Haunted Days at the Amusement Park

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn’t my own. The crack running from left to right split the face in the reflection in two like a disgusting scar or a terrifying mouth. However, it was the eyes that were truly breathtaking. Their brown was almost golden. Their shape was just different enough to be unnerving, like some sort of distorted oval.

It was your average fall day in Kansas City. Warm enough to hit the amusement park for Haunted Days but cool enough to know the weather was changing. Zoe and I made our way through the park without jumping once at the pop outs and drop downs. It wasn’t until the Hall of Mirrors that we learned what true fear was. That face, those eyes, that scar or sneer; I will never forget it. We backed out of the Hall of Mirrors slowly and backed right into a fence covered in fake spider webs. Small hands reached through the fence and grabbed us both. Zoe’s shriek was piercing while mine was silenced by a hand over my mouth.

“Hey, that is enough! I told you not to touch the guests!” A woman walked over as she lectured the young workers. I looked up to thank her but couldn’t get the words out. It was her face I had seen in mirrors. “Sorry I gave you a scare in the Hall of Mirrors. I have found my face is quite disturbing in those mirrors.”

She looked quite pretty in the light cast by the nearest booth, but the damage was done. I would never be attracted to that face after the mirror’s distortion.

I ducked into the bathroom to collect myself. Then, Zoe and I chose a couple of roller coasters on the way out. The thrills and drops freeing our minds of Haunted Days. We made our way back to Zoe’s dorm. Luckily her roommate was gone. So, we made our way to the top bunk and enjoyed each other’s company, falling asleep in a youthful embrace.

The next morning I woke well rested. Before opening my eyes, I ran my hands over her body, her skin smooth and warm. The previous night’s horrors were all but forgotten. I opened my eyes. The dorm’s ceiling ever close to the top bunk was a mere foot or so from my face. I let out a scream like none I had ever uttered before. There a foot from my face was the cracked mirror filled with the terrifying face I had seen the night before.

Zoe burst into fits of laughter. “What are you screaming for? We aren’t at Haunted Days anymore! I snuck a souvenir while you weren’t looking and taped it to the ceiling after you went to sleep.”

I looked over at Zoe in shock. “That is a practical joke I won’t forgive you for anytime soon. That picture is way too realistic.”

Zoe just laughed and laughed.

Days went by. We continued to hang out in her dorm, doing homework and learning more about each other. I bided my time. The picture was still taped to the ceiling, but I no longer went up to the top bunk. Finally the day came. “I am going to run to get a coffee before we shower. Do you want one?”

“Nah, I am good,” I said. “I’ll go start the shower, and you can join me when you get back.”

“Sounds good.” As soon as the door closed, I climbed to the top bunk and pulled down the picture. Just as I finished taping the picture to the mirror in the bathroom, I heard the front door open. I turned on the shower and got out my phone. Switching to video, I partially hid behind the shower curtain.

She slowly opened the door saying “Are you ready for me?” Then her scream was even louder than the one at the amusement park. Zoe and I didn’t make it much longer after that. The last time I saw her she was ripping the picture into a million pieces and telling me it wasn’t funny anymore. I smirked and thought to myself, “You started it.”