We're going to have a lot of fun.

 Moving to a new city is often not particularly easy, especially for a 12-year-old boy. Usually there are problems with adapting to school, finding new friends. Roma was a little lucky in this regard, as the move fell during the holidays, and it was possible to make friends before starting school. And literally on the first day, luck smiled at him — Roma met a neighbor boy Grisha, his age, they immediately became friends and began to spend a lot of time together. A couple of times Roma invited a new friend to visit him, but for some reason he was shy. He probably thought that Roman's mother would consider him a tomboy and a bully, because from his appearance it seemed so: he often smelled of smoke, and his clothes were constantly burned (Grisha said that he loved to burn bonfires, although he never did it with Roma, he did not even offer). Disheveled hair complemented the image of a dysfunctional child, although Grisha's behavior was an ordinary boy, albeit a little unsociable.

One day, Roma came home very worried, and when his mother asked him what had happened, he replied:

"Mom, it turns out there's an amusement park here. You only pay for admission there and ride on any carousel! Grisha told me about him. And he's... he's...  Roma was panting with excitement. — He invited me there, his mom has already bought us tickets. And he promised to introduce me to his friends. They go there every two weeks. Can I go with them? Please, please, please!

—Well... is the park far from here?"

— No, Grisha says there are several bus stops. Please, Mom, Grisha promised that we would have a lot of fun there. There's even a funny clown there, and I should like him.

— What time are you going to be back?

— The park is open until five, so I'll definitely be home at five thirty, Mom. Can I go?

"Okay, just don't forget to take your phone, I'll call you to check on you."

Mom was glad that Roma had managed to find friends so quickly (it had only been a week since they moved), and that they had a place to have fun. She wasn't too worried, because, according to her son, Grisha had lived here for 7 years and knew the area like the back of his hand, and the fact that he was embarrassed to visit them and get to know each other only reinforced in her mind the image of a well-mannered and modest boy.

In anticipation of a fun day, Roma couldn't sleep for a long time. And even when I fell asleep, I had a dream about having fun with friends on carousels, eating ice cream and cotton candy and laughing at the jokes of a funny clown.

At eleven in the morning, taking his phone and money for travel and ice cream, Roma went to the bus stop, where Grisha was already waiting for him. The bus arrived almost immediately, and the boys set off. Roma actively asked Grisha about the park, but he was not very willing to answer — apparently, he did not want to spoil the surprise, which further fueled his interest. For some reason, some passengers squinted at Roma, which made him speak a little quieter.

About half an hour later, the guys arrived at the place.

"We still have a little way to go," Grisha said.

— Are your friends already there?

— Yes, where else would they be...

Soon they came to the gate, and there were two boys and a girl standing there. Grisha introduced them:

— This is Vika, and this is Styopa and Vadik.

The children carefully studied the new member of their company, which made Roma a little tense, and he decided to defuse the situation.:

— Well, let's go have fun?

—Let's go,— his three new friends replied monotonously.

Strangely enough, the park wasn't very crowded. Grisha explained this by saying that today is a weekday, and a lot of people from suburban villages come here on weekends. Many locals were already tired of the park, and they rarely came here. Roma couldn't understand how an amusement park could get boring.

We've tried almost all the swings and rides. However, there was a slight problem with one of the swings: Roma, deciding to jump off them on the move, could not stand on his feet and fell, hitting his chest quite hard on the ground. Even my T-shirt is torn. Fortunately, there were no other injuries, and the bruised area stopped hurting almost immediately. Quickly forgetting about this incident, Roma invited everyone to ride a roller coaster — he had long dreamed of doing so. But everyone flatly refused, despite Romy's persuasions. I didn't want to ride alone, because it was much more fun with the company.

Overall, Roma expected a lot more fun from the park and his new friends. Grisha now talked more with Stepa, Vadim and Vika, they were kind of depressed and gloomy. And the promised clown was nowhere to be seen.

Having somehow made it to five o'clock, Roma said that it was time to go back, because the park was closing. Grisha replied:

— It won't close.

"How so?"

"It never closes," Vika echoed Grisha.

Roma couldn't understand anything:

— You said that the park closes at five o'clock, and we'll go home.

— Why would the park close if everyone is having a lot of fun here?

— What are you talking about? Go around sulking all day! Is this fun for you?

Grisha came closer and grabbed Roma by the arm. His eyes were lifeless and empty. He said:

— Stay with us. We're going to have a lot of fun. Stay here.…

The others gradually began to connect to Grisha's words.:

— Stay, we'll have a lot of fun.…

In addition to the four of them, other children began to gather around Roma, some with their parents. Everyone was monotonously repeating the same words, forming an ominous hum:

— Stay with us, Roma, we will have a lot of fun. Stay, we'll have a lot of fun.…

Roma jerked his hand away and rushed to the gate. A clown appeared at the gate from nowhere. He was in dirty clothes, the paint on his face was chaotically smeared, his gaze cut right into the depths of the child's soul. He croaked:

"Hey, buddy, don't you like being with us?" It's all so much fun! Stay here!

Roma pushed him aside and ran out the gate. He ran without looking back until he stopped. The bus was already leaving, but the driver saw a running kid in the rearview mirror and stopped. When Roma jumped on the bus, the driver asked:

"What are you doing here at this hour?" I haven't stopped at this stop for about five years. Since the park was closed. Lucky for you, the last bus for today. If I hadn't, I'd have been riding the carousels until morning, huh.

- what? Was the park closed?

— Well, yes, there wasn't even a stop before him.

—But… Why was it closed? When?

— It was closed five years ago, when a tragedy happened on the roller coaster. They collapsed, almost everyone who skated died, and the caretaker was crushed, by the way, my sister's brother-in-law worked there as a caretaker and a clown, too. It's a pity, he was a good guy. All the local newspapers have written about this case yet. It's forgotten now, of course. I don't understand these idiotic carousels, you risk getting yourself killed, and you also pay money for it... and they say all sorts of things about this place. Everything is getting worse. About two weeks ago, a kid from the next house went there and disappeared. His mother was waiting for him, and then she went crazy and hanged herself. You're a kid, you shouldn't be hanging around this park anymore, and it's so late.…

Roma could hardly believe everything he said. He fiddled with his phone in his hands. It's strange that Mom hasn't called yet. I casually looked at the time on my phone. Eleven o'clock?! Only recently, he told "friends" that it was five. He couldn't have run from the park gate to the bus stop for six hours! One thought was spinning in my head now: "Horror, mom must be in a panic!".

And so it was. He was greeted at home by his tearful mother. It turned out that the reason for her concern was not only the late return of her son.

— Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't want to come back late, it's just there in the park.…

"What park?" Do you even know how worried I was?! I've been calling you all day, you haven't been available! At seven o'clock I called the police. When they arrived, I told them that you went to the amusement park with your friend Grisha. They said that the park had not been operating for five years! Then there's Grisha… You said he lives next door. So, the precinct officer assured me that there are no families with children of 12 years old in that entrance now. There lived a family with a son named Grisha, but they moved out after their son, being alone in the apartment, started a fire and died. Roma, do you understand what's going to happen to us now?!

—What... will happen?"  Roma asked in surprise. His mother's last sentence puzzled him.

Mom bent over the boy and kissed him on the head:

"Get ready... there's nothing more for us to do here.

Roma's eyes widened, and her breath caught in horror: a purple stripe stood out clearly on her mother's neck.

"Come on… We're going to have a lot of fun.

Mom went up to Roma and pulled down his T-shirt so that the deep wound could not be seen in the tear. The armature peak, on which he fell from the swing, pierced the boy's chest exactly opposite the heart.