The Unforgettable Experience

I looked at the leaflet Jack had tossed in front of me. I sighed. “An experience like no other, huh? You know this is how they snare stupid people and basically, y’know, steal their money, don’t you?”

Jack smacked the table and sprang up. “I KNOW, but it sounds fun, doesn’t it? It sounds like a little rollercoaster type thing. I love rollercoasters, and it’s an unforgettable experience according to them. C’mon, Alice, let’s do it. What could go wrong? We have plenty of money now that we won that little… gaming thing.”

I stared at him. “We made 300 euros off that, Jack. This costs 500.”

Jack sat down heavily on the sofa and rubbed his brow. “Just this once. PLEASE. We never do anything exciting.”

“We went scuba diving last week, Jack. You were almost eaten by a shark,” I said. I thought for a moment and sighed again. “Alright. Being very honest, it does sound a bit fun. We’ll go, we’ll go.” I hung my head as Jack very nearly screamed with excitement. He was such a child.

Two days later, on Saturday, we pulled into a large parking area and parked the car. 

“We’re pretty early,” I said. Jack nodded. “Let’s turn on the radio while we wait.”

I reached over and twisted the knob on the radio, music starting to fill the car. After a few minutes, the music stopped abruptly. “We interrupt the program with some breaking news,” said the man on the other end of the radio. “A murderer has escaped the maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado. He is believed to have taken shelter in Canon. We advise residents of the area to remain cautious, and to notify the police of any suspicious-looking characters in the area. Thank you for your attention.”

The music continued, and I looked over at Jack, uneasy. “They think he’s here, Jack. Should we just go home?” Jack shook his head. “They think he might be here, Alice. That doesn’t mean he is here. Besides, what murderer in their right mind would hide in a place as popular as this? Dozens of people come here daily. No, I think we’ll be fine.” The words he spoke were reassuring, but looking at his face, I knew he was uneasy too.

Inside the giant, warehouse-like building, we were escorted through a long, winding, aquarium-like glass tunnel. We were shown into a small room and told to seat ourselves in a small car like you would find on a rollercoaster. By now I was near giddy with excitement; Jack was literally bouncing. After strapping ourselves in, we were off. 

We entered a narrow, light filled tunnel. On each side of the tunnel were kaleidoscopic images, constantly shifting, twirling, and absolutely beautiful. Before long, the carriage slowed down, and we arrived at a small, brightly coloured platform and were told by a robotic voice to get off and look around. A small path led to a cheerily-decorated stall with a sign. The sign read: ‘Use the balls inside the bin to hit the targets in the stall. Collect your reward when all have been used.’ Jack had already grabbed the balls. “There’s six here. Three for you, three for me,” he said. I took mine and waited for Jack to finish throwing his. He somehow managed to miss all of them. “Really, Jack?” I asked. “All of them?” He muttered something unintelligible and turned away. I sighed and threw my three balls, hitting three targets perfectly. A small panel snapped open at the front of the stall, revealing two ice creams. “Ice cream?” I muttered. “Alrighty then.” I grabbed both of them and put them in my bag. “You missed all your throws, Jack. These are mine,” I said. I made my way back to the rollercoaster car. “Coming?”

The next phase of the ride was wildly different, but just as cheery. Small birds flitted around the wider tunnel, and small flowers lined the tracks. Small fruit trees gave off a cheery scent, and when the car slowed down again, we had arrived at a small vineyard. A sign read: “You are now about 20 metres below sea level. We have set up a small vineyard here. Grab a few bushels of grapes, put them in the vat, and squeeze them into juice as quickly as you can.”

I took off my shoes and socks. “Shoes off, Jack. Don’t go trampling on grapes with your shoes on.” While Jack busied himself with his shoes, I checked for the largest bushels of grapes I could find. A small tub with a small drain in the centre sat in the middle of the small field. I tossed in the grapes and climbed in. A few minutes of stamping later, and we were done. A small bottle filled with dark juice rose before us, and the robotic voice told us “Take the bottle to reception, where it will be made into perfectly drinkable grape juice later.” I stowed it in my bag so as not to lose it, and we each took one of the towels on a small table near the tub to clean our feet.  Getting back in the rollercoaster car, we prepared for the next phase of our unforgettable experience.

The next tunnel was considerably wider. The previous cheer of the past sections was fading a little. There was less light, and the beautiful paintings on the walls were shrouded in shadows. “It’s starting to get a little dark,” I said to Jack.

He nodded. “Probably part of the experience,” he said. “It is a little unsettling though.”

The car stopped at a small platform on which were sat two easels and a table with paints and brushes. The sign next to the table read: “Paint the face of your partner as accurately as possible within a minute. The timer will start the moment one brush touches the canvas.” I smirked slightly – as an Art Major, I should win this easily, I thought. A minute later, and I had produced a decent painting of Jack’s face, if a little lacking in the details. I looked at Jack’s canvas. “What the hell is this,” I gasped. A stickman with ghoulishly-large eyes and a fang-filled mouth greeted me. “You didn’t even try, Jack,” I said accusingly. He just grinned, dropped his paintbrush and headed back to the rollercoaster car.

The tunnels were getting decidedly darker. The next tunnel was long, narrow and filled with classical piano music. The platform was tiled black and white, and the sign on this platform read: “Play the piece of music on this sheet, and the ride will continue.”

“I’ll leave this one for you, Jack, what with your musical talents and all.” Jack grinned and sat down. “Oh, this is my favourite piece!” he exclaimed. He played it effortlessly, and we returned to the rollercoaster car.

The next tunnel was very dark. The puppets, suspended from beams and put into merry poses, looked quite scary in the dim light. Some looked like they’d been hung from the garters, while some seemed to be in the process of murdering the others. “I’m starting to get a little scared, Jack,” I said. “This darkness is unnerving.”

Jack nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s starting to feel like someone is watching us or something. Let’s just continue. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

 The platform here was a long wooden slab. I squinted at the sign, the dim light making the words near-impossible to read. “Have a puppet dance battle with your partner. You each have two minutes. Press the button below to start the music.”

I pressed the button and medieval music blared from hidden speakers. Two puppets lay on a table, with a small dais sat between two chairs.

“I’ll go first,” said Jack. Using the strings attached to its limbs, Jack made the puppet dance to the medieval tune quite well. But the janky movements and frozen, eerily smiling face made the whole process shudder worthy. I made my own puppet dance to the music, but my heart wasn’t really in it. “I’ll give you the victory,” I muttered. Jack laughed and tossed the puppet back on the table. “C’mon Alice, can’t be far to go now,” he said.

As we got into the rollercoaster car again, a loud, scratchy, broken computer voice said, “You are n… ching the last… unnel. I …ope you have ha.. un on this jour…ey.” A small crackle sounded after it was done. I shivered and looked at my arms. I was getting goosebumps. Jack was smiling, though. “I didn’t think they’d add anything scary,” he said. “I quite like it!”

“Well, Jack, you might,” I said, “but I certainly don’t. This is all a bit creepy for me. Let’s see what the last area is going to be like.”

We rode slowly through a dark tunnel. Broken carnival music echoed through the tunnel, cutting off and starting up again seemingly at random. I looked around the room, squinting. And then I saw it. “Oh dear God,” I muttered. Half-finished clown animatronics lined the rollercoaster tracks. One with a missing eye and a leering smile tottered over slowly, coming down with a crash. A lamp high above flicked on and off with a loud buzzing, casting momentary light on a headless clown with his mechanical guts hanging out. I looked in front of me again and a stuffed clown swung down from somewhere high above, missing my head by a whisker. I screamed loudly. Jack was sitting wide-eyed, clutching his chest. “I hate clowns, I hate clowns, I hate clowns,” he repeated under his breath. The car came to a shuddering, grinding halt in front of a small puppet stall. One small light shone above it, and the curtains opened. Two clown robots started doing a comedy skit, but with the eery music and one clown’s lack of limbs, it wasn’t exactly funny. “Alice, please tell me you have a light with you. I forgot my phone,” said Jack. I fished around in my bag and pulled out my phone. “Damn, it’s out of power. I have some matches though.” I pulled one free and lit it with shaking hands. As the small flame flared up, a large shadow was thrown up against the far wall. I peered at it closely. Long, pointy, I wasn’t sure what it was. Then fingers and a hand joined the shadow on the wall, followed by a long, outstretched arm. I heard a thump and a few footsteps. The hand raised up and brought the pointy thing back down out of sight. A small screech sounded. “It’s the murderer Jack the murderer he’s here he’s here he’s here he’s here,” I babbled, terrified. The match burned down to my fingers and I hissed, lighting another one. “Get him Jack!” But Jack was frozen, just as scared as I was.

Suddenly, the lights flicked back on. A light buzzing sounded in my ears. A technician popped his head around from behind the wall. “A murderer?” he asked. “Me? I don’t think so. I was fixing some of the electronics.” He slapped his forehead suddenly. “Oh, shit. I forgot to tell the staff here I arrived early. I turned most of the lights were off because some of the clown things needed repair. I didn’t scare you too badly, did I?”

I stared at him, and then back at Jack. I grinned, and he started laughing. “Well, Jack, they were right about one thing.”

“What’s that, Alice?”

“It was certainly unforgettable.”