Chapter 1: Naked in the Playground

The following Wednesday Tayo and Lewis were at school. After lunch they were in the playground along with most of the school when a coach pulled up outside. Once the door opened, about fifty Chinese young men, all in their twenties, filed out and marched into the playground. They formed a tight group which seemed to flow around the playground. It seemed to absorb pupils continuously and spit them back out. Those who experienced it said they had been asked their names and the person asking had a photo in his hand.

When Peter Barlow was found, he was absorbed into a little pocket concealed amongst the newcomers. Graham Smith and Alan Ryding both disappeared into other pockets which then merged and kept all three together. Then as the newcomers swirled round, Tayo, who had been absorbed and kept separate, was given a box to stand on and a false head to disguise him. Two of the newcomers stood in front of him so only his disguised head showed above their shoulders. The swirl then moved the three who had beat him up past him slowly. They of course had no idea who was in the strange head. They were moved past him in seconds, then a voice in his ear asked him if they were the three who had beat him up. When he said, “Yes,” he was asked was he positive. Replying, “Yes, absolutely” he found himself moving through the newcomers. As he went, hands stripped off his false head and he was suddenly outside the group of newcomers again, back with his school friends.