Something will happen up

It was the trip of a lifetime to the biggest amusement park in the world, something we’ve all been planning and dreaming of doing. We planned to go to Red Sea Pearl Island near Jeddah and spend four nights there. The plan was to meet in the airport three hours before the plane departed,

We all arrived at the airport one by one. We got excited as we talked about the myths behind the amusement park, we enjoyed sharing the stories among ourselves to kill time in the airport.  

We arrived safely and there was already someone waiting for us near the exit to take us to the hotel and help us settle in. Everyone was so friendly to us; however, Dina got the sense that something is not right, they all had these looks on their faces like they felt sorry for us. It was hard to describe or were we imagining things?

Once we settled in the hotel rooms, we headed to the amusement park to complete our registration. The amusement park was divided into four sections that we must follow to reach to the final stage which will change our lives forever, according to the receptionist. We must first enter the Jungle, then we move to the Dessert, once we play all the games in section 1 and 2, they take into a specific room to wear specific gear to protect us from water while in the third section.

The next morning after we rested well, we had breakfast in the restaurant area in the hotel and started our day by heading to the amusement park using a shuttle bus the hotel provided to head straight to the park. We each had our ticket and entered the park full of excitement and intrigue as to what comes next. upon entering the Jungle, which is the first section of the park, we started mapping out which games we wanted to try first and work our way until the last one. This program continues for all three sections, we slowly made our way into all three sections of the amusement park, finishing jungle, then dessert and the Sea section. They each had their own unique experience with scary, fun and adventurous games that we went on.

We would go back to our hotel room exhausted and would straight ahead go into deep sleep without having late night chats like we usually do when we take trips together. This trip took a lot of physical effort from us that all we wanted to do when we got home is to rest our feet, shower, and sleep.

On our last day in the Island, it was time for us to visit the last section of the park, which we did not know much about. The attendants did not tell us much about what to expect or what is the theme of that section, some of them would only murmur “good luck” or “hope to see you on the other side.”  Hearing that made us feel weary and slightly worried about to come from the last section, it was obvious from our faces how they tensed and began to sweat.

We woke up as we usually do and went downstairs to the restaurant are to have our breakfast, which we got used to their variety of options and how delicious the food was. We arrived to the amusement park with no issues. The tension was increasing as they drove us to the entrance, no one was telling us anything about what this section’s theme would be or what type of games and rides are to come. The silence was deafening throughout the drive.

We arrived at the entrance gate The employee gave us each a paper with some terms and conditions regarding the final stage, in brief it was asking us to sign of a waiver of no liability in case we had an injury or death. We all looked at each other with frowns on our faces. We looked back at the employee, and she said immediately said “this is just a precaution, but it is highly unlikely that anything dangerous will happen in this section. it is only one game anyway!” That presented more question marks in our heads.

Zoya with her sturdy posture started talking to the employee “what do you mean only 1 game? And what is this game that occupies a whole section of the park and will need a whole day for us complete.”

She looked at her with a smile and said, “it’s just the Ferris wheel, but this one takes you up to the clouds and it is very slow, that’s why we dedicated a whole day for it to ensure everyone gets to enjoy the full experience of the game.”

We all felt uneasy but tried to keep calm.

A group of people enter the gates after us talking to each other about the legend that’s in this Ferris wheel and how excited but scared they are.

We overheard them but decided to not comment and stay all silent waiting in line for our turn to enter the Ferris Wheel. We entered our carriage and waited for it to start, however, none of us said anything until Sarah stood up and said “Does this mean the legend is real? I am confused.” No one commented on Sarah.

A few minutes later, it started moving as it usually does very slowly. We almost reached the top of the wheel, which made the tension rise in all of us, that feeling of uneasiness loomed over us.

Imagine the Ferris wheel as a clock and as soon as our carriage hit number one the fog started to fill the carriage. It strangely was coming inside the carriage and not around it. We all stood up and started to frantically look at each other with fear, we didn’t know what to do and how to get out of there. Then one by one we all sat back down in our spots. Sara looked over at Dina and she was deep in sleep next to Essam, who looked like he was day dreaming. Naser was asleep too, Sarah tried to shout at them to wake up but it felt like my voice was not reaching them. Few minutes passed and Sarah and Zoya were asleep next to each other.

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Zoya was facing one of her worst memories and her biggest fear. I see him coming towards me. He looks mad again, but I did not do anything wrong. I do not want to get beaten up again, I did not do anything wrong. He was shouting that I did not protect Reema from the bullies in the bus again, but I did try to protect Reema from them, they harassed me as well. I could not do anything, my hands were tied, if I did something they were going to hurt me too. My hate for my sister increased in my heart, it consumed me in a way that made me hate her and hate all men.

I close my eyes waiting to feel the belt on me when I open my eyes to see myself in the streets with no shoes on and barely any clothes to cover me. I was old again, I am in my twenties, I am taller now and I have breasts. There are a group of men looking at me very suspiciously, fear starts to crawl into my heart, it feels like they are going to hurt me, but I do not know them, why are doing such a thing. My head was confused and full of questions. Moments which felt like hours later, they started to walk towards me, I started to run to the opposite side trying to get away from them. Now I am sure they were going to hurt me I just knew it. I am feeling out of breath and could not speak out the words to get help from anyone I pass by. I am running for hours now.

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Naser on the other hand was suffering from hurtful memories of his part. What’s happening, why can’t I move? Am I dreaming again and where am I? I had a lot of questions, and my head was spinning in a haze of overflowing memories. I start to hear people talking next to me and my head goes quiet trying to listen to what they are saying. I know the voice, it is my father’s voice, he was shouting at someone, one of my brothers for allowing the kids in school beat me again. My parents did not know that my brothers were part of the group that were beating me, which always shocked me as I never understood why they would hurt me when I would never hurt them.

I hear my father say, “how many times do I have to tell you, you have to protect him like he is your brother.” What does he mean like your brother, I am their brother.

“but dad, he is not our brother, he is just our cousin, and he is so weak he cannot defend himself, he should learn how to defend himself if he wants to survive” my older brother shouted at my dad or not my dad I guess I should not be calling him that.

“He is still our blood son, and you cannot let others treat him like that. What would the others say about us” my dad responded back with a sharp tone. I continued to hear them talk about other things like any other parent and son talk about, as if I am not laying in a hospital bed trying to survive a brutal beating. I closed my eyes trying to rest them again. I felt silence for a few moments and then heat started to rise around me. I opened my eyes and I saw flames eating up the ceiling. I could not move again, I looked down and my legs and arms were that of a baby’s, which made no sense because I am 25 years old. I am not an infant.

I heard screaming coming from somewhere far, it was unclear who was screaming and then I heard footsteps of someone is running towards me. There was a woman looking at me with teary eyes and fear. I felt like I knew her from someone, but I could not tell, my memory is foggy and scrambled with mixed memories.

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While Naser and Zoya were facing their fears, Dina had her own memory that she must face. She is walking in a big mansion, once she looked around, the place felt familiar, and her fear started to cool down. She was heading to her childhood room, and it felt like going through memory lane with this walk in her old house. She is no longer young now; she is a grown women who can protect her self from anything. As she entered her room her math teacher was sitting on the studying desk “I was waiting for you Dina. We have a lot to catch up on”. I fell to the ground, feeling breathless and hopeless. Its him again, what is he doing here again, I am not a kid anymore, I don’t need him to teach me. I started screaming “I don’t need you anymore. Leave my room! Leave my room! Leave my room!” I kept on repeating to him to leave but all he did was sit back and smile at me. “but darling we still need to finish what we started”.

He would always say that “finish what we started” I hated that word.

He came and lifted me up from the floor, I couldn’t move his hands off me, it’s like I was frozen, and he is controlling me. What is happening to me, why can’t I run away from him? He sat me down and stood behind me and started to feel my whole body with his disgusting hands. My hands were suddenly tied behind my back and attached to the chair. I wanted to cry. Not again. I felt helpless, no one came to check up on me when he is in the room, he made sure no one disturbs us while we are studying to ensure the concentration is not broken.

I was frozen at that moment in that memory trying to not feel what was he doing or what sounds he is making again. I feel 9 years old again. Hopeless and ashamed.

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Essam’s pain was a different kind, it was hurtful to remember himself during that period of time, however he will have to face what could possibly happen to him in the future. Essam opens his eyes and looks down at himself. He had a horrible headache and his body hurt all over. His hands are not his, he felt strange, like he is not in his body. He looks up and tries to figure out where he was. The house was old, and the furniture was very old and broken in some spots. This was not his house, and these things were not his belongings, he felt like he was being an intruder in someone else’s life.

He tried to get up, but he was unable to move his legs, he remained seated and started shouting to see if anyone was in the house to help him and possible explain to him what is going on. He hears footsteps coming from upstairs towards the room he is seated in. he finally takes a sign of relief until he sees that its two young children running around the house, and he felt invisible at that moment. He turns to his right and sees a photo frame on the wall with his photo, two children and a women next to him, however he does not recognize the photo or the women standing next to him. A woman comes into the room and starts shouting at them to stop what they are doing and go finish their homework in their rooms. The women start to arrange the place while talking to herself about how alone she is and how poor they are because of what apparently, he did to them. “I was supposed to be living in a big mansion but what do I get a small broken-down house that barely fits us” she continues to talk to herself in the same mindless manner.

As he continues to see how their lives are folding up, he realizes that his mistakes are what lead his family to be in ruins with barely any money to live on and a broken-down house that has a weird smell all the time. He was broken after realizing what he had done.

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Sarah thought that her life was perfect since childhood, she was surrounded by love from her friends and family. But her fear will manifest itself as the ultimate loss. Sarah is standing at the edge of the road looking over the street while a car drives by and hits a building nearby. She can only see from afar and realizes that she knows the car, it belongs to her father. She tries to scream but no sound is coming out of her. She tries to move, but her legs feel like they are stuck in their place. She quickly realizes that she is watching her parents die in front of her and she cannot do anything about it. She wants to break down and scream and cry but she is frozen unable to move, only teams are coming from her eyes.

She continues frozen in her place but teleported from one location to another watching as each of her family members dies in a tragic way. She watches as her younger brother drowns in a swimming pool with no one nearby to help us. She watches as her grandmother takes her final breath while napping. Each time someone she knows dies in front of her, her heart breaks into pieces. She is losing her family members one by one and cannot do anything to help save them.

She is suddenly transported to her apartment, which she felt familiar and safe in. Her friends came in the apartment, Zoya, Dina, Naser and Essam all entered the apartment and started looking for her. They chilled in the living room waiting for me to come to out to them, I try to scream that I am right here watching you!!! They cannot hear or see me which makes me infuriated by my hopelessness in all of this. A fire starts to break in the kitchen, and they all jump up on their feet. The franticly run around the apartment looking for me so they could save me and leave the apartment. I scream and shout, but no one notices that I am standing right there watching them. The smoke starts to cover the whole place and I realize that I am losing my friends too.

I continue screaming and shouting until I wake up in the carriage looking around to see my friends are all waking up scared from their dreams and hallucinations.

Once we all realize that all that we experienced is just a dream that manifested all our fears to us to relive or imagine living in the future, we all went quiet. No one was willing to talk about what they experienced.

We stayed quiet until we left the carriage and went out of the amusement park. Our trip back home was incredibly quiet, everyone was thinking about what they saw and felt in that carriage. Now we realize what the employees were saying that we are not going out of this island the same. We are changed forever by this island.