The Amusement Park
The Amusement Park
My sister and I slide into the parking spot in the middle of the lot for “’Muzement Pier.” We’ve been driving for seven hours. Just to spend an afternoon at the closest amusement park to our house. I can’t even remember the last time we visited one. It’s been close to a decade.
“It felt like we were in that car forever.” My sister said as we got out of the two-door sedan.
“I blame the nonstop country music you forced me to listen to,” I stretched my back and legs while shutting the car door.
“I said you could choose a song,” she said.
“Yeah, one song. The entire seven hours we were in this cramped car, you let me choose only one song. Then it was country this, yeehaw that, howdy this, hold my beer, my dog ran away.” I rolled my eyes as I walked to the front of the car. I double-checked my ID, debit card, and my phone was in my pockets and stood next to her.
“We need to take a picture for mom and dad.” She said and flipped us around so the rollercoasters were behind us.
We showed our teeth and I held up a peace sign. She snapped the shot and sent it to our mom who responded with a thumbs up.
“Ok, what’s our first stop?” I ask walking toward the entrance.
“Probably the SooperDooperLooper, so we don’t have to do it later after we eat.” She said.
“What makes you think we’ll have time to eat?” I gasp and look at her.
“It’s an amusement park. It’s fair food. We have to eat something or I will die.” She said, dramatic as always.
“I guess you have a point. Ok, the SooperDooperLooper, and then the Millennium Force.” I say.
“Sounds like a plan, and then funnel cake.” We nod our heads in agreement.
We make it through the ticket line, a nerdy teenager with a plain face mask, fogged-up glasses, and bad acne looks us up and down before he scans the tickets on our phones.
We look at the vast courtyard in front of us. It’s a large patch of grass in the very middle of all the rollercoasters and games. There are people in their masks lounging and sunbathing to take a break from the adrenaline and money loss. There is shrubbery encasing the grassy patch with random florals plotted at symmetrical intervals. And two entrances and exits. It looks fairly serene.
To our left is a section of thematic rollercoasters and carnival games. To our front is a large section of food trucks and a pavilion to eat under. To our right is another section of rollercoasters and carnival games, a different theme from the opposite side of the park.
There are trees throughout the park. The largest being in the center of the green patch in front of the park entrance. The trees make the park look abandoned from the sky and the highway that it’s near. But it still gets a ton of business. It also looks very clean for being near the woods.
My sister leads the way to the SooperDooperLooper and I follow. We stand in a line of ten people and chat about our next semester of college. I’m starting my junior year while she’s starting grad school to be a philosophy professor.
We make it to the front of the line and watch the other passengers get on and take off at rocket speeds. The next car returns and no one is on it.
“That’s weird. Do they drop off the other passengers at another platform?” I ask my sister.
“I guess we’ll find out.” She says as the gates open allowing us to get on.
We take a seat in the front row, my sister to my left. We secure the seatbelts and the shoulder bar comes down. The rules are read out aloud the speakers as other teen park workers check everyone’s belts and bars. They give the thumbs up and WHOOSH. We’re out.
It starts by going super fast up a steep hill. And slows down. There’s only a couple of groups on the coaster behind us. But I can already hear the screams of excitement. We make it to the top and stay there for one… two… three…
four…
now it’s weird…
five…
six…
seven…
anytime now…
eight…
DROP
We’re sent to the decline, spinning spinning spinning spinning, I’m lightheaded, my stomach is in knots.
We flatten out and then shoot up another, smaller, hill, and then fall again, sharper, my body is lifted off the seat. The anxiety of falling out of the rollercoaster comes full force until we’re jerked to our right and left and down again, spinning
Spinning
Spinning
And then my body slams against the shoulder bars as we screech to a stop.
It is a different platform than where we began. It looks like we stopped at a completely different section of the park. I didn’t know that this would end here.
Another teen worker comes around and undoes everyone’s safety latches and we’re free to exit to the left.
I stumble as I try and gain my bearings again. My stomach is swirling and my head feels like it’s going to explode.
“That was exhilarating,” my sister says and heaves into the nearest trash can. I laugh but I can’t blame her, I feel like I’m about to hurl myself.
“I don’t remember that rollercoaster doing that or ending somewhere completely different,” I say, still holding my stomach.
“Yeah, me neither.” She admits. We walk around a twisted path formed by tall hedges that lead from the rollercoaster and back to the park.
After what feels like 15 minutes we break out of the hedges and into the main part of the park. With the green patch directly in front of us. It’s like we just entered the park again.
“Deja Vu?” My sister says and walks toward a large sign that says which coaster is where and then starts walk to the Millenium Force.
We walk past a row of carnival games, some with superheroes stuffed toys as prizes and others had live fish for prizes. There was a family playing for fish, four children holding different colored plastic rings, and two adults throwing their own plastic rings. The smallest of the group held a fish that was won.
As I walked by her, she looked up at me and smiled a big toothless grin and held the bag up at me, lightly shaking it. I smiled back and waved and then she dropped the bag and it popped on the pavement of the walkway. The girl screamed and grabbed for the small goldfish, accidentally squishing it with her hands. She screamed even louder. My smile dropped and I didn’t know what to do. I stared in horror at the little girl and the now-dead fish.
My sister doesn’t look back, she’s been babbling about her boyfriend for the better half of our walk now and reaches behind her to grab my hand. She tugs me along and continues her story about how she went to a beach and her boyfriend and a few of his friends played a prank on her and her girlfriends. She didn’t witness what just happened.
“You really didn’t see that little girl just now?” I ask her as I caught up to her.
“What little girl?” She asks and looks around.
“The one screaming?” I look behind me and the family was gone, I guess they stopped having fun. “Nevermind,” I say and let her continue her story.
We make it to the Millenium Force and stand in a seven-person line. My sister and I grew silent. I was still thinking about the little girl and the dead fish, that was so eerie. She was looking around, people watching. Easily her favorite past time. I noticed a younger couple in the front of the line, they were holding hands and talking very close together. They seemed sweet. Not in a disgusting way, but a “we’re young and in love” kind of way.
The next six people get in line, the lovers in the first seat. The take off at a snails pace, getting ready for the buildup of the ride.
We’re near the front, behind one large man dressed in dark clothing, he doesn’t turn around to look at us and make small talk. He just stands there quietly. Which is fine. I’m not too into talking to strangers.
The ride is over before I knew it and the group of six get up, the lovers in the front looked angry with one another, the woman looks crestfallen, like she just found out her childhood dog died or maybe her heart was broken? The man doesn’t look any better. She reaches for his hand and he flinches back. Looking scared. The group exits the platform and the gates open for us to get on. The teen worker guides the first man into the left side of the first car and directs my sister to sit next to him.
“I was hoping to sit by her?” I ask the worker and he said that two people have to sit in the front. I look behind me to see if anyone can trade her seats but there was no one else in line. Odd.
The man wasn’t very welcoming when my sister asked for him to trade seats with me. He ignored her and strapped himself in.
“Oh well.” I shrug my shoulders and get in the seat behind them. The worker directs me to sit in the seat behind the man, ‘the left side has to be the side that’s filled’ he said. Ok, that’s also odd, but I’m not a rollercoaster engineer.
We get strapped in and wait a minute to see if there are any last-minute passengers. Nothing. He holds up his thumb and the rumble of the rollercoaster begins. The slow chug of car making it up the steep incline caused my anxiety to spike. But that’s the joy of riding rollercoasters.
We make it to the top. And wait.
We teeter on the edge, the wind is blowing our hair around like crazy, I should’ve braided it earlier.
It seems like we’re stuck on the top of the rollercoaster. The man starts shifting in his seat. Squirming as if he’s uncomfortable. And then he lurches forward. Trying to make the coaster go. Nothing happens. He lurches again, more forcefully.
“Come on!” he yells and lurches a final time. I hear a crack and then the coaster begins to shift forward and starts down the hill going super fast. We hit the bottom and go up a smaller hill reaching a corkscrew section.
Around
Around
Around
Around
Stomach drops again
Around
Then we shoot up and down again, slamming to our left and into another tight corkscrew
Around
Around
Around
My head is spinning
Around
Around
The man puts his hands up, yelling ‘woohoos!’ and then we make a sharp turn to the right and drop down again and slow down until we’re chugging back up another steep incline.
We make it to the top, the temperature dropped 10 degrees it seems. I collect goosebumps along the skin of my arms and legs. My sister looks back at me, wide-eyed. She’s scared too.
We stalled on the top of the rollercoaster again. The man immediately starts lurching forward.
I hear another crack and try not to think about what that could be from. He lurches again and there’s a pop and then the coaster slides backward where we came from.
“I don’t think this is supposed to happen!” I yell toward my sister. She looks back again and grabs my hand. We scream, from adrenaline mixed with newfound fear.
The man continues yelling his ‘woohoos!’ as if this is supposed to happen. We go backward through a corkscrew.
Around
Around
I let go of my sister’s hand to hold my mouth closed
Around
I’m going to vomit
Around
Around
I swallow the bile that’s collecting in my throat and tears prick my eyes, I close them tight.
And then we stop. I open my eyes and we’re back on the original platform. I look around and there are about twenty people in line to get on.
“What happened?” I asked my sister.
“I have no clue. But we made it.” The seats release and we stand. My legs are numb and my throat burns. We stagger off of the ride and new people get on.
“Do we say something? Was all of that supposed to happen?” I ask her.
“I have no clue, but I’m not too sure I’m a fan of this ride.” She grabs my hand and steers me to the exit of the platform.
We walk another windy path of tall hedges. The man is walking a couple feet in front of us.
“Sir, did you find anything weird about that back there?” I ask him. He stops and slowly turns his upper body, his head is covered in thick dark hair. He makes eye contact with me and a mischievous smile creeps onto his face. He winks and starts stalking back down the path.
“What was his deal?” My sister whispers to me.
“I have no clue. Can we get something to eat now?” I ask.
“Duh, it’s time.” We make it to the end of the path and it leads to the front of the park again. Just like how we entered. The green patch with the large tree in front.
We walk around the green patch and straight toward the food truck. There’s 10 give or take one or two. We go to one that has funnel cakes and fried Oreos and then another with soft pretzels. My sister and I grab our food and head under the big green pavilion. There aren’t as many people here as I was expecting so we easily find a picnic table and start chowing down.
My sister and I talk about college again, what we hope this year will bring us, and what we want to do with our futures. We also discuss her getting engaged, which ‘should be any day now.’ She and her boyfriend have been together since high school. Her boyfriend followed her to her college and got a business degree and is working for his father while she finishes grad school. They are the ultimate couple.
We pack up our trash and throw it out. We head to the other section of rollercoasters and walk past more carnival games. As we walk I see a family playing a game.
Four kids are holding different colored plastic rings, waiting their turn to play while two adults throw their own plastic rings. The smallest of the group is holding a fish in a bag. She looks so happy. Why does this seem familiar? I walk past the girl and she holds the bag up, shaking it lightly and beaming with all of her heart. The bag falls to the ground and it pops with a wet “sploosh” the girl falls to her knees and cries, picking up the fish and squeezing a bit too hard. She cries harder, screaming bloody murder as she drops the now-dead fish on the pavement. I look on in horror as an older boy consoles her.
My sister grabs my arm and continues her story about what she wishes her engagement to be.
“You seriously didn’t see that?” I ask her, pulling my arm from her hand.
“See what?” She asks and looks around.
“The kid, again. The kid dropped the fish and killed it. How could you miss that. There’s no one else here?” I ask, hysteria making a small cameo in my voice.
“Sis, I don’t see anyone at all. Not a little girl in sight.” I look behind us again and I don’t see the family. Again. They just disappeared. There isn’t even a worker manning the game booth.
“What..” I stop walking and look around some more. There’s no one else in sight.
No one is manning any games, I don’t hear any walking, talking, laughing. It’s just me and my sister.
I get closer to a booth and look at the toys. They all have malevolent faces on them. Angry. Violent. There’s even what looks to be blood on some of them.
I walk to a different one and there’s broken glass on the inside of the booth. The toys look shredded. I walk across the way and stop. The booths look destroyed. There’s broken glass everywhere.
I turn and call for my sister but she doesn’t answer. She’s laying a few feet in front of me. Facedown. Her clothes are dirty with splotches of red on them.
I walk toward her, I call her name again. No answer.
I turn again and a wave of nausea passes over me, I get lightheaded and fall down on my hands and knees and heave. Nothing comes up but broken glass and blood. My stomach turns again. I collapse onto the pavement and close my eyes.
When I open them again I’m back in my sister’s car. Except the world is upside down. I look to my left and see her, her arms are sticking above her, toward the roof of the car. The seatbelt keeping her in her seat.
I call her name again, but nothing comes out except slow viscous streams of blood.
Tears prick my eyes again. I start to panic, I can’t breathe around the blood in my mouth, so I try to breathe through my nose and look down to where my seatbelt latch is. My door is caved in on my right side. It’s pinching my leg. I can’t feel it. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
I try and undo my seatbelt. It’s not budging because of the weight.
I use my left leg and my arms to push myself up and then I undo the belt. I fall onto the roof of the car. I can feel my right leg now. I feel warm. My fingertips are freezing though and my stomach and chest feel bruised.
I sit up and reach for my sister. Her eyes are open when I push her hair back. There’s a large crack in her forehead near her hairline and a steady stream of blood leaking from it. I gagged and try to leave through the broken windshield but my leg is caught.
I pull and pull and hear something tear and feel something pop. It doesn’t hurt enough to stop. So I pull again and I’m free. My shorts were ripped by the door and my leg feels funny but I can move it. I crawl through the glass and out into the open.
There are multiple cars in a haphazard pile and disarray across the five lanes of the highway. I see ambulances and police cars blocking other cars. I start to make my way toward them. I pass a motorcycle laying sideways, the supposed rider was laying a couple of feet from it, lying on his back. He had dark clothes on, even darker patches of what I’m assuming is blood spotted his attired. He had long dark hair. He looked familiar.
I stumble past a semi on its side, I can’t see the driver. I continue on, trying to breathe evenly so I don’t go into shock. There’s a flipped over minivan on my right, I fall into the drivers’ side front wheel and catch my breath. I see an arm of a little kid sticking out from the backseat window. I try not to gag as I look at a single goldfish lying dead inches from the hands grasp.
I stumble ahead and hear some commotion now, people yelling to get back. That’s when I smell it. I look around and see a wet trail on the road I’m walking on. I follow it toward another car and then I see the spark. And then searing heat and my vision goes white.
