InsaniKey 2

I dreaded the next ride the most. It was easy to say I was too old for that ride and avoided it for a number of years but this time I had no excuse. “Teacups. Really?” I said flatly.

Andy smiled enthusiastically. “Everybody loves teacups!”

“Yeah.” I laughed nervously. “I mean who doesn’t love spinning around, right?” I tested the wheel in the middle of the cup that rose above my shoulder as I sat down in it and was relieved to find it didn’t spin.

“I forgot to tell you.” Andy stroked the edge of his chin, a grin wryly arising. “You can’t control the spinning.”

Really?!

The ride began to twirl slowly and I felt disorientation begin to set in. My stomach sent a signal to my brain that it was giving in a.s.a.p. and my brain sent the signal back to keep it together for a little bit longer. The teacup didn’t spin at first and as the cool night air lapped gently at my face and blew my hair back I braced my feet against the middle of the ride and inched my shoulders up so that my arms rested on the back top edges of the teacup. I felt like a giant, this was my world. I closed my eyes and felt the breeze, laid my head back, looked up at the semi-dizzying array of stars in the night sky.

Then the cup began to spin.

“No.” I said aloud, my feet unable to keep me in place. I let my shoulders slink down and hunched my body over, staring at my feet on the floor of the cup. Keep it together, my brain told my stomach.

“Nope.” My stomach replied. My chin pressed forward as my neck straightened, the other cups in the ride spinning in and out of view before I could tell myself to find one cup of and any color and focus on it. Blue, yellow, green, tree, night sky, plate in the center of the ride, pastel pink and purple floor, then blackness as my eyes pressed shut. I felt chunks of partially digested whatever rushing up to my throat and leave my mouth before I could aim it anywhere.

Oops. I opened my eyes but couldn’t see where I’d gotten sick. I looked over my chest, arms and shoulders and didn’t see any on me, the ride continued. My stomach sent the signal out again, I need to be sick. My brain replied; just keep it together a little longer. My stomach stated again, I need to get sick now, rumbling began and my chin pushed forward, eyes closing and bracing for my insides to come up again.

I mumbled something between Um and No as a sharp pain in my gut caused my stomach and chest to tighten. I stared at the white edges of the seat I’d braced my feet against and tried to accept that if I had to be sick then I’d just get sick and deal with it.

“Seriously?” A hand appeared on my shoulder.

I gasped and raised my head. The ride had stopped but the chaos in my head hadn’t.

“Who gets sick on teacups?” Andy laughed.

My nose had started running and tears had poured out of my eyes from getting sick. I flipped my t-shirt up and wiped my face on my shirt. “Dude.” I said, my voice hoarse. “Can I go now?”

“Hey.” He shrugged, pointing to the bandana on my wrist. “You can leave anytime you want.”

“I’m not giving up.” I said angrily rising to my feet. Suddenly feeling dizzy, my butt plunked back down on the seat.

“Did you want another ride?” He asked.

“No.” I said, pressing my palms into my closed eyes, trying to will the dizziness away again. I felt better but my stomach was rolling oddly, whirring violently inside. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I threw my arms up over the edges of the teacup and propelled myself out of the small entrance, stumbling a few steps off the pastel ride floor and onto the steel grate, down the stairs gripping the railings and finally onto the patch of grass just beyond the edge of the ride. I laid on my back feeling the cool blades of grass against my arms.

“Andy.” I called out.

“Yeah?” He sat on the grass beyond my feet. “You had enough buddy?”

“I think so.” I said quietly.

“Ah.” He leaned back and rested on his arm, a hand resting on his other knee. “Then you’re done.” He waved his hand dismissively.

“You could say that.” I pursed my lips together and squeezed my eyes shut. I can’t take this anymore, I’m mentally drained, I’m physically tired, and everything I thought was real seems to be a lie.

“Well.” Andy laid back on the grass now, resting on his elbows. “You’ve been on every ride so I guess you can leave.”

I rose to my feet and looked around at the rides, not about to wait around for more challenges. I ran back to the wall I entered through and backtraced the dirt path to find Jinxx standing at the entrance of his side of the park. Piano music was playing throughout the park now. “Let’s get out of here.” I said, reaching for the gate. He didn’t move. I stared at him staring at me and moved closer, noticing not only was there something off about his eyes, but he wasn’t blinking. “This is getting creepy.” I said quietly. He didn’t respond. “Jinxx?” I raised a hand to his lips, pressing a hand gently against his closed mouth and feeling underneath his nose for breath to come out.

“Jinxx?” He wasn’t breathing. I wrapped my arms around him tight enough to constrict his breathing, he didn’t respond, it was like I wasn’t there. Pressed against his chest I didn’t feel his heart beating. I released him from my embrace and stared at him for a moment, expecting him to look away.

I ran back to where Andy had been laying in the grass, he was gone. The only way out of the park was an eerily moonlit path into another part of the forest.

“Andy?” I looked back unsurely. He said I could leave, but why did I have to do it alone? “Jinxx?” I tried yelling into the sky. I felt like somebody was watching but I had no idea who. “Jake?” I shrugged.

Notes

~Fin~
Thank you for reading :3