King of the World

A man stands with his boy at an arm’s length, his wife by his side, he closes his eyes and remembers his first trip to this place. The child's eyes move from one attraction to the next as he tugs his father from the distant memory. The ground sticks to the soles of his shoes, and for the first time he notices the graveyard of cotton candy and slushie strewn across the ground. He tugs back at the hand guiding him and smiles, "Can I have some cotton candy?" "Later," comes the one worded response. His eyes shift from each attraction and stand, the lights and sounds an extra-sensory overload. The lights crowds and stands thin out as he reaches the ominous wheel, and suddenly, he isn’t so eager anymore.

He comes to a halt and eyes the giant wheel with apprehension, "It's a lot bigger close up, I don't wanna ride anymore." His parents look down and with a reassuring grin, “It’s not as bad as it looks, I promise,” and they slowly urge him on. He bustles uneasily, growing more and more apprehensive by the second. His parents fasten him into the seat and the boy stares frantically at them, "It's way too high, I’m not going to look. I’ll keep my eyes closed the whole ride and it’ll suck. If I fall I'll splat like a pancake. Do you want a pancake for a son?" The boy fishes for reasons to not ride, but his parents buckle in as the wheel rumbles to life. He swallows hard, and closes his eyes as the wheel begins to turn.

He feels himself lifting higher and higher, and his stomach begins to turn. The boy knows the wheel is edging towards the peak but can't bring himself to look, "C'mon son, take a look it's no fun if you sit there with your eyes closed," the father reassures. He shakes his head frantically, and buries his head in his hands. Mother puts a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. He slowly half opens one eye and is instantaneously blinded by the neon glow of the midway. "No way," the boy whimpers as the wheel continues to turn. His parents continue to try to convince him as the wheel continues its revolutions, but he still declines. On it's final revolution the wheel comes to a screeching halt they boy now stuck at its very top, "What's wrong?! Why aren't we moving? We're going to die aren't we?! I don't want to die!" the boy screams to his parents but is too petrified to move. They attempt to console the boy but he is too frantic to listen. His sobs soften and he finally calms down a little, and grows a little daring.

He peaks out really quickly and for the first time catches a glimpse of the world from above. "Wow!" he excitedly exclaims, immediately forgetting the 'danger' at hand. He can see it all the bustling streets, even make out some of the cars moving along the freeway, their lights flowing as they move. The melodic yet haunting carnival music complements the neon glow of the midway, and the boy swears for just a split second he can see his house off in the distance. "This is isn't so bad," he tells his parents happily. “See son, it isn’t so bad, look you can even see downtown,” his father points to the sky-scrapers in the distance. He cranes his neck, turning in all directions, taking it all in; the waves of the lake crashing against the shore, the sky-scrapers reaching even beyond his own skyward throne, he feels on top of the world.

As the wheel begins to turn, bringing the boy back to earth he smiles, not for the fact that he was returned alive, but for that one split second he was king. The king of the midway, king of the city, perhaps even king of the world. He wobbles uneasily as he takes his first steps back on earth.

He returns through the maze of the midway, his mind still in the sky still lost in the moments on top of the world. “Do you still want some cotton candy?” Father pulls the boy from his thoughts as he hands him the cotton swirl. The boys feet stick to the ground as he reluctantly makes his way closer and closer to the exit. He wishes he could float above the ground, as he was for those briefest of moments. His eyes grow heavy and father swoops him up in his arms. "Dad, next time I won't be scared I promise. I want to ride the Ferris Wheel again," the boy whispers to his father as he drifts to sleep on the ride home.

His eyes shut and he is instantly transported to the sky, but this time he is mobile, moving through the air with the freedom of a bird. He weaves through the midway, drops close to the lake, his hand skimming the water, skyward once more moving always higher, toward the pinnacle of the city line, and there he sits. Upon his throne, the highest point in the city, he sits and watches. The planes, the lights of the cars barely visible from his seat, the din of the city setting everything aglow, the city is his. Again and again the boy moves from point to point observing his city a smile spread across his face.

His father places the slumbering boy into his bed with the softest touch, and in his mind the boy is flying towards his bed, diving from the sky. When he makes contact he awakes he catches father at the foot of his bed. “Dad, I flew, I even sat on top of the big tower! I saw the city, and it was mine. I touched the water, and saw the lights, everything was mine.” “You were king of the city then weren’t you? I told you it wouldn’t be so bad son, you know when I was your age I was just as scared,” the father begins to tell his own story. As father recalls his past the boy notices the similarities between the two. Slowly, the boy drifts back into dreamland. “King of the world, right dad?” the boy whispers, “Right son,” father replies, and pats his head. The boy drifts to sleep, and father leaves the room, “Sleep little king, you’ve got a lifetime ahead of you.”