lisafict2

Beyond the Sky Lift
by Lisa Cavalear

    “If you woke up in the woods with a condom in your ass, would you tell anyone?”
    “No.”
    “Want to go camping?”
    They said it in line for the skylight ride, knowing full well young mothers with impressionable and
cranky children were bound to hear. Scott shifted one foot to the other; fingering one of his three lip
rings while he glanced at his peer and coworker of roughly three semesters. Chrissy fussed with her
long burgundy hair, trying to put it up into a ponytail and failing because it was too long and thick for
the elastic. It stayed high on her head for maybe about five minutes at a time before falling to the
back of her neck and defeating the purpose of trying to put it up in the first place.
    After what seemed to be a small eternity of screaming kids and harried mothers too busy chatting
to keep the little monsters from trying to cut in line and put their hands sticky from ice cream or funnel
cakes all over their clothes, the ride operator finally let Scott and Chrissy push their way into a gate
where they were hurriedly bumped into a suspended bench roughly for five, but for two provided a
comfortable distance.
    This suited Scott just fine, as his girlfriend didn’t really like for him to spend too much time with
Chrissy. Though Chrissy never said anything, Scott knew full well her boyfriend didn’t like the amount
of time she spent with him. The irony being, Chrissy would very well have been his best friend had
she not gotten a huge crush on him first semester of college.
    For about a year and a half, they studied together, worked long hours in the costume shop putting
together capes, corsets, boots and whatever accessory or prop needed, shoveling actors into those
costumes and praying it would last this show and hopefully another and not end up sitting in the
basement, or end up missing. Semester breaks seemed even longer, for without classes and shows
to fill their days, they found themselves sleeping off hangovers and bad trips and scrambling to eat
before spending night after night working third shift in a small factory piecing together Ethernet wires
and computer cables to drivers just as they pieced together a Civil War uniform from an old overcoat
and whatever buttons, sashes and patches the department budget would afford them on two months
notice. They worked almost twelve-hour shifts five or six days a week for a month in the winter and
three in the summer. It was rare that either should find a day off and nearly impossible that!
    They have off the same day to hang out. On a whim, they decided an amusement park would be
good for shits and giggles.
    What they had forgotten from their own childhoods was the long line for the roller coasters, and
whirling cars that suspended what seemed to be hundreds of feet in the air and even the ferries
wheel. The sky ride looked a little boring but the line was pretty short compared to every other ride.
    Scott was tempted to light up a cigarette. Chrissy offered one from her pack when they were far
enough away from the ride operator. He took one gratefully and looked down sighing. The ground
below was little more than the semblance of a forest-hiking trail in any state park to be found in
Connecticut. He looked down upon bits and pieces of dirt and gravel paths, shrubbery, and trees.
From where they sat, the tops of the trees were visible, almost touchable. Laughing, Chrissy tried to
kick the tops of shrubbery with the tip of her heavy boots. While the branch seemed so close, it was
probably at least ten feet below them and out of her reach.
    A voice droned over a PA that the machine stopped at certain intervals and that there was no
cause for alarm. Should there have been an emergency, they would have had to find their own way
down the ground below and possibly hike the terrain back to civilization.
    So how the hell would we get down if something did happen? Chrissy looked down again and
dropped her finished cigarette along with dropped shoes, plastic beads and other junk.
    Scott shrugged and dropped his own butt to the ground. Chances are, our car would stop and
wed have to get up on those cables and try to work our way to those PA posts. They have ladders to
get down, right? I bet wed be fucked if our hands were sweaty. Wed have to use our feet too, I guess-
like James Bond. He looked down. Damn, there is a lot of shit that got dropped down.
    They spent a better part of the ride looking down and taking a loud tally of the junk that was
discarded to the earth below, left to the elements, dirty from neglect and rain.
    “I think that’s a shirt.”
    “Holy shit, I see another stuffed dog.”
    “Wait a second. That is a pair of pants! Look! Up ahead is some guy’s underwear!”
    “That is fucking dirty! How do you have sex on this thing?”
    “Carefully, I guess?”
    “What is wrong with some people?”
    “Look up ahead! Some poor sap dropped his cell phone!”
    “Oh, shit, Scott! I think I see a jock strap!”
    Scott started laughing as he looked ahead. It is a jock strap! How in the hell did that get there?
    Chrissy smiled as they reached the top of the mountain. If they’re leaving underwear around, why
the hell not a jock strap.
    Both were laughing as they reached the top. The operator looked up at the car once before
turning to his book and dozing off again. Their car turned around before making its descent.
    They looked about for more junk. They found more game booth prizes, cheaply made stuffed
animals and beads. They saw more shoes, mostly single flip-flops that could have fallen off of anyone
as well as a sneaker here and there.
    It was Chrissy who discovered it halfway down the mountain.
    Look at that! I think it’s a blow dart gun!
    Scott glanced down quickly. The car moved very slowly, but he could only take a quick look where
Chrissy pointed. But the object looked like a white tube. Maybe it is. I wonder if someone got caught
with it in the park and had to get rid of it here. That would fucking suck. Those things are expensive.
    Chrissy narrowed her eyes. Look up there. That helicopter is awfully close to us, isn’t it?
    Scott looked up, shielding his eyes from the suns glare. I think it’s a news chopper. But what would
it be doing over here?
    Maybe a weather report? Chrissy had since gone back to looking down for more treasure.
    Scott shrugged, “I guess so.” But it’s still pretty weird.
    After the two reached the bottom of the mountain, the operator shooed them outside the gate.
Scott looked at his watch. It was almost five now and it looked like the lines let up. For two hours,
they rode roller coasters and rode the carousel over and over until Scott felt sick. For an hour, they
drank fountain soda and looked around for operators that would confiscate the small liquor bottles
hidden in their pockets.
    “You think we could hide out in the parking lot after the park closes?” Scott asked offhand.
    Chrissy fingered a small plastic baggie. Scott knew those were acid tabs she was saving for her
day off. She bragged about them last night at work. “Probably not. If we wanted to go back into the
park, wed have to park on the street or in a lot somewhere and walk back. Why? Do you want to go
back into the woods and look for that blow dart gun?”
    Scott smiled. “Maybe I do. There’s a lot not far from the park. Hey, That chopper is still flying
around. Right by the woods?”
    Chrissy laughed, “Its like they know we’re going back!”
    They headed to Scott’s old Ford Tempo. The parking attendant gave them both a cheery smile
and told them to have a great day. Entering the lot would be easy enough after driving around a few
residential back roads and entering from a side entrance. Chrissy turned down the CD player and
reached for her pocket.
    “Should we really go walking around in the woods on acid?” Scott laughed.
    Chrissy shook her head, “No, we should walk around the woods after smoking a little weed. We
take the acid after we find the blow dart gun. She fished a flashlight out of the glove compartment.
We have a little time before the park closes.”
    Scott took out a joint hidden underneath his seat and lit up. The sky was fading from bright
orange to purplish gray and slowly to black, but the colors never phased either one as they took in
the drug that would help them to consider a crazy idea in the sane, logical manner that they could
never consider while sober and waited for the time to pass. Finally, Scotts watch read 8:48. It would
be after nine when they finally walked back to the park. By then, everyone would have gone home
save for a few sleeping security guards and patrol cops. It would be easy enough to sneak into the
woods below the skylight ride.
    They tried to appear casual as they walked along the residential streets. It was the end of summer
and easy to tell anyone that stopped him or her that they were just taking a walk. Scott didn’t feel too
high as he walked along. Any casual observer would note that the two were walking a straight line
and appeared very sober although Chrissy was beginning to feel pleasantly dizzy.
    Maybe taking the acid when they reached the woods might not be such a bad idea after all.
    She decided it might not be such a great idea when she started hearing noises, soft at first, “What
the hell is that?”
    Scott looked around. While he didn’t feel exactly sober, he felt that if careful, he could even drive
worse come to worse. Must be a bird or something. He ran up the street and smacked at nearby
bushes with a nearby stick. Sure enough, two birds cawed as they raced out of their now disturbed
nesting place.
    But that wasn’t it, Chrissy reached for her pocket again. Overhead, the noises grew louder and
Scott looked up.
    What is that chopper still doing around here?
    They reached the park less than ten minutes later by Scott’s guess. As they stole into the woods,
Chrissy giggled and reached into the baggie in her pocket. “Think we’d be ok taking these now?”
    “Why not?”
    They started their hike, each popping a tablet as they walked. Scott remembered the flashlight
and figured this would be as good a time as any to use it. The night sky was purplish black, but the
trees and earth were pitch and now that they had to adjust their eyes to complete darkness, it seemed
much easier to have a flashlight to guide them.
    “Imp surprised this fucking thing still has batteries.”
    “Scott, don’t even joke about that kind of shit!”
    “Why, are you scared, Chrissy?”
    “Fuck you! Lets find the blow dart gun and get the hell out of here!”
    “Hey, why the rush! Ever trip in the woods before?”
    Chrissys eyes darted back and forth. “No, and I really regret taking the stuff now.”
    Scott smiled and started the uphill walk up the mountain. “It will be fun. We never did it before?”
Now that he thought of it, the only time they tripped, at least together was in the safety of the costume
shop, a small basement where no one really went unless they were being fitted as most of the
wardrobe was sent right to the dressing rooms once everything was set.
    Scott began to see colors over the flashlight. “Hey Chrissy. I think there are more shoes along the
trail!”
    She ran to his side. “Look over there. Shine the light to that white thing on your left. No, other
left. Is that what I think it is?”
    Scott came closer for a better inspection. “Yup-I think it is. Holy crap, I think it is a ripped up bra.
She left her underwear over there, I think.”
    Chrissy shook her head. “Fucking hell, dude. People will go anywhere once, won’t they?”
    Scott started laughing. “Oh, why do you say that? So what kind of exotic locales does Dave want
to do it to you?”
    “Go fuck yourself.”
    They hiked along, finding a few more shoes in the darkness. After awhile, they were both tired and
plopped down on the dirt. Scott lay back and put the flashlight between himself and Chrissy. The
colors in his eyes grew brighter even in the pitch darkness and he relaxed letting the colors take
amorphous shapes. All he heard was the sound of his own heart beating and the sound of the
rustling tree branches. Did Chrissy try to explore on her own? He hoped not, because she would
have the flashlight.
    “Scott! Come here quick!”
    Scott rolled over and raised himself up. He saw squirrels dancing along the path. It seemed
Chrissy went off the path. Annoyed, he hacked at any branches in his way, watching them dissolve
into mist as he touched them. She was still screaming otherwise he might have stopped to study the
bushes just a bit longer.
    He laughed. "Hey, there’s pants and I think someone’s shirt over here. He stopped short when he
reached Chrissy. She stood beside a dark heap in a small trench surrounded by bushes. “I think it’s
a dead body and we just found her clothes, Scott.”
    He began to scream. “Holy shit! What the fuck are we going to do?”
    She tried to quiet him and reply calmly, her voice breaking, “We have to get out of here and wake
up one of the security guards in the park if there are any?”
    Suddenly, both heard a whooshing noise. What the fuck was that? Scott took Chrissys hand and
tried to stumble to a path. This was a hiking trail and they had to find a clearing or a paved road at
some point. While he ran, he kept seeing blue shrubbery surrounding him. He heard every stick
snap under his feet in high stereo.
    Chrissy shrieked and fell to the ground. “My ankle! I think Imp stuck!” Scott fell with her. He
rolled onto his stomach and tried to pry her foot loose. He couldn’t get a solid grip on her leg or any
kind of branch. He grew angrier and didn’t know why. “Dammit! Get up! You have to get loose.”
   “I can’t!” She wailed.
    She started screaming uncontrollably. Scott heard humming, but it was louder that the surround
sound at the multiplex theater. He started screaming, enraged. He didn’t feel her body go limp or
hear her screams silenced as he fell unconscious.

                            *********************

    Scott couldn’t recognize any voices as he woke. He didn’t know why he saw what seemed to be
nothing but masses of white surrounding him. He groaned and tried to turn on his side only to wince
as he felt the sharp pain in the inside of his elbow. Soon, his entire body felt bloated, swollen, with
little pins trying to pop the balloons in his body to let out the pressure, yet failing to do anything but
hurt.
    “Don’t try to turn on your side,” a female voice snapped. Did she mean him?
    He heard two other voices in the distance. They were unfamiliar and grim to him. Where was he
anyway?
    “Lucky to be alive, I guess. More than we could say for the girl. I’ve never seen anyone beaten so
badly with a rock before. Though Imp sure her head was bashed against one of the stones around
them.”
    “They were both so full of drugs. My guess was she barely knew what hit her.”
    “Hope so, but this doesn’t help us.”
    Scott groaned and tried to sit upright in the hospital bed. He felt as though his body were floating.
Too many needles. He tried to shoot once, long ago, but couldn’t stand the sight of the blood.
    So much blood. The thought made him sick. Through the glare of his headache he tried to figure
out what everyone was talking about. How was he going to get out of this bed?
    “We’ve been searching for this killer for months now. He killed three girls now, but this one wasn’t
raped like the others. He didn’t bash their heads in either. All of the victims were stabbed and left in
the woods beyond the skylight ride.”
    “I guess this is going to cause panic now that it hit the press. Especially since we have a survivor.”
    Scott lay shaking. He tried to open his eyes. So much he couldn’t remember. He drifted into
painful sleep. Their words were part of a dream. They had to be.
    “I don’t know if our investigators will find anything in the woods, but I’d sure like to know what that
kid was doing with the bloody rock in his hand.”