The Tunnel of Temptation

David and I wait at the entrance to the Tunnel of Temptation for a boat to arrive. We’ve been on every ride except this one. He wanted to save this one for last.

“That way, if you get tempted with an old fling, at least we’ll have already done everything else beforehand!”

I had never heard of Pumpkin Palooza until he told me about it. Supposedly it’s this traveling carnival that goes to a different town across the country every year on Halloween. A nice change from handing out candy again.

“Enjoying yourself, Sarah?” he asks.

“Of course! I had a great time.”

“By the way, sorry about what happened earlier,” he says. “Those kids were punks.”

“I’m used to it. If I had a dollar for every time somebody made fun of my birthmark, I’d be richer than Oprah.”

Even though I have a light case of hypertrichosis, that hasn’t stopped the rest of the world from letting me know about it. The second glances, the names, the abuse…

“It’s their loss,” he says, “and my gain.”

He grazes his hand across the tuft of fur underneath my eye. I sigh in contentment. How did I ever land this guy?

“I still can’t get over your Crayola Crayon costume,” he says. “What color did you say you are?”

“Hot Magenta,” I say.

“Well… that mini dress is making me hot.”

I roll my eyes. David is always flirting.

“And your mummy costume is making me… not hot,” I say.

“At least it goes well with my cast. Turn a negative into a positive, you know?”

He gives the cast on his left arm a pat. He hasn’t been able to use it since the accident. It’s a tossup whether he’ll make a full recovery, but I’ll love him no matter what.

A pumpkin-shaped boat arrives at the harbor. We cram ourselves in.

“Look!” David says. “It even comes with these broomstick paddles! I guess they expect us to-”

Suddenly, the boat starts drifting away from the dock and into the tunnel.

“Guess we won’t need these after all,” he says. We set the paddles on the floor of the boat.

“What do you think they’re going to tempt us with?” I ask.

“No idea,” he says, “but it’s probably the same for everybody.”

“Even so, we should agree to help each other out if it doesn’t go well.”

“No problem,” he says. “I’m always looking to defend you.” He plants a kiss on my lips. No matter how many times he does it, it makes my stomach flutter.

Eventually, the boat stops in front of an island with sand and palm trees. A pirate animatronic sits next to a treasure chest stuffed with loot. Real loot. Money, jewelry, gold coins. I can’t imagine how much it’s all worth.

“Holy shit…” David says. His jaw falls to the bottom of the boat. “Is that… real?”

“I… I think so…” I say.

My heart takes off inside me. What would happen if we give in? Do they have cameras set up around here? How would anybody know?

Sarah, just take a handful. Nobody’s looking…

I jump up in my seat and almost fall out of the boat. The voice comes out of nowhere. It sounds like somebody is talking to me right in my ear.

“What the… how do they know your name?” David asks.

He can’t support you. Just look at him. He’s worthless. He’ll never be able to work again.

Dear God. I can see the color leave David’s face. He looks as white as his mummy costume. He clenches and unclenches his fist like he has a tic.

Don’t you want to have a family someday? It takes money. Come on, help yourself…

The pirate waves his hand in front of the chest like he’s showing it off. His lips are curled up in a dastardly grin.

“Babe… that’s… that’s not true,” he says. “Don’t listen to him. I’ll find a way. Just because I can’t use my arm doesn’t mean that…”

My heart breaks in half. Does he actually think that I would leave him just because he’s disabled? Just because he can’t work?

“Oh, David… none of that matters. I love you just because you’re you.”

I can defend myself from this temptation. He doesn’t need to help me. I turn back to the pirate and give it the finger.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass.”

The boat starts moving again. We leave the island behind. I’m sweating like I’ve run a mile.

“Seriously, that was fucked up,” I say.

“No shit. How do they know who we are? We didn’t tell anybody our names…”

“I… I don’t know,” I say.

The plink-plink of the water sends a chill up and down my spine. This is worse than that haunted hayride I went on when I was three years old. At least I knew that it was all fake.

I’m not so sure about this.

David…

A woman’s voice breaks through the silence. David sits up straight in his chair. His head whips around.

“J… Jezebel?”

Yeah, baby. God, I’ve missed you so, so much…

Jezebel, David’s ex, stands right on top of the water next to us. It’s like she’s an apparition. Her see-through negligee leaves nothing to the imagination. The smell of her floral perfume knocks into me.

“What… what are you doing here?” he asks.

I want you back, baby. You’re the best I’ve ever had. I know you’ve missed me, too. Sarah doesn’t drive you wild like I did…

She peels off one of the straps on her nightie. David bites his lip. His cheeks turn red quicker than a traffic light.

“David, she cheated on you. She doesn’t care about you. When you got in that accident, she left you high and dry.”

He’s not listening. It’s like he’s in a trance. Jezebel does a striptease in front of us. She moans like a pornstar.

Come to me, baby… I need you bad…

I take a deep breath. Time for me to turn up the heat.

“David, she’s not real. But do you know what is real?” I take his hand and place it on my thigh. “I’m real.”

I kiss his neck. Finally, he breaks eye contact with Jezebel. I’m getting to him.

“You said you liked my costume earlier,” I whisper. “Want to see what I’m wearing under it?”

I tug at the hem of my dress, revealing my white panties. The corners of his lips curve into a smile. His hand slithers up my thigh.

“Yeah, that’s right… I wore them just for you… I knew you’d like them… they always turn you on…”

I shove my tongue into his mouth. He responds. His hand rubs against my panties. Molten excitement shoots through my veins.

“Jezebel’s old news,” I whisper. “You’re mine now.”

“Oh, Sarah… I love you so much…”

Thank God that nobody’s around, or we’d get thrown out of the carnival. David is all over me now. We almost tip the boat over. I can’t hear Jezebel anymore. Her apparition fades away into nothing. We start moving again.

“Babe… I’m so sorry,” he says. “I can’t believe that I would even think of…”

“Don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me tonight,” I say with a wink.

“We made each other a deal, didn’t we?” he says. “You defend me, and I’ll defend you.”

“Amen to that.”

We go deeper into the tunnel. I think it’s my turn next. I can hear my heart beating inside me.

Aoooooo…

A werewolf howls. Bile rises up in my stomach.

Look who it is! It’s Carpet Girl! There must be a full moon tonight! She’s starting to turn! Aoooooo! Aoooooo!

“Oh, no… no no no no…”

The taunting voices pile on top of each other. I recognize all of them. Former classmates, colleagues, relatives, the kids that we saw earlier at the carnival. All of them insult me about my birthmark.

Why don’t you just get it removed? Nobody’s ever going to fall in love with you…

Hot tears build up behind my eyes. I feel like an animal. I try covering my ears, but it makes no difference. The voices speak to me inside my head. I bury my face in my lap as I cry. My Crayola hat falls off.

Stop trying to be so different. Just say the word, and you’ll never look like a werewolf again. No more fur on your face…

That’s when David places his hand over mine. He tilts my head up.

“Look at me,” he says.

I must look like a mess right now, but I catch his gaze anyway. His sparkling blue eyes are like stars in the night sky. I hold onto them as hard as I can. I know that as long as I’m looking at him, nothing bad can happen to me.

He’s not disgusted with my appearance. In fact, he’s the only boy that I’ve ever met who thinks that my birthmark looks cute. It didn’t stop him from falling for me.

“David… do you really love me?”

He nods. I start crying all over again, but for an entirely different reason. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. The only opinion that matters belongs to the man sitting next to me. And he thinks that I’m gorgeous.

“I… I don’t want to change,” I say.

At once, the voices stop. The boat continues its journey.

“Guess what?” David says. “I don’t want you to change either.”

I wipe the tears from my face and put my Crayola hat back on.

“That was awful,” I say. “How many more temptations do you think there are?”

“We must be getting near the end of it,” he says.

The boat stops in front of an outcropping. It looks like somebody built a miniature replica of a neighborhood on it. There are houses, grassy yards, streets with cars. An animatronic boy walks down one of the roads towards the edge of the outcropping. I gasp. It’s Ryan. David’s little brother. The one killed in the car crash.

Hi, Big D. It’s been a while. How have you been?

David doesn’t answer. He covers his mouth with his hand.

It wasn’t your fault, you know. The other driver was looking at his cellphone. He wasn’t paying attention. But you can bring me back. It’ll be just like before. We’ll be a family again.

“David, he can’t come back,” I say. “He’s dead. You have to fight this. You’re better than this…”

I’ve got nothing. How can I help him resist? He can’t possibly refuse this one.

“I miss you so much,” David says. His eyes glisten with tears.

Don’t you want me back, Big D?

His body deflates as he makes up his mind. “Yes, of course.”

The animatronic stretches out its hand. The boat drifts toward the outcropping.

I can’t wait to see you again. It’ll be like that day never happened.

That’s when David’s expression changes. He squints his eyes.

“Like it never happened?” he asks.

That’s right. You’ll have never been in that accident.

The boat comes closer to the outcropping. There’s nothing I can do to stop this.

Yes… a bit more…

Suddenly, David reaches down and grabs the broomstick paddle. He swings it like a baseball bat at the animatronic. It bursts into a thousand pieces.

“No. I refuse. The real Ryan would never ask me to do that.”

He sets the paddle down. The boat moves away from the outcropping.

“Babe… why… why did you refuse?” I ask.

“You know why,” he says. “You were the one that called 911, helped me out of the car, held my hand all the way to the hospital, and visited me every day until I got out. If that accident had never happened, I never would have met you.”

We reach the end of the Tunnel of Temptation. The noises of the carnival greet us as we disembark. My legs feel like jelly as we walk away, hand in hand.

“Maybe next year we should stay home and hand out candy,” David says.