Ro Ginger's Abyss Amusement Park

Chapter 15:十五



'Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say "ay,"

And I will take thy word. Yet if thou swear'st

Thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries,

They say, Jove laughs.'

Ro continues Juliet's lines.

'Sir, I love you. It might be very abrupt to say it.'

This handsome young knight has given up her lines.

She looks up at the masked Juliet with nothing but courage in her chest.

'Sir, I love you. I don't know from when but I cannot move my eyes away from you for even a second.'

'When you are not by my side, I wish I can use all that I have, including my life, to ensure your safety. I am willing to exchange it with my most precious thing.'

'I know it might sound dumb.'

'Did we know each other in the past?' Feather asks him and also asks herself. She is assured of the answer.

Sorrow and grief fill her heart and eyes. She feels wronged and extreme sadness with the hottest love. These feelings ferment into a more complex feeling.

'Although Idon't have the memory any more, love will not trick me.'

'It is not falling in love at first sight. It is a meeting again after a long separation. A withered tree comes to life again.'

'My love to Sir is not a temporary love from a dumb girl to a superhero who saved her.'

'It is the only answer that as an adult I have been contemplating over and over. You are my only love for this life. My soul is strongly attracted to yours.'

'If my world has mountains, rivers, birds, animals, stars, and planets, they all go to you when you appear in my sight.'

'I won't fall in love with anyone else in my life with such a passion.'

Feather's sparkling eyes reflect thousands of stars.

Her love is a fervor and sincere.

Ro sees a milky way and her oceanic emotions gathering in her eyes.

A great momentum.

Yet, Ro is not the original soul of the clown. He doesn't have a feeling for Feather to respond.

The person who loves Feather with the same passion is gone.

Their love is separated by Yin and Yang.

'I never expected to hear any response from Sir.'

'Please treat what I just said as casual greetings like how are you today.'

'Don't take it seriously.'

'I am dumb and impulsive. I don't think before I act. If Sir you feel unease, please accept my apology.'

Feather gets down on one knee and hugs Ro's legs just like she did in the past like a little animal.

'Sorry.'

Ro bends down and squats. He pats her head and comforts her.

Feather buries herself in his arms and cries quietly.

She has said what she wanted to say. She has showed what she feels. Why does she feel sad?

Is he too cold?

Is he too gentle that his rejection is so polite?

His attitude is so clear that she knows she has no hope.

'Rock, paper, scissors. The winner can leave.'

He wipes her tears and tells her the rule.

'Okay.'

Feather feels this conversation is familiar and she feels sad as if someone is peeling her flesh from her heart.

They show their hand shape at the same time.

Ro makes a rock.

Feather makes a paper.

'Why did you make a paper this time?' Ro knows that Feather liked to make scissors when she was little.

He was thinking that this part might be the hardest to get her out.

Feather is too stubborn.

'Because Sir you want me to go back.'

She squats down and covers her face.

Her tears are coming out again. She has lost control of herself and her nose is running as well. She doesn't look like what she just claimed as an adult.

Her voice goes from constrained weeping to a rage of tears.

'We are not going back anymore.'

The progress bar has become 10/10.

They exit the clown's stage. The sky is lit with red clouds.

The sun hasn't fully risen. The Abyss Amusement Park rings out congratulatory music, loud and old-fashioned.

Ro puts Kyas' pearl necklace around her neck.

These opal pearls suit her delicate collarbone.

The necklace had been on Kyas for a long time that it has a small effect of increasing lifespan and keeps the appearance of the user.

Ro doesn't need this and he gives it to Feather as a gift.

'Congrats to this visitor!'

A pleasing female voice is broadcasting the news among the amusement park.

All the monsters and the ghosts fall into a carnival to celebrate for Feather.

Feather holds Ro's sleeve and hesitates to enter the tunnel to the living world.

'Sir, will we meet again?'

Ro doesn't talk. He takes off his mask.

He has the elegant and handsome face of an eighteen or nineteen year old young man.

He looks like the soft and gentle wind on the shore of an evening. He looks like a green plant growing on a window. He looks like the person in Feather's mind for years.

'Live like an ordinary person. Live well and long.'

His voice is indifferent as usual. Maybe he has been through too much to show any softness at this time.

'Be happy.'

Ro has finished what he has in his mind. He waves at Feather and meekly smiles at her.

She takes away Ro's mask and looks back constantly when she is in the tunnel. Mr. Clown is still standing there every time she looks back.

The female broadcasting voice appears.

"You are our first visitor who has passed 10 games. We can realize one wish of yours."

'Can Mr. Clown go back with me?'

"No."

'Let the Tall-Nut go back then.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

Her sight becomes blurry. Her memory of the Abyss Amusement Park begins to fade.

Feather wakes up in a hospital.

People say that she has had a fever and delirium for three days. Her relatives and friends all worry about her.

She feels her head is heavy as if someone had hammered it empty.

The doctor says that she might lose some memory due to the fever.

Feather agrees as well.

If not, where did the purple crystal necklace, a pearl necklace, a weird mask, and a red thread come from?

Oh, a ticket to an amusement park as well.

Feather asks for a lighter from her dad who never smokes and burns the ticket and the red thread.

Someone told her to do so.

She just needs to follow the order.

There is a fat middle-aged man who has similar symptoms as Feather's. He is lucky as well to survive and wants to invite Feather to dinner.

Although the Whites didn't sense any malice from him, they reject him.

'Little Feather, your boyfriend is terrific.'

Mrs. White whispers to Feather's ear.

'What's up? We have broken up for a long time.'

'Okay, your ex-boyfriend. Good to hear that you broke up. He messes around and has renal failure now.'

Mrs. White speaks at a low voice.

Feather chuckles with delight.

'Are you too mad?'

Mrs. White touches Feather's head.

'I am not mad at all. I am just gloating.'

Feather thinks she knew it already. She doesn't know why she has such feelings.

'You gotta pay more attention to who you are dating. Don't date a philandering man.'

'I know I know.'

Feather hugs Mrs. White's arm lovingly.

Mrs. White keeps her appearance well. She is already over forty but she looks like a twenty year old girl. Her skin is smooth and young.

'If you found someone, tell us first. Let us ask about him.'

'Okay okay! Mom is the best!'

'How about me?' Mr. White just finishes peeling an apple and stares at them.

'Okay okay! Dad is the best too!'

After leaving the hospital, Feather disbands the club. Her best friend is shocked at how quick Feather can change from being the most active member to disbanding the club. She doesn't pay any more attention to supernatural things.

'Supernatural things don't fit in our Chinese communism.'

Her best friend thinks there is no more supernatural thing than exams which have transformed Feather to a diligent student working hard in politics courses for a graduate school.

Exams can turn a frivolous prodigal to a hard-working student and a lazy slacker into a learner who doesn't let go of the practice problems, a Feather to a certificate grinder.

Feather's life is smooth. Her looks are getting charming as time passes. She doesn't look old when she gets older.

One day, when she is working. She is informed that she has inherited a large amount of property.

It seems to be from her real father.

The Whites are afraid that Feather would leave them, but actually nothing else had happened.

She donates half of the property and buys an island, planting banana, coconut, raising dolphins with her parents. They live a happy life.

She doesn't want to let others discover that her parents don't age or she ages slowly and is lucky to survive in every car accident, electric shock, or murder. She doesn't have a boyfriend or marry.

Her parents feel guilty that their existence disallows her to have a normal life but she is fine with it.

When Feather dies, she has lived for a hundred years. Her day is ordinary and happy.

It is a sunny afternoon. Feather lies on a beach chair on the shore. Mr. White is peeling fruits and Mrs. White picks up the fruit pieces with toothpick to feed her.

Feather is old. Her parents are taking care of her.

'Take care, both of you. If I can have another life, I want to be your daughter again.'

Feather clenches the purple crystal necklace and places the mask on her chest.

She has tried many times to put the mask on but she can only recall a blurry side figure.

'I made it, Sir.'

She closes her eyes and murmurs. A sweet smile is on her face.

'Ms. White! Welcome to our Abyss Amusement Park!'

Feather opens her eyes and finds herself back to her young self again. A guide with a red cap is standing by the gate waving at her excitedly.

'You are our regular customer now. Today we have a special trip in the amusement park. You are so lucky!'

The guide explains.

Feather faintly recalls that maybe she has been here when she was young. She follows the guide without thinking much.

She doesn't have time to react until she has sat on the roller coaster.

Her instinct still tells her to shiver her legs.

'Relax, Ms. White. All our games have been reformed. They absolutely correspond to the Chinese central value. There is a parachute on your back. If anything happens, just press this button to enjoy the parachuting experience.

Feather is dangled by the parachute and lands on the ground slowly.

What kind of roller coaster is that? How exciting.

It throws people into the air.

Good thing that I have a parachute on my back.

The next game is a Giant Stride.

It looks normal except there are fists with boxing gloves on the ground. When the machine starts, the fists occasionally punch visitors' butts.

Feather is looking at the croaking visitors and wishes those fists don't punch her.

Yet, she is not touched.

'Why not punch her?'

A fist asks another fist quietly.

'Didn't you see that mask in her hands? Her mask looks exactly the same as the mask with the Sir who enforced all these reformations!'

'Wow...'

Feather plays a few more games.

She goes through Kyas' Magic Kitchen and is fed with horrible food.

Kyas is excited to see her old friend Feather and makes her more food.

Feather wants to vomit whenever she recalls the flavor.

The castle which looked gorgeous in the past is charred by Kyas' kitchen smoke. Feather cannot tolerate it.

The Doll Catcher Machine has become a normal machine. It is still evil and the catcher is loose enough to drop basically everything it just picked up.

The Mirror Maze closes its entrance when Feather wants to enter.

At the end, she enters the Clown's stage.

What she sees is an empty stage and an empty auditorium.

It's been too long that no one has entered here. A thick layer of dust can be seen on the floor.

Quiet.

Feather stands for a long time. Finally she takes off her mask and leaves it on the seat where she sat when she was young.

'Sir, I wish you well.'