She was abandoned and alone. As she scanned the large, dimly lit, room eerie figures surrounded her. If it wasn’t for the moonlight filtering through cracks in the old building it would be pitch black. She couldn’t decide if she’d be better off not seeing anything, or if the grotesque mannequins and mechanized ghouls were, in a strange way, comforting.
“See. Everything here is fake.” She assured herself. An especially convincing werewolf seemed to be paying her more attention than the rest of the motley crew. She could feel someone’s eyes on her.
“It’s a haunted house at an amusement park. It’s supposed to look scary, but there’s nothing here. There’s no one here.” She repeated these thoughts over and over in her head.
She tried to rise to her feet, but quickly fell back over. Her wrists and ankles were bound with duct tape. On the other side of the room a grim reaper stood next to a sign that read: ‘Dante’s Inferno’. The reaper pointed to a doorway themed to be the gateway to Hell. His scythe looked to be sharp enough to cut throw her tape.
“But how can I reach that?” She wondered.
Boom! A loud noise interrupted her thoughts. It sounded like someone slammed a really big door.
Laying on the dusty floor on her side she tried to look around to locate where the noise had come from.
BOOM! The entire haunted house seemed to shake this time.
She began to sweat nervously and could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She sat up and quickly scooted over to the nearest wall. She reached her feet and peered through a hole in the terribly decaying building. A few rooms away she could just barely see a glowing white figure moving slowly through another room. She’d scream, but no one would hear her anyway. Gillian was the only person in an abandoned amusement park miles from civilization.
He stormed out of the library with the ripped out pages in hand. He didn’t have time for librarians or photo copiers or speed limits. His yellow sports car screeched out of the library parking lot. Anger and fear collided in his mind like hot and cold storm fronts as he sped away.
On the passenger seat were aged, yellowish pages. One was a park map labeled “Lake Arrowhead Amusement Park – 1944.” This was the last place on Earth he ever wanted to go. The fires, accidents, and strange circumstances around the park’s closing were still a part of local legend 60 years later. Lake Arrowhead was so infamous that the local planning boards never developed that part of the county. The land and the lake itself were said to be cursed by the Native American tribes that once lived there.
He didn’t believe in curses, but the numerous incidents were fact. When an entire community shuns an area it’s in your DNA to presume it off limits as well. Tonight, he couldn’t think about any of that. He was on a mission. His friends were missing in action. Calling the police wasn’t an option. And, he knew that if he didn’t get to her by morning it could be too late.
“It had to be this.” He thought.
The high school athlete, homecoming king, and former gang member was thought to be invincible. Only those that were close to him knew that he had a paralyzing fear of the supernatural. And one of those closest to him had exploited the golden boy’s Achilles heel as Cole was about to enter the supernatural hub of the county.
What do you think?
I don’t consider myself a great fiction writer, but it was a hobby of mine before I started this blog in 2006. I thought it’d be neat to write a short story related to an abandoned amusement park.
Now it’s up to you! If you want to read more I have to know that this story will have an audience. I need 25 comments from 25 different people by October 1st and I’ll post more of this story throughout the month of October. Hopefully, I’ll conclude it on Halloween.
February 26, 2011 at 00:46
Bring it on Joel…
That was awesome! As a child, my mom used to bring me to Santa's Village many times as it had become one of my most favorite magical places to see when we visitied the Lake Arrowhead aside from visiting the old original village-fun-zone..
I remember I used to climb on the giant mushrooms scattered throughout the park. Does anyone remember the old tortoise? Must have been at least 60 years old and must have weighed near 100 or more lbs…
I dream of someday rebuilding and reviving the park and bring back the magic to children of now and see if I can make a difference in some children and some parents lives.. I've talked to real estate agents, but seemingly the property is in some sort of legal-jam.
Keep up the good work
Mr. Gold Rush
February 28, 2011 at 19:21
Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I'll continue it in October if I get inspired.
October 14, 2011 at 13:57
I'm a resident of Lake Arrowhead, and I'd like to know what theme park you're talking about. Are you talking about Santa's Village in Rimforest?
October 15, 2011 at 03:08
It's just a fictional amusement park that I made up for this story. Is Santa's Village in Rimforest haunted too?
October 31, 2011 at 18:02
Wow it sounds good. You are a great writer, about roller coasters and fictional stories!
October 14, 2012 at 22:45
In case you can't tell. I never did finish this story. I kind of had an idea of where I was going to go with it, but writing fiction is so time consuming that I couldn't make the commitment. I'm glad people enjoyed this intro though.