More like in front of me than below me: in other words, the place where I’m going to land is an amusement park. My town is in the rustic countryside, so there’s no fashionable tourist attractions like this. That’s why this amusement park is unfamiliar to me.
It wasn’t like a certain theme park everyone knows that one would see often on TV. It looked like a slightly off-putting, mysterious amusement park made by and catering to people of a different country or culture.
There was a castle in the center. It was an eerie thing, like a clump of protruding black tubes— much more fitting for a demon lord to live in, rather than a princess. Here and there, steel frames jutted out like broken bones sticking out of the skin. Around the castle flew countless creatures that could either be birds or bats. There was a richly colored swamp nearby, as well.
Several large attractions— such as roller coasters and Ferris wheels— were placed around the castle, as if to surround it.
All of them were designed to make you feel anxious just by looking at them, even though getting people to have fun should have been the main point. For example: the Ferris wheel had hanged corpses hung on it, and the gondola windows were broken, with something that looked like tentacles growing out of them. The roller coaster also clearly cut out in the middle, and had what looked like a skull riding on the tracks.
I can’t see well because it’s too far away, I observed, but there are also what appears to be a mansion and a palace, as well as restaurants and food stands. This place also seems to have the classics; small rides like merry-go-rounds, go karts, spinning cups, and the like.
Just at a glance, there are also several other things that I can’t tell the purpose of: a jet black orb, a huge spider web, a head from some kind of reptile or something...stuff like that was everywhere.
Each one is mysterious on its own, but taken as a whole, one could somehow understand that this was an amusement park. If I strained my ears, I could also hear fitting music. The place seems quite busy, with lots of people walking about and looking like they’re having fun.
“AAAaaaaahhh!” And, currently, I’m falling towards that strange amusement park from a great height.
It’s not really the time for it but, letting out a sigh, I finally found the answer to one of my questions:
“I see. This is a dream after all.” There’s no way this is real— ① was correct, this is a dream. You’re not supposed to feel any pain in dreams, but my neck has been sore from the pressure that was put on it before for a while now. Well, that’s probably just a small detail anyway.
Stuff like falling from a great height should be common in dreams, after all. And all these utterly incomprehensible and mysterious events would be common in a dream, too. I was relieved. Once I woke up, I’d be back to the same old, boring, but fairly peaceful life.
Hm... I wondered. But what if I don’t wake up? This stupid thought came into my brain. Nevertheless, it made my insides run cold suddenly, and I shivered. Is this really a dream? If so, why does it feel so real? The wind on my skin, this brightness, and the beating of my heart all feel very real.
Suddenly very scared, I started flailing about again. It was meaningless; nothing changed at all. I can’t even scream anymore.
Suddenly, I felt someone’s gaze on me. I did the impossible, and looked over in that direction.
It’s probably my imagination, I thought, but I swear someone is looking at me. Someone on the ground probably noticed me falling from the sky, and that aroused their interest. No wait, this gaze isn’t that proactive.
It’s like someone who’s watching the TV to kill time, but he hasn’t changed the channel because he’s not really watching. It was listless, with no interest, like someone seeing a pebble on the side of the road. At least, I felt that way— I have no real basis for it.
It was just like me while I was tending the store, staring at the television like it was a mirror that reflected my own image back to me. Like meeting a ghost by chance, it felt similar to that one, somewhat creepy moment.
I was being watched by someone. But it felt like that someone was me... I can’t calm down, I’ve got the chills. Who is it? Who’s watching me? Before finding out who that someone was, I heard the snap of something being cut— and just like a TV powering off, my vision went dark.