The Wheel of Games

My head was pounding. I couldn’t remember what had happened. As I tried to open my eyes this realization ran through all my senses. Have you ever felt afraid? Not just any kind of afraid. But the type of afraid that has been buried deep down inside of you that only emerges with the most tragic incident or the most dreadful event. When fear takes over everything. The fear you felt when there was an unknown monster lurking under the bed or in the closet when you were a kid. It’s the type of fear that leaves you immobile and your mouth is clinched so tightly that you barely allow yourself to breathe. This is the fear that you wouldn’t even wish on your worst enemy. But at that moment you do begin to wish. You begin to wish, barter, beg, and plead. Because that is when you wish that what was happening to you would happen to anyone else but you. I felt my hands were bound together and my wrists felt like they were burning. My arms were stretched above me and I was strung up. I could feel that my feet were restricted and all I could do was squirm around trying to figure out what I was waking up to. There I stood with legs and arms bound and no recollection of events that put me in this position. Looking around I discovered that there were 5 of us. We were lined up in the same exact way. They seemed to be waking up to the same nightmare I had found myself in. I could hear screams in the distance. My heart dropped and that overwhelming rush of fear and flooded my entire being. As I looked around, I tried to gain a better focus of my surrounding. I was trying to see if there was a way out or an exit to escape. It appeared that we were in some kind of warehouse. There was a darkness that seemed to creep through the entire area and with shadows that were being cast, the darkness seemed as though it was alive and moving all around us. As the last person awoke, this spotlight came on with this brilliant light that felt like an explosion of dominance over the darkness. It poured most of the light onto a giant wheel. The wheel was one of those that you would see at a fair to decide your prize. On it. I could make out childhood games. Duck, duck, goose, Red Rover, Freeze Tag, Red Light Green Light, Twister. What was this? There was a loud bang and you could hear the inner workings of mechanics. I felt myself moving. We were all moving. We were being released. We stood there as someone in all black stepped out of the dark. The person was wearing a hood of black and looked like it was a shadow that came to life. This person had a knife. My thoughts began racing. But the masked individual started to remove the ropes that had bonded our hands and feet together. One of the five, took off running to the door at the end of the warehouse that a sign had just turned on stating EXIT. The next thing I saw was completely confusing. There was a whooshing sound and the runner was gone. Just disappeared. It was as though the darkness took him. Circus music began to play. I was waiting for clowns to come rushing out from every direction. The mere idea of that terrified me. I hate clowns. I hate clowns with a passion. Luckily, a tall and slender beautiful black haired lady stepped out from behind the wheel. She was dressed to kill. A long flowing red dress with shoulder-less straps and a choker made of rubies. She seemed to float as she walked forward. “Good evening. We have brought you here to play a game. The prize is simple. Win and you get to leave. Cheating or trying to leave will have severe consequences.” She took a breath and said one last thing. “Any questions? Didn’t think so.” I tried to say something but noticed that I couldn’t. They had done something where we were unable to speak. She walked over to the wheel and gave it a good spin. Around and around it went. The clicking seemed louder than the music playing. I watched as it slowed down and stopped. “Well look at this,” the lady said with a smirk, “Red Light, Green Light.” She started to clap her hands in excitement. “Does everyone know how to play?” The four of us looked at each other then back at her and nodded. “Now, there can only be one winner. And if I see you move during the red light. You will be eliminated. Let’s PLAY!” She pushed a button in the middle of the wheel and a stoplight appeared from the rafters. Only steps away from the exit. It was green. I took off running towards my freedom. I could hear loud stomping behind me. The light turned red. I froze as quickly as I could. “Aww too bad. Now there are only 3 of you.” She laughed. I wanted to turn and look but stood frozen. “Curiosity kills the cat.” The lady stated in a sing-song type voice. “Correction, make that only 2 are left.” I was glad I did not look. I believe that was what had happened to the 2nd player. They looked. The light turned green. I took off running again. I glanced back to see the other person on my heels. There was no sign of the other two. As I looked forward again the other person passed me and the light turned red. We both stopped in our tracks. All I could hear was the continued circus music and the sound of my wavered breathing. The light turned green and I was about to take off when it turned red almost immediately. The other person was running and just disappeared. Right in front of me. Just gone. “Looks like you are the last person. Now all you have to do is go through the exit and go home.” I waited for what seemed forever for that light to change to green. The circus music stopped. I felt like there were eyes staring at me in the darkness. I heard a click from the stoplight. The red turned green. I was so close to the door. I ran. It seemed that everything was in slow motion. I reached the door and began to open it. I heard that click and looked back. The light was red. I heard my inner voice screaming…. It’s RED! I heard a swooshing sound. The game had ended. Everything went dark.

Tia Dalu Souhrada