This choice: The stopwatch (1% a minute for a day) • Go Back... “Think you’re big enough to ride this one shorty.”
Clay’s usual snide remark bounced off Kyle, who was still pondering the wristwatch image staring back at him from the palm of his hand.
“What will 1% a minute do,” he pondered, “For someone as short as me?”
A pair of hands suddenly jerked his shoulders. The sudden jolt snapped Kyle up, forcing him to drop the card.
“I said, you think you can handle this one… short stuff!”
Kyle’s skin inflamed. Clay’s constant joking at Kyle’s expense grated on him more and more with each passing year. Clay argued with Daniel, ignored Craig and always reserved special torment for Kyle. Just beyond, the Haunted House loomed above them all. Rows of painted ghosts and snarling demons danced across the tall metal sheets, the endless flashes of strobe lights giving them an eerie life. Clay KNEW Kyle hated this ride. In addition to being the shortest, Kyle was also the most sensitive and HATED to be scared.
“Seriously, Clay?”
“Oh yeah, Kyle. I picked it out special. Daniel felt so bad you couldn’t come with us on the roller coaster, so I said we had to find one your own size.” Clay squeezed Kyle’s shoulders, holding him in place.
“Just because the haunted house is on tracks, doesn’t mean it’s a roller coaster.”
“Still,” he squeezed harder, Kyle’s flesh giving instantly under his grip, “It’s going to be so much fun.”
“To watch me scream,” Kyle he muttered.
“What was that LITTLE brother?”
A mechanical cackle stole Kyle’s reply. Huge demonic eyes over fifteen feet in the air glowed with blood red heat. Kyle’s stomach twisted. Taking full advantage of Kyle’s distraction, Craig creeped his head closer and closer to his frightened brother, hanging it mere inches over Kyle’s bony shoulder. Goosebumps ran up Kyle’s neck, all the way through the tips of his short red hair.
Clay belted a sharp scream, an inch away from Kyle’s ear. Kyle jumped with an uncontrollable yelp! Clay died of laughter.
Kyle recovered his breaths as fast as he could. “Someday,” he gasped, “when I grow up… you will not treat me like this ever again.”
Clay laughed harder. “Like what, BIG man!?”
Clay bounded toward Daniel and Craig with a devilish laugh, leaving Kyle alone once again. Taking a small gulp, Kyle reached down to pick up his lost card, but it was gone. He looked again and sure enough, the patches of dirt and grass beneath his shoes were clear.
No card.
Kyle checked his pocket with a few quick shoves, but the other cards too were gone. Kyle wasn’t sure what was more scary, the haunted house staring him down or the old man’s magic seemingly at work. His stomach twisted again.
“I hope I don’t regret this.”
Kyle finally filed in behind the shrinking line of excited kids and expressionless adults. As he approached the ticket taker, Kyle saw his brothers already seated in the paint chipped carts. Craig and Clay were in the first car, while Daniel saved a seat in the car directly behind them. This relieved Kyle some, happy his older brother was taking an effort to keep Clay away from him.
Kyle reluctantly handed over his ticket to the thin, pot marked teen and sat down next to his older brother. Although Daniel shared the trio’s red hair and pale complexion, he had a more “chiseled” look than his youthful brothers. His eyes pierced with intensity, and his fuller frame held a secret strength his brothers knew well.
“You actually joined us?” Craig incredulously asked. “Don’t you hate this ride?”
“No!” Clay interrupted. “Haven’t you heard? Kyle’s growing up. He’s not scared of a little ride at the carnival.”
Silence hung in the air.
“Are you… Kyle?” Clay smiled mockingly.
Daniel audibly gritted his teeth. Kyle’s mouth opened, but words never emerged.
“See!” Clay sneered. “He’s fine!”
The attendant appeared from nowhere, snapping the metal bar over Daniel and Kyle’s legs. The cold steel loomed inches over Kyle’s thin legs, stopped by Daniel’s larger thighs. This did little to calm Kyle’s panic. He was trapped and going nowhere. Seeing Kyle’s twisting expressions, Daniel leaned in. “I’m proud of you Kyle. Not letting Clay get to you and facing your fears.”
How little he knew. “I’m not scared,” Kyle instantly yelped.
Daniel sighed. He found it difficult to read Kyle’s moods but always felt compelled to help him. He wrapped one arm around his little brother, gave reassuring squeeze with his thick hand. One long moment later, he finally pulled away. Daniel’s concern released some of Kyle’s tension. Unlike Clay, Daniel would rough house with Kyle, but never intentionally hurt him.
A horrifying laugh buzzed across the mechanical speakers. The car lurched toward the darkness ahead. Kyle instantly tensed again, his hands gripping the cold steel. All of the blood quickly drained out of his face and knuckles. Soon, the darkness consumed them.
Over the next several minutes, haunting flashes and specters terrorized the delighted visitors. Well, all but Kyle. Every bump and scream tensed his thin body more and more. He did all he could to hold his breath, not to give Clay the satisfaction of hearing his screams.
His skin crawled with each passing minute. Kyle’s clothes creeped across his skin, uncomfortably gripping him in several places. Even his shoes pinched as his big toes like the claws of a preying mantis. The haunted house must have been getting to him more than he thought. Despite all of the commotion around them, Daniel noticed Kyle’s squirming and tight grip on the bar.
“Not much longer now,” Daniel reassured him with his baritone voice.
“Not soon enough!” Kyle screamed in his mind, clenching his jaw shut.
Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel emerged. Kyle continued to squirm, still feeling his clothes constrict around him. He had hoped seeing the end of the ride would calm him, but he had used every last ounce of strength to not let out horrified screams. More over, the itching of his clothes was driving him mad.
He had to escape this car!
The ride barely came to a stop. Sweat had visibly beaded across Kyle's forehead and the moment the leg bar released, Kyle shoved it away, sprinting down the wooden stairs away from the glaring lights of the haunted house. He had moved so fast, Daniel lost sight of him. Kyle huffed and puffed, doubling over his legs. The crowd mindlessly moved around him, unaware this inconvenient obstacle was a frightened boy.
He hated the dark.
He hated fear.
And he hated Clay.
“Ready for another?” Clay’s voice taunted from behind.
“Enough Clay,” Daniel said.
As the two of them bickered, Craig found his brother and weaved his way through the thick crowd of thrill seekers. Once he finally made it through, Craig’s enlarged hazel eyes transfixed on Kyle. He readjusted his thick black framed glasses, just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. Kyle was still bent over, his back heaving up and down in the air. But Craig wasn't looking at Kyle’s back, he was looking at Kyle’s ankles.
Kyle's smooth, pale skin was impossibly exposed. The bottom of his pant legs had rode up several inches to the base of his undefined calves.
“Kyle?” Craig said.
Despite the crowd’s chatter, Kyle heard Craig’s monotone voice. He slowed his breaths, straightened up and turned. At first, Kyle thought he was mistaken. A pair of thin eyebrows starred greeted Kyle’s gaze. It took him a moment to Kyle adjusted and realize he was now looking down at his “taller” brother Craig.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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