He stared hard at her. “You don’t look that scary.”

She snickered and tilted her head to the side, as if to acquiesce. “I get that a lot.”

She waved her hand nonchalantly in the direction of the Ferris wheel that had suddenly appeared. “After you...”

“Uh...wait. Hang on. I take it back. You’re extremely intimidating and... and... WAIT. NO!” He shrieked as she gingerly rested her hand on his shoulder and he begins to walk towards the carnival contraption against his will. 

His eyes rolled back in his head and he begins to wail in earnest as his body was controlled by an external force out of his control – he jerkily sat in the brightly colored metal seat and watched his hands grab the bar in front of him and push it down. Mewling sounds escaped his throat as she smiled serenely at him and took a step back.

The contraption jerked as it slowly began to ease him upwards, towards the sky. He tried to close his eyes but suddenly realized they too were being controlled without his consent – he was unable to even blink.

As the seat slowly ascended, he was belatedly aware that he wasn’t the only one who was getting exactly what they had paid for today. All around him, hundreds of people were screaming and crying. Far off in the distance he heard the sound of a woman, begging. 

The Ferris wheel jerked suddenly and came to a stop. He cried out and urinated on himself – he was only dimly aware of the acrid smell filling his nostrils and the warmth spreading down the left leg of his jeans. His face was frozen in abject horror as he realized that not only had the wheel stopped but he was the only person on the ride. Unable to do anything but stare straight ahead – his eyes glued to the flashing billboard 300 yards in front of him. 

** WELCOME TO FEAR. The island of the macabre. Satisfaction Guaranteed or your money back (If you make it out alive!) **

‘If you make it out alive… if you make it out alive… if you make it out alive.’ He repeated the words in keening wail as the flashing billboard moved closer to him, seeming to float of its own accord.

By L.E.

From: United States

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