Chapter 4: Chapter 4

“End’s Adventure Log Day 26! I found an amusement park!” End’s brightly smiling face filled the camera’s view, not a bit of the world around him could be seen. “I’ve always wanted to visit an amusement park but I never got the chance.”

End held the camera farther away and lowered his arms, angling the camera so that it could see the huge rollercoaster towering behind him. The grayish-brown stuffed bunny, Mr. Hopscotch, was strapped to End’s back, its head on his shoulder, glass eyes scratched and the threads on its nose fraying. End rested his cheek on the top of Mr. Hopscotch’s head, “what do you think we should do first, Mr. Hopscotch?”

With his cheek still pressed to the top of Mr. Hopscotch’s head, End nodded. His lips were pursed, his cheek squished, his pink-red eyes wide open, his long, feathery white lashes batted a few times as he hummed in affirmative as if responding to something Mr. Hopscotch was saying, “you’re right, Mr. Hopscotch! The merry-go-round is the perfect place to start!”

The camera’s view shifted in a nauseating way as End lowered the camera and skipped towards the carousel. As End’s arm swung back and forth, the camera caught glimpses of the surrounding amusement park; broken down and overgrown, with exposed wires and creeping vines intertwining.

End set the camera down on a bench, his face once more filling the screen but just for a moment and then he stepped back. The camera focused on his pale thighs as he backed up. His khaki shorts were cuffed and splattered with mud stains. His black sweater was riding up a bit, showing off a strip of pale stomach. There were holes in the sweater with partially unraveled threads poking out. Framing his was the carousel in the background, clearly once painted brightly but now faded and dirty.

End crouched, his face suddenly dropping into frame, and threw up a peace sign, “let’s see if I can make it work!” End turned and ran towards the merry-go-round. Mr. Hopscotch was still strapped to his back, under his denim blue button up, its head flopping and bouncing as he ran.

He grew smaller in the camera’s view and more of the carousel became visible. The poles were glimmering gold at the top and bottom but a dull steel gray where human hands often touched them and the horses were missing a lot of their paint. It looked like it hadn’t seen the most upkeep even before the end.

End went behind some bushes to the control booth that the camera could barely see. He was at the control booth for barely a second before a loud song played with piano, xylophone, and bells came through crackling speakers all around the merry-go-round. End came out from behind the bushes, happily spinning and jumping in place as he celebrated, then he took a running leap onto the slowly spinning carousel, his undone shoelaces and the threads of his slowly unraveling sweater sleeves trailed behind him like ribbons as he sailed through the air.

He landed on the merry-go-round, his arms spinning wildly to try and maintain his balance. When he managed not to fall, he waved excitedly at the camera. Then he rubbed the head of the nearest horse, a nearly pure white one with a ‘saddle’ that looked like it had once been red. He nuzzled his face against it, disappearing from the camera’s view as the carousel turned. When he came back into view, he was sitting astride the horse, wiggling happily.

End went around and around as the song skipped and looped.

At the very edge of the camera’s view, something moved. Off to the right, someone stepped out from between the bathrooms and a game booth filled with knocked over ring toss bottles.

The grimy woman with frayed blonde hair stared open mouthed and wide-eyed at the carousel. She hesitated for a moment, then took a step towards End.

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