#frightnight

“But mom, I wanna go on the roller coaster!” I demanded, walking steadily behind my parents.

“Your mom said no, son,” my dad replied, looking back at me before his gaze shifted back to the carnival tents in front of him. “Besides, you aren’t old enough to get on them.”

“But I’m 15!” I said. “All my friends are going on it and I’m gonna look like a wuss if I’m the only one in school that hasn’t ridden it.”

“If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it?” my mom snarkilly replied. I always hated that question.

“Probably,” I muttered. That made my dad chuckle, but he stopped quickly when my mom glared it him. “Don’t encourage him.”

“Sorry,” my dad said.

We were walking down a row of tents and booths of varying colors. Some of them sold food or silly hats while others were carnival games that looked rigged already.

But as we walked, something caught my eye. Stuffed between two tents was a wooden display case. But as we got closer, I was that it was more than that. It was an old fortune teller machine.

I begged my parents to let me get a fortune and they obliged. They handed me some quarters and I slid them into the slots down below. As I did, the machine lit up and the wooden man in the booth lifted its head to stare at me, it’s red eyes burrowing into my soul.

“Behold, the Great Fondoolie will read your future!” The voice came from a voice box inside the machine. it sounded old and crackly, as if the voice box was close to dying out. But I didn’t care, I loved the novelty of it.

“But be warned, you may not like what’s in store...” the voice box finished before the puppet inside moved its arms back and forth like it was trying to cast a spell. It did this while old crackly music was playing.

Not long after, the machine whirred and a white card was spat from a slot near the coin slot. I grabbed it and read it aloud. “It whirrs and loops and flips and spins. Riding this will be your end.” I scoffed at this and looked up at my parents. We all knew what this meant. Even the fortune teller didn’t want me on that roller coaster.

***

The next day at school, I sat around my friends at lunch. On the tray was some gross meat patty with gravy on it. one of my friends swore they saw it move on its own. We laughed and joked and stole each others milk cartons. Then, the sore subject of the carnival arrived. Of course, they all talked about how cool it was and how they rode it several times. They said there was a guy behind them on the ride that threw up everywhere. It sounded insane. Then, they asked me if I’d been on it yet. Reluctantly, I lied and said that I had. But they could see in my eyes that I hadn’t.

“What a loser,” one of them said. They all laughed at me. They guy next to me tapped me on the shoulder. “You have to go tonight,” he said. “It’s the last night it’s gonna be there.”

“But I can’t,” I said. “Last night was the only night my parents were going to take me. Besides, they’re both working tonight.”

“Then just sneak out,” he said. “I do it all the time. I’ve never been caught. Well, except for that one time...”

“I can’t just sneak out!” I said. “My parents would kill me!”

“But if you don’t you might be the most unpopular guy in school.”

***

Those words still echoed through my mind as night fell. “If you don’t, you’ll be the most unpopular guy in school.”

What if my friends leave me? What if nobody ever wants to talk to me again? What if I have to eat lunch alone every day? I knew I was probably being over dramatic, but still, I needed to ride that roller coaster. No matter what.

So, I waited until it was quiet downstairs. I waited until both of my parents cars left the driveway. Then, I slowly opened my bedroom window and climbed out. I landed on the grass below with a soft plop. I dusted some of the dirt and grass off of me before walking into town, being careful not to be seen by the cars passing by, in case one of them happened to be my parents.

Eventually, I arrived at the carnival. There were less tents than yesterday. But the roller coaster, the behemoth machine was towering over me. I stood in line as my heart pounded in my chest. Within me was a mix of excitement of finally riding this thing, as well as fear. I had never been more afraid of how my parents might react other than right now. What if my parents came home early? What if they forgot something? What if somehow some way they found out I snuck out? I wouldn’t just be grounded, I’d be dead.

Finally, I was at the front of the line. I handed the man at the gate my ticket and he glanced at me for a second, then back to the ticket, then shrugged. He let me through and another worker found me an empty seat. I sat down and he strapped me in. And before long, the seats all filled up. My heart was pounding against my chest. I was terrified. This was the first roller coaster I’d ever been on.

The cart jerked forward before stopping and then moving forward slowly. Was it supposed to do that? None of the workers seemed concerned, so I figured it must be normal.

The cart reached a steep incline and slowly trailed upward. As it did I could hear some people chattering behind me. Were they just as nervous as I was?

After we crested the hill, the cart took off, shooting downward and almost immediately through a loop. Then another. As the cart rocked, I started to realize something horrifying. My seat belt wasn’t strapped in all the way. The metal bar that should have been pressed down over me was beginning to falter and wanting to open upward. I grabbed onto it for dear life while we were going through another loop. I felt myself actually raise from my seat for a few moments. But I dropped back down when we started to straighten out.