9:13 PM

“The fair is closed,” blared over the intercom system. “Please exit to your vehicles.”

Most people were on their way out already, except for those who had to know. They huddled around the Ferris wheel, jostling for position to see the unthinkable.

***

8:45 PM

Kevin closed his eyes and held them shut as the machine finally stopped. Covered in blood and shaking like a leaf, he refused to look at Randy’s shredded body, embedded in the drive cable.

***

8:43 PM

Another trip around, another blood shower. Kevin held the phone to his head and his shirt over him like an umbrella, hoping to keep some off of him.

“Yes, the Ferris wheel,” he screamed into the phone for the third time. “The chair in front of mine.”

***

8:41 PM

Randy’s body finally stopped twitching. The corpse flopped against the metal as the wheel made another round. Kevin was in such a state of shock, that he could barely remember the number for 911.

***

8:39 PM

Randy screamed as the drive cable crushed his hands again. He struggled for footing and slipped, throwing his leg in between the cable and the groove in the wheel. As the cable tightened, his leg was compressed, then broken, then amputated in a matter of seconds.

Kevin received his first shower as Randy’s femoral artery was severed.

***

8:37 PM

Randy’s hands slipped. He grabbed whatever he could to avoid falling. Unfortunately, he grabbed the drive channel just as the cable settled into it. His hands were crushed, causing him to scream in agony.

***

8:35 PM

The cart swung down, throwing Randy toward the ground. Only by sheer luck did he stick his hand out and grab a support beam.

“SHIT!” he screamed as the ride continued at full speed.

He jammed his foot in between two supports. As the ground quickly approached, he tensed to jump.

He let go with his hands, expecting to fall, but his foot was now stuck fast and turned at an unnatural angle, breaking the first bone of many.

***

8:33 PM

“Hey, my chair’s shaking badly,” Randy yelled to the attendant, who looked at him with annoyance, then leaned over and pulled on the brake.

Nothing happened. He punched the emergency stop button but the ride continued unabated.

Randy started upwards again when the bolt snapped.

***

8:30 PM

Randy sat down in his chair as the attendant, looking very stoned, buckled a leather strap across his lap.

“Will that really save my life?” he asked.

The kid shrugged. “You never know.”

***

7:45 AM

The Ferris wheel attendant sat in his tent with the guy who ran the scrambler. The haze that hung in the air smelled sweet.

“I guess we should go do our safety checks,” he slurred to the other.

“Fuck that, they don’t pay me enough. Besides, in the two years I’ve worked here, I’ve never done a single safety check. Nothing’s happened so far.”