Random Stories

Ferris Wheel

I began my walk to the fair. I had heard about it from a friend so I decided to check it out. I turn the corner of my street and I can see it. The It's been a while since I've been to the river but I could still remember each pillar along the edge of it as if it were yesterday. I pass so many happy faces, each one creating a warm atmosphere with the stars in their eyes. I continue my stroll to the front gate; how much of one ticket? I think to myself while looking at a brightly coloured red and yellow poster that answered my questions patiently. I step inside, every ride was worked independently; no parts looked out of place anywhere. Merry go rounds spun quickly, the circus tent laughed hysterically and best of all, the toilets weren't cut off by a line the size of the entire park. Food markets gave this entire place a wondrous smell that could make anyone a child again, shrinking and running around as their parents try to hold them still. Then I saw it, a Ferris wheel. I reminisced of the last time I had set my eyes on one, let alone sat in one.

I look down at the floor that I stood, a trail of ants walked forward towards to wheel, so I followed. My mind was made up, I was going to ride it to the top and see the old city from a new angle. I walk into the building, Each pillar was white; without a spec of rust to be found anywhere in sight. I pay and walk inside my little carriage as it moves along the bottom track. There were soft leather seats on all sides of the pod along with a large bar across the door that prevent us from flying out among the birds that would surround us. I rise slowly. I'm alone in the glass room and I was sat calmly in the back looking across the river. Each house got smaller and more simple as I flew upwards, every care that I ever had just evaporated out of my mind. I transformed into the child, caged in the clouds of imagination. Dreaming that I could fly, see through solid objects, It seemed like a silly thought process when I was down there but up here I feel invincible. I approached the to, watching the land around me become void of all detail; brown boxes among the black streets. The reflections for the sun making the room look heavenly and pure while the black smoke of the polluted city was left below me. The life up here seemed peaceful and care free while down there I was stressed and aggravated by almost everything. How could I return back down there when life up here seemed so positive?

I reached the top, the height grabbing my attention immediately. The world had turned into the ants and I was the only person that seemed to matter. A tear left my eye and as it fell to the floor I heard a loud clang of metal far below me. The wheel stopped abruptly, as if time had lost it's flow. For minutes I looked around in awe of the still world but it caught my attention that the other carriages seemed panicked, afraid that they'd miss their meetings. I could hear muffled shouts and cries from them, why weren't they enjoying this view? The heights, the trill of seeing the world below you, the childish dreams that coursed through us... How did they not feel it? The clouds that held us in high spirits when we were young are trying to get us back, love us again, why do they reject it? The adult life I ignored began seeping back inside but I stayed calm, this is my time to enjoy, we're stuck and so we might as well enjoy it. The birds were frozen in the air, watching us carefully and cautiously.