At the End of Every Day by Arianna Reiche

Author:Arianna Reiche
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2023-07-04T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

There’s an emergency exit that leads down the side of the mountain, along a narrow path meant for acrobat cast members who did the daily flight show along fishing line between lands. I think Towe’s not quite agile enough to navigate it as I am. But I must be clumsier than I think. He’s just behind me, shouting about how some people must already be at the central park controls, though he couldn’t possibly know where those are, and how they’re looking for something dangerous, something about the new animatronics. My heart is in my throat. I’ve got to find management. I’ve got to find Andrea or Hery or anyone else. I’ve got to find Brendan.

“I let them in here.”

It sounds like Towe is just over my shoulder, but I venture a look back: he’s full feet up from me, but the sight… makes me wince. The top of the mountain is just there, as well, the illusion of it narrowing into a great height ruined from this vantage point. He’s as tall as the last ice ledge just below the pointed peak. “In exchange for something.”

What does he mean let them in? Every guest has paid for a ticket, or a season pass. There’s no sneaking in, no sneaking out.

“You need to leave,” I hear myself say.

“You need to leave, Delphi. Let them take it.”

“Guests,” I say between little lunges down the steep path. “Gotta evacuate.”

“What guests?”

I stop in my tracks. Turn around. He slows to a halt. He’s sweating. He looks scared.

“What do you mean? Those guests.” I fling an arm at the empty space below.

“There are no guests here, Delphi.”

I want to laugh. This man is deranged.

“There aren’t guests in the shut-off sections, if that’s what you mean.” I know it’s not. “But there are guests on rides. On Caves. Brendan is entertaining guests as we speak.”

That sad look again. “Delphi, there’s only me and the people I came here with. The ones…”

Something over my shoulder. I twist—there. I see what he sees. A little figure. This time I really do laugh. “You were saying?”

And I bound down the last third of the mountain to the concrete below. In my haste I step through a begonia bush at the base. I barrel through the empty queue and launch myself over the outermost barrier post. My feet ache from the climb, but I’m filled with helium, something that makes me light, and then the guest is before me.

I recognize her. The very old woman.

“Oh—” I stutter. I start again, coming closer in happy little steps. “Hello there! There’s no cause for concern, but we’re going to help you exit this section, as it’s shutting down for the season.” How we’ve been trained to say it.

She doesn’t move. Her hair is a small white cloud framing that puckered flesh. She wears glasses on a chain, a tank top that looks like it belongs to a teen. Her arms look featherlight, the texture of paper that’s been balled up, thrown in the trash, salvaged, and balled up for the garbage once more.

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