Ducky Park
The Stages
Go where the people expect you to be, right? You head off for the stage area, figuring that if the day gets too boring walking around in a fish suit and posing for pictures you can probably sit down and watch a show.
The walk isn't terribly long and you reach the expansive lot of pavement surrounded by stages in mere moments. People mill about almost aimlessly, looking at schedules and arriving to or leaving from various shows.
Kids and women hug you while adults take your picture while you are hugging the various fish huggers back. You feel like a great success.
When your feet start to hurt you sit down on a bench and watch a show on stage where Dastardly Dog kidnaps Haley Duck (Happy Duck's girlfriend). Happy Duck comes out and rescues his girlfriend and the crowd applauds enthusiastically. It wasn’t a great show, but the people seem entertained.
You stand up and stretch your legs as the audience starts to leave. An older man claps a hand on your scaled back and you turn around to see him grinning stupidly with his wife and grandkids behind him.
"Why didn't you get up there on stage and help your old pal Happy out?" He asks you.
"Oh, I’m not in the show.” You say. “Did you think I was in the show?”
“No, I just thought-” he begins to say.
“You thought what? That I could just run up on stage, disrupt their performance, and save the day?” You ask. The man looks confused. “It wasn’t real old man,” you tell him. “It was just a story. They were pretending!”
The old man's smile disappears, as does his family's. They walk off without another word to you, showering you with dirty looks that make you feel a little guilty for some reason. Not that you said anything wrong, it isn't your fault the guy asked such a stupid question.
But maybe, you reflect, I might have overreacted a little. This is a family park and I’m supposed to be fun and friendly. You feel like you need to apologize. You look around for them and quickly spot the older couple walking with their grandkids back to the ride area and you hurry to catch up.
You reach them near the Ferris Wheel. "Hey," You say to the old man, out of breath and doubled over in your fish costume.
"Why don't you just leave us alone?" He says.
"No wait,” You say standing up. “I came to apologize. I was out of line back there. I don’t know why I snapped at you like that, but I’m sorry."
The old man seems to consider your apology for a moment, his family wait on expectantly. Finally the man nods. "OK," He says. "Apology accepted."
“Thank you,” You say, taking a step back. “Remember,” You tell them, doing your best Frank the Fish voice. “Friendship always wins!” You throw your hands up to your sides and jump the way the cartoon used to do, you figure they’ll love that.
Something catches on your costume, you are lifted into the air; arms and legs outstretched in the Frank the Fish freezeframe pose as the bucket of the ferris wheel lifts you higher and higher. The ground is getting farther and farther away. The family looks up at you from a great distance.
Something behind you rips. A tear goes down the fish costume and you find yourself starting to fall. More than 100 feet up, you tumble through the air with half of your costume still caught on the ferris wheel. You hit the ground in a symphony of snapping bones. You are alive and in excruciating pain for a while before things start to fade away.
Maybe the costume really is cursed.
Go where the people expect you to be, right? You head off for the stage area, figuring that if the day gets too boring walking around in a fish suit and posing for pictures you can probably sit down and watch a show.
The walk isn't terribly long and you reach the expansive lot of pavement surrounded by stages in mere moments. People mill about almost aimlessly, looking at schedules and arriving to or leaving from various shows.
Kids and women hug you while adults take your picture while you are hugging the various fish huggers back. You feel like a great success.
When your feet start to hurt you sit down on a bench and watch a show on stage where Dastardly Dog kidnaps Haley Duck (Happy Duck's girlfriend). Happy Duck comes out and rescues his girlfriend and the crowd applauds enthusiastically. It wasn’t a great show, but the people seem entertained.
You stand up and stretch your legs as the audience starts to leave. An older man claps a hand on your scaled back and you turn around to see him grinning stupidly with his wife and grandkids behind him.
"Why didn't you get up there on stage and help your old pal Happy out?" He asks you.
"Oh, I’m not in the show.” You say. “Did you think I was in the show?”
“No, I just thought-” he begins to say.
“You thought what? That I could just run up on stage, disrupt their performance, and save the day?” You ask. The man looks confused. “It wasn’t real old man,” you tell him. “It was just a story. They were pretending!”
The old man's smile disappears, as does his family's. They walk off without another word to you, showering you with dirty looks that make you feel a little guilty for some reason. Not that you said anything wrong, it isn't your fault the guy asked such a stupid question.
But maybe, you reflect, I might have overreacted a little. This is a family park and I’m supposed to be fun and friendly. You feel like you need to apologize. You look around for them and quickly spot the older couple walking with their grandkids back to the ride area and you hurry to catch up.
You reach them near the Ferris Wheel. "Hey," You say to the old man, out of breath and doubled over in your fish costume.
"Why don't you just leave us alone?" He says.
"No wait,” You say standing up. “I came to apologize. I was out of line back there. I don’t know why I snapped at you like that, but I’m sorry."
The old man seems to consider your apology for a moment, his family wait on expectantly. Finally the man nods. "OK," He says. "Apology accepted."
“Thank you,” You say, taking a step back. “Remember,” You tell them, doing your best Frank the Fish voice. “Friendship always wins!” You throw your hands up to your sides and jump the way the cartoon used to do, you figure they’ll love that.
Something catches on your costume, you are lifted into the air; arms and legs outstretched in the Frank the Fish freezeframe pose as the bucket of the ferris wheel lifts you higher and higher. The ground is getting farther and farther away. The family looks up at you from a great distance.
Something behind you rips. A tear goes down the fish costume and you find yourself starting to fall. More than 100 feet up, you tumble through the air with half of your costume still caught on the ferris wheel. You hit the ground in a symphony of snapping bones. You are alive and in excruciating pain for a while before things start to fade away.
Maybe the costume really is cursed.
