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September 13, 2005

Volume 6, Issue 13

The news down here is that Astroworld will be closing after the 2005 season is over.

Tell a story set in an amusement park, theme park, or carnival.

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A breeze, thick with hay and elephant ears, whipped about our jeans. We stepped into the cage and sat hip to hip, holding our breath. The restraining bar came down hard on top of our legs and head over heels we were flung into the night.

The carney knew he had a couple of screamers and put the hammer down. The carney didn’t know my wife’s congenital birth defect made her unusually susceptible to concussion injuries and encephalitis. In a month she would be unable to walk to the mailbox.

Hoarse and dizzy, we kissed after we rode The Zipper.

Posted by: Doug Utton at September 13, 2005 5:46 AM · Permalink

I sneered at the fake blood, the plastic skeletons, the rubber-faced monsters. The haunted house at the county fair wasn’t scary. When I was younger those things used to give me such a terrible fright. I was a teenager now, and immune to such hokey sights. I reached the end of the walkway, and decided to turn back and wander around a little. A black shape loomed up before me. Beer gut, greasy hair, tattoos up and down his arms, a scar running down his left cheek... in a menacing voice, the carnie said, "Keep going!"

Now that was scary.

Posted by: Ardsgaine at September 13, 2005 7:14 AM · Permalink

We saw people fired into the air, screaming on the way up. Our nervousness grew as we moved forward in line.

We pulled the shoulder restraints down and locked them. I was worried about my 9 year old daughter, as she seemed to swim within her restraint. The ride operator was standing in front of us, waiting for something or someone. Daughter had enough of waiting and yelled “Light it up!!” He smiled as he pushed the button that sent us hurtling upwards.

The “Scream” had us yelling, not from terror, but from the joy of being alive.

Posted by: sleeperg at September 13, 2005 7:17 AM · Permalink

Today’s events:

· Desk chair derby - handicapped ramp at front entrance.
· Bumper cars (with company issued Coopers) - employee parking lot.
· (New!) Forklift rides - behind Receiving.
· Rat races (featuring live rats!) - Technical Services
· (New!) Boss Toss - the stairwell by Sales.

I chuckled at the last one. “Gives new meaning to the ‘trust as far as you could throw’ adage, don’t it?” quipped Rob, my assistant.

I shook my head. “I wish we could just go back to casual Friday. These Job Fairs are a pain in the butt.” He shrugged, and we headed towards Research and Development to get our fortunes told.

Posted by: Amphioxus at September 13, 2005 7:23 AM · Permalink

"You have been to the Red Carnival before."

"Yes," said Jake. "Ivat took me when I was a kid." As he spoke, memories rushed forward in vivid image.

"Aye. You were marked." A rough workman brushing him, leaving chalk on his windbreaker. "But never taken. Tell me, did you win anything there?"

Three bottles toppling that had been set up for the shill. "A ring."

"Do you still have it?"

"No...In high school Sarah Eastman and I were together. I gave it to her."

"Your life's true love?"

"No. I haven't thought about her since graduation."

Aaron's face darkened. "Liar."

Posted by: Jeff R. at September 13, 2005 8:39 AM · Permalink

When the last of the stale popcorn was bagged up, the last tent rolled and stowed, the roustabouts and the freaks liked to drink. And they liked to play a little game.

“What do you have to bet?”

“Bottle of bourbon. What do you got?”

“Sack full of leftover chicken heads.”

“Gross. Okay, you’re on.”

And so they would go from cage to cage, hand-feeding the lions, the tigers, and the hockey-playing bears. First to flinch loses.

For the roustie, it was just the danger rush and competition. But for the six-fingered man, his livelihood was really on the line.

Posted by: Mr. Parx at September 13, 2005 11:02 AM · Permalink

“I love that feeling at the top of the track, when you let go of the bar and go over – and you feel like you’re flying!” Her eyes sparkled. I’d waited for the perfect moment all day to make the first move, to hold her hand. This was it.

It didn’t help my nerves that I was deathly afraid of roller coasters.

“Yeah, I love it too,” I replied. I barely controlled the shaking in my chest.

“Let’s do it together,” she said, almost in a whisper. Her arm moved flush against mine. My skin tingled.

“Here we go!”

Posted by: Matt Howell at September 13, 2005 11:14 AM · Permalink

“So why the sudden flurry to AstroWorld?” the man asked me, with a look of perplexity.

“Glenn Reynolds pointed to this blog that said it was going to go away, “I said. “I figured if I raced over here and paid the admission, that others would see me, and maybe visit my amusement park.”

“That’s crazy, “he said. “one guy can create a sudden flurry of people acting like they suddenly love an amusement park they didn’t love before that?”

“Seems like it, “I said. “Although it could be that thousands of people all decided to come to AstroWorld independently.”

Posted by: The Therapist at September 13, 2005 11:31 AM · Permalink

The blacktop was hot. After getting yelled at to “get off the rails” I resigned myself to the long wait. The line seemed to stretch on for miles. Like a man in the desert craving water, I longed to be at the front. God, would it ever end. Glancing at my watch for the eighth time in under five minutes I breathed a sigh. “Dude what is up with this line?” And then we saw it. The men roared past us. A stretcher covered the body. People looked on in horror. I think we hit the end of the line.

Posted by: Brandon Bedner at September 13, 2005 2:48 PM · Permalink