bulbous head. It screeched again, spouting water as laughing children slid down its long purple tentacles like it was an amusement park ride.

That, she thought, isn’t going to be as easy to ignore.