Wishes

Years later, the ride still spins on. Its carousel frame rotating continuously, driven by some transient energy. Each seat swings ever so gently in the evening winds. In the distance, grey clouds glowing from the dusk sunlight glide above sullen fields of ashen grey. Like spectres of some forgotten past, it rises auspiciously above the rest of the static landscape, its artificiality and machinery forming a jarring contrast against the distant skies. Glancing ever so slightly beyond it, one finds not just more but a literal endless array of similar structures stretching towards the horizon. Rollercoasters, whose empty carriages, condemned like Sisyphus, continuously fall, only to make the arduous journey back up to the top, to plummet once more towards the Earth. Pirate ship rides sway, as if trapped on the surface of some ghostly ocean, whose waves endlessly twist and turn.

In every one of the carriages, carts and coaches of the infinite rides of amusement, trails of condensed salt and stains of charred crimson fill the space around the pale skeleton frames of long-forgotten souls. In those that had not carried passengers, a sharp sense of vacancy lingers. Yet, from afar, if not for the incongruity of the barren and desolate surrounding scenery, the rhythmic humming of the fairground mechanisms give no indication that anything is amiss. From afar, the lively colors of neon green and pink exude an unmistakable, almost nostalgic impression of a lively summer carnival. The horrors of the years gone by are nowhere to be found.

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He had first stumbled across the cryptic mechanism by sheer accident. Some plodding around led him readily to the instructions and it soon became apparent that he had within his hands something profoundly powerful. It was as if he had stumbled into a fairytale. An omnipotent genie. One wish. The world to mould and change at your whims. Truly marvellous inventions, cures and breakthroughs were mere utterances away. Utopian societies bursting to materialize. Yet, unfortunately, the mind of a child is otherwise preoccupied. From the space of myopic ponderings, he carefully selected the amusement park as the appropriate object with which to populate the entirety of the planet, cautious, of course, to introduce caveats such as zero queues and unlimited run times to avoid past grievances. Momentary reflections reveal the absurdities of his request. Yet, is humanity so much better equipped to execute that perfect wish?