It had started out just like any other day, but Professor Trevor Bruttenholm knew that Hellboy was having a terrible day. As he approached the room where Hellboy had been put in a 'thinking chair' for a time out, he saw that he was crying; big, sulfuric tears running down and onto his tiny red chest.

"What's wrong, boy?" Trevor asked.

Hellboy sobbed, "I'm not the best at anything! I'm not good at anything! Everybody can do things better than me!"

Trevor patted the 8 year old's shoulder. It made his heart ache to see the young boy so despondent. It was true, Hellboy's horns made his movements ungraceful; it was hard for him to even turn around sometimes without jerking his head. His stone right hand was a menace to others and delicate objects if he wasn't thinking about it. "Hellboy, you are meant for a very definite purpose. We don't know yet what it is, but we do know that someday, you will discover what you were meant to do, and all the pain you feel now will become a great joy to you."

It must be very hard to be cooped up in this building all the time, Trevor thought. We need an outing. Lake Compounce is close, maybe we can take a picnic lunch.

"What would you say to a surprise?" asked Trevor.

"What's the surprise?" asked Hellboy. Already his tears had stopped.

"Well, let me keep it a secret until I can arrange it. When it's time, I'll let you know."

The Professor was good to his word. A few days later, he and Hellboy were packed and driving toward the amusement park in Bristol, Connecticut. It was a fine, sunny day in the last week of June.

At the park, Hellboy was spellbound. The minute they walked into the entrance and he smelled the food, heard the music and saw the noisy crowd of people. He didn't know where to start first, he was so excited. He rode a few of the smaller rides first, then went to the bigger, more exciting rides. Finally, he saw something that he had missed when he first came into the amusement park.

There was a beautiful, colorful, old carousel, with lively and unusual music coming from within it. Hellboy had never seen anything like it. He jumped on it when it stopped to allow more passengers and walked all around it, unable to make up his mind which of the strikingly painted horses he would sit on. Finally he found a large white one on the outside.

The carousel started up, and Hellboy was thrilled. Around and around it went, and Hellboy started a game of standing up and sticking his hands out to feel the wind. At one point, however, when he stuck his right arm out, he hit a boy standing close to the carousel. The boy was just about to hit one of a group of three younger, smaller boys, when Hellboy's arm clobbered him and put him on the ground. The small boys waited until the carousel stopped and ran up to Hellboy.

"Thank you! That bully was beating up on us! He tried to take our money! You really let him have it!!" One of the boys excitedly said to Hellboy.

Hellboy was perplexed. He didn't mean to hurt the bigger kid, and he certainly didn't know he was trying to bully the boys. "Uh, you're welcome," he said.

The boys gathered around Hellboy and said, "Let's go on the Little Showboat!" They all ran down to the dock to board. Hellboy spent the rest of the day enjoying the park with them.

At lunch, Trevor and Hellboy sat near the lake and ate their sandwiches. Hellboy looked out towards the hills, watching the shadows of the clouds go by, making dark circles on the lake. They look like creatures swimming around in the water, he thought. What fun it would be to go see what's really down there. I wonder what kind of things I would find.

Later that night, fireworks announced the closing of the park. Hellboy and Trevor stood and watched in awe. Hellboy thought he could see people dancing about in the sky where the fireworks were shooting. They looked kinda mad, he thought about the way the fireworks filled the sky above them.

The day was ended. Trevor took Hellboy back to the B.P.R.D. and put him to bed. "Did you have a good day, Hellboy?"

"Yes, I did! That was the best day, ever!"

And to this day, when Hellboy feels a little lonely or sad, he thinks back to the day when he visited the park: his new friends, the carousel, the lake, the fireworks.

It makes him smile.

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