“Scully, take a look at this.”

Agent Scully, a petite young woman with auburn hair and dressed in a dark suit with grey overcoat, turned and faced Agent Mulder, a handsome man with tossled dark hair and squinting gaze. Mulder held up a small, fuzzy doll of a purple dinosaur. Amidst the bloodied corpses scattered about the field, it took on a singular significance.

“I’ve seen this on TV,” commented Scully, examining the doll’s shape and color. “I think his name is Barney, a popular kid’s show character. Probably left behind by some kid during one of the school days.”

“I think it was left from last night’s massacre,” replied Mulder, pointing to a rust-colored stain on the doll’s belly. “This blood was likely from one of the victims, and this is July. School got out weeks ago. I’d think a kid’s last wish for their summer break is to come back to their school. I think this doll has some connection with the killings.”

Scully winced. “Mulder, kids come out and play on school grounds all the time. This blood could’ve come from a variety of sources, like a broken tooth or scraped knee. I’m not discounting it as evidence, but I wouldn’t assign it the importance you give it just yet.”

Mulder placed the doll into a plastic bag and handed it to an FBI investigator. “I’ll run it by the labs and see what comes of it.” He and Scully then surveyed the scene again as a photographer began taking photos of the dozen dead bodies littered about the field.

“The murders had happened in a variety of ways”, observed Scully, pointing at the sheet-covered forms on the grass, “from gunshots to being stabbed with knitting needles. But what puzzled the forensics specialists as they went from body to body were the design of the wounds. On all the bodies, practically the first wounds had been inflicted at a height of no taller than three and a half feet. The angles of the wounds also indicated a mob of short assailants of limited strength.”

“An army of irate midgets?” said Mulder, suppressing a mild smirk.

Scully turned and faced him, her expression a blend of seriousness and indifference. “Yes. Strange as it sounds, it’s likely. We’re having our people scan the neighborhood for witnesses, and we’ve also been hitting up some of the local talent agencies and job centers for profiles on townsfolk of diminutive stature.”

“A short list that isn’t,” quipped Mulder.

“Of other concern is the children of these dead people,” continued Scully, undeterred by her partner’s dark humor, “since last night, there’s been no sign of them. No signs of foul play in their immediate homes, although in the home of the Carson family, a Mr. Alan Carson was found shot to death with his own gun. He was a policeman in this town. Again, the trajectory of the bullet wounds suggest a person of diminutive stature.”

“Scully,” said Mulder, scratching his chin, “you don’t suppose........do you think that these people’s kids may be responsible....”

“I’d be hard pressed to believe that a form of mass hysteria could sweep the minds of these dead people’s children,” answered Scully. “There’s got to be another reason for this.”

The two agents climbed into their vehicle and drove away from the disastrous scene, as the FBI investigation squad continued their examination of the bodies and available evidence. From across the street, inside a rusty purple van marked “Book Mobile!” , a set of dead, moronic eyes followed Scully and Mulder’s car as it drove away in a trail of exhaust.

“Yes, yes,” muttered a low droopy voice, “must have more Special Friends, need more! I think I may have another one, yes yes yes!”

“This show is for the dork in all of us,” said Mulder, as he tried to sustain himself through the fourth episode of “Barney and Friends”. He had rented a tall stack of videos from the program and was watching them in an empty office at the Springfield Police Station.

“Hellooo, all my Special Friends,” gurgled Barney, wobbling his green-spotted haunches and jumping with glee, “I know we’re going to have a suuupperrr-deeee-duupppperr time today!”

“I’m going to lose my suuupperrr-deee--duuupper breakfast if this keeps up.”

“Go easy, Mulder, it’s just a kids’ show. Still better than most of the junk on the airwaves.”

Mulder was startled by Scully’s remark, he hadn’t noticed her entering the room. “Scully, this kind of dinosaur makes anyone from the Special Ed department look like Einstein. You’ve got to be kidding that it’s better than say, ‘Sesame Street’ or ‘Reading Rainbow’”.

“I think it’s okay,” affirmed Scully, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. Mulder nodded and knew that whenever his partner took such a position, it mean she was ready to defend her opinion tooth and nail. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take it any farther.

“Snuffle-up-agus forever,” he vowed, raising a clenched fist in tribute.

“Just a kids’ show like none other, that’s all I’m saying, Mulder.”

Agent Mulder sat upright. “Nuh uh. Au contraire. Have a seat and look at this.” He rewound the video and played back a segment featuring Barney leading a song about sharing household chores.

“Look at this, Scully. You’ve got seven or eight kids, all dancing and singing in perfect unison. Not once in this routine will you see one of those kids break from the pattern. It’s mass conformity enacted upon the most impressionable of minds.”

Scully sighed. “It’s no different from seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Hall, Mulder. If a line of chorus girls can all sing and dance in unison, why can’t a group of children?”

“Because it’s not the way a kid naturally behaves,” answered Mulder, “what kid in their own right mind would willingly obey a form of order? A happy child marches to the beat of a different drum, mainly their own.”

“I’ll have you know I was a very well-behaved, formalized child myself.”

Mulder winced, looking away from the screen at his partner. “You were the kind of kid who’d remind the teacher when she forgot to hand out homework, weren’t you?”

“Why yes, how did you---hey!”

Mulder turned from the indignant Scully, and pointed at the next scenario. “Here’s a scene where two young boys in the group are fighting over a pair of toy shoes. Now look. Unable to resolve the dispute between themselves, it takes Barney to mediate and resolve the argument. With little more than a smile and shrug, the fight is over as quickly as it began. Can’t you see it, Scully? Total dependence on a fat purple lizard, as well as full-out avoidance of conflict. Conflict being one of the primary factors in determining how we cope and deal with loss and turmoil. This Barney is utilizing his control to strip these kids of their power and individuality!”

“Mulder, for crying out loud, it’s a kids’ show. The toddlers will learn about pain and conflict soon enough, same as you and I.”

“I don’t think so,” Mulder said flatly. “Not if Barney continues selling this message.”

Scully rolled her pale green eyes and bowed her head in resignation. She shook her head and sighed. For the last few months, she’d been having trouble adapting to their new assignment, The reX-Files. Skinner asked them both into his office that quiet summer spring day and explained that the Bureau wished to specialize their directions somewhat. Of some significance were paranormal activities involving dinosaurs, or related species. Skinner cited the Loch Ness Monster, the supposed apatosaurus that dwelled in Africa, the pterodactyl sightings in the Black Forest, and the White River Monster of Arkansas to name a few. She recalled seeing Mulder’s face light up at the re-assignment, she couldn’t understand his fascination. Just a thing with boys and old reptiles, she figured. But while stacks of UFO reports and crop circles began piling up in their credenza, she and Mulder were out checking up on jolly, saccharine dinosaurs. When the time came when they could hunt Bigfoot in a trailer park again, she would actually be grateful.

“There! Look at that! See what I’m getting at, Scully?”

She lifted her head off the formica tabletop and gazed at the television. Spritely, syrupy music chimed as Barney swayed and rocked with the assembled children, singing.

I love you, you love me,
we’re a happy family, ,
with a great big kiss and hug,
from me to you, ,
won’t you say you love me too?

Mulder ejected the tape and placed it into an envelope. “I’m gonna have some analysis done of that song, it obviously bears some sort of subliminal hypnotic influence upon the listener. It’s repeated at the end of every show, like some incantation.”

“Sure, Mulder, sure,” she said. “So who are those kids, anyway?”

Mulder paused, letting the envelope rest on the table. “A very good question. Something else I’ve not figured out is where these kids go. Seems that the cast changes quite a bit. You gotta figure something’s done with the children who aren’t shown anymore.”

“Maybe they grew up and are leading happy, normal lives. You and I should try it sometime.”

If Mulder was offended by Scully’s barb, he made no sign of it. Flipping through the covers of the Barney videos he’d assembled, it suddenly occurred to him that there was no known reason as to why some kids disappeared from “Barney and Friends”. Indeed, what did become of those children?

“Feeding time, love-slaves.”

The dirty, ragged group of teenagers clawed and shoved their way to the metal slot. A short moment later, a plush purple paw opened a small door and tossed in a few leftover food scraps. The starved, crazed group of teens snarled and growled, throwing themselves upon the chicken bones and fruit rinds. Outside of the thick purple metal pen, moronic chuckling could be heard.

“My, you all sound soooo huunngrryy,” cooed the obese dinosaur, “you should be grateful I’m still checking the dumpster for these scrrummptious “healthy snacks”. Keep eating!”

A hoary and foul-smelling young man pressed his face against the metal door, holding it open and looking wistfully into Barney’s eyes. “Barney.....you once called me your Special Friend.....why am...why am I locked up in here? I want....to play with you.....”

Barney smiled and grinned gleefully. “Why Tony, you just got too old for my wonderful TV show! I always like to have friends, but the younger ones just play better, that’s all! I know it’s cramped and dark in there, but never forget....I love you. Won’t you say you love me too?”

The bleary-eyed man coughed and hacked, fighting to breathe. “I.....I love....you too.....Barney. Please let me out....”

“Can’t do, I’m afraid,” said Barney cheerfully, “but don’t worry, Tony. You’ll soon be coming to a very stuuppenndouss place, where all my Special Friends eventually go! Just be patient!”

“Okay...” said the man, feeling one of his corroded teeth fall out and hit the refuse-covered floor of the pen, “I...can’t wait.....”. Feeling secure and loved again, he then allowed Barney to shut the metal slot and joined his fellow captives in licking and nibbling the grimy chicken bones. The slurping and growling noises echoed down the lightless chamber as the cherubic purple dinosaur fastened the immense iron clasps, sealing it off from the outside world.

Click here for Chapter Two of The reX-Files....