December 18th, 2014

Santa Vera, Arizona, USA

Amusement Park

The Fun Mountain at Santa Vera wasn’t anything particularly special. There were about two mid-sized coasters on its campus, a ferris wheel, and a lazy river ride, plus a few other amenities. 

The teenage girl grabbed two tickets from the woman behind the counter, folding them into her purse. 

“Oh, that’s right!” The ticketer turned around, grabbing a red baseball cap off the wall and handing it to the visitor. “Kids under twelve get a free hat.”

The teenager grabbed the hat, smiling and thanking the woman. She turned back and called out to the child balancing herself on a rock nearby.

“Hey, Anita! Come here, you got a hat!”

Anita, coming to attention, jumped off the rock and headed over to her sister. Maria put the cap on top of the little girl’s head, shimmying it so that it fit just right. 

It was late on a Thursday night, and so there were only a handful of others at the park. The two girls walked forward, towards the center of the park.

“So, what do you want to do first?” Maria asked. 

Anita didn’t answer. Maria looked down and saw her scratching at the top of the cap.

“What’s wrong?”

Anita, looking frustrated, shook her head. “The hat is too tight.”

Maria smiled. “Alright, let me see it.” She shimmied the cap back off, folding it up and putting it in her bag.

She looked back down at Anita, who was trying to pat down the hair on her head. “It’s ‘cause you have such a big brain, y’know.”

Anita didn’t respond, but she let a little smile pass her lips. Suddenly she ran up ahead of Maria, towards one of the roller coaster entrances. 

“I wanna ride this one!”

Maria shook her head. “You aren’t tall enough for that.”

“If I stand on my tippy toes, I am!”

The older sister sighed. “I don’t think they’re gonna fall for that, girl.”

Unfortunately for Maria, it was too late. Anita already ran down the path towards the back of the line, which held only one other family. Maria hurried on ahead, following her little sister’s lead.

When the two got to the front of the line, the ride manager eyed Anita suspiciously. The little girl gave him her best pair of innocent eyes, head looking up, arms together behind her back, standing as tall as she could. The manager hesitated for a second, then turned back to the controls and opened the gate for the two of them to enter the coaster.

“Wow, I cannot believe that worked,” Maria whispered.

“Come on, sit next to me!”

The two sisters sat together in the roller coaster, the large cushioned guards latching on cozily to their torsos. The ride climbed its way up to its peak, then, reaching the apex, rushed down at full speed. 

Anita gave a high pitched scream, a big smile crossing her face. Maria was the more nervous of the two, holding onto the guards tightly yet still smiling as much as she could. After a few quick turns the girls collided with each other, keeping a close grip on their seats, and laughing at the intensity.

The ride was over after a minute or so. Maria stretched out her body, lifting her arms high into the air.

“God, I hope I’m not sick after that,” she muttered. 

Anita ran up in front of her, clearly still excited. “Wasn’t that fun?”

Maria giggled. “Yeah, yeah. It was.”

…

The two now stood in front of the lazy river ride. This time it was Anita who was hesitant.

“It’s… it’s dark in there,” she muttered, staying close to Maria’s leg. She was referring to a tunnel in which the lazy river made its way into.

“So, you aren’t afraid to go on the roller coaster, but you are afraid to go on a couple of rinky-dink rafts?”

Anita looked up at her sister. “Wh-what if there’s a monster hiding in there? Like the one in the movie that we saw with papa?”

Maria thought for a moment, then shook her head, bringing her palm to her face. “No, Anita. Freddy Krueger is not hiding in the lazy river tunnel. Look, I can even see lights in there. We just can’t see them very well from the outside, since they don’t wanna spoil it for us, y’know?”

Anita thought about this for a moment. She was skeptical, but willing to accept her sister’s assertions for now.

“Listen, I’ll protect you from anything in there, alright?” The older sister took the younger one’s hand, and they walked over to the line and onto one of the rafts.

The first part of the ride was gentle, and Anita was soothed by it. But as they came towards the tunnel, the little girl leaned over to tightly hug her sister. Maria hugged her back, resting her chin on Anita’s hair as they came closer to the entrance.

Maria’s eyes widened. The lights were much more beautiful than she had expected. A pattern of pastel fluorescence, yellows and pinks and oranges and more, all lit up a vibrant world of their own. Mechanical flowers danced on the flanks of the canal, their petals rotating light onto the surface of the water.

Anita, recognizing the color, slowly moved her face away from her sister’s bosom and towards the lights of the tunnel. When she realized the beauty in it, the fear retreated. Both of the sisters smiled as they watched the lights together. 

…

The two walked away from the river ride. Maria looked at her flip phone, growing somewhat anxious.

“Well they haven’t texted me back yet… but I think we have time for only one more ride.”

Anita, who had walked ahead, turned back towards her sister. “You wanna go on the ferris wheel?”

Maria thought for a moment, and shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

The two girls sat down in one of the wheel’s booths, opposite each other. The paint had chipped and aged on the bench, but the wheel still operated fine. As the wheel began to ascend, Anita spoke up.

“Maria… what were mama and papa fighting about?”

The older sister paused, trying to think of the best thing to say. “Oh, it’s nothing you gotta worry about. Just… adult stuff.”

Anita considered this. She put her hands into her lap, looking down at her thumbs which rubbed against each other. “Do they… not love me anymore?” she asked, almost in a whisper.

This question caught Maria off guard. “Oh, no! Of course not, chica. They still love you. They’ll always love you. It… it has nothing to do with you, okay?”

“Then why did they keep bringing up my name?”

“It’s… hard to explain. Sometimes, when two people have an argument, they bring up someone that they love…” Maria struggled for the right words to use. “…as a way to support their argument. But it doesn’t mean it’s your fault, and it doesn’t mean they don’t love you.”

Anita looked up at her sister. She saw the honesty in Maria’s eyes. As the ferris wheel peaked, the little girl turned her head to the window.

“I’m glad I have you, Maria.”

Maria smiled, and looked towards the window herself. “I’m glad I have you too, Anita.”

From the top of the ferris wheel they watched life continue on down below.