Chapter 2

I called Maria that night. She was crying, barely coherent. "She really thought she could fly, Sarah. She had the bedsheet tied around her neck like a cape."

"Did she say where she heard about this Mr. Giggles?"

"At preschool, she said. During Cosmic Critters time."

The next day, I spoke to Ms. Albright before dropping Leo off.

"I'm very concerned, Ms. Albright. Leo mentioned this Mr. Giggles too."

Ms. Albright looked tired. "Several parents have called. The descriptions are all different. One said he's a lady made of old newspapers. Another said he's tall and wears a funny hat."

"But they all mention Cosmic Critters?"

"Yes," she sighed. "And 'missions' to get to this Candy Cloud Kingdom. I've decided to stop showing Cosmic Critters for now. We'll switch to Barnyard Buddies."

That felt like a small relief.

But when I picked Leo up, he was agitated.

"Mr. Giggles was angry you stopped Cosmic Critters," he whispered in the car. "He showed it to us anyway."

"Honey, Ms. Albright said she put on Barnyard Buddies."

"No, it was Cosmic Critters. And he gave me a new mission. For Star-Power Soda."

Star-Power Soda was the hero's drink in the cartoon.

That evening, I logged into the preschool' s shared cloud storage. They uploaded snippets of classroom footage sometimes. I found the afternoon slot. My heart pounded. Cosmic Critters was playing, just like Leo said. The timestamp matched when Barnyard Buddies was scheduled.

I had to show Ms. Albright.

The next morning, I pulled up the footage on my phone to show her. But the segment was different. Barnyard Buddies played, clear as day. The Cosmic Critters clip was gone. Vanished.

Ms. Albright gave me a patient, worried look. "Sarah, maybe you were just tired last night?"

I felt like I was losing my mind.

Later, during quiet time, Ms. Albright sent a picture to the group chat. Leo was supposed to be drawing farm animals. Instead, he' d drawn a dark, spidery figure. A shadow man with spider legs.

My blood ran cold.

That night, I tucked Leo into bed. I was about to leave his room when I heard him.

"Mr. Giggles?" he whispered to the empty corner. "When is it my turn? To go to the Candy Cloud Kingdom? Chloe finished her mission."

I froze, my hand on the doorknob. Finished her mission?