Dreamland Awakening

The Fair

" You sure y'know where we are?" Slinx said.

" Relax Slinx, what's the worst that can happen?" Cavina said.

"Oh I dunno, maybe die!? We're in the sewers! Who knows what the heck lurks here?"

The duo entered the sewers an hour ago.

"You're gonna thank me later once we get there." Cavina pointed towards the path ahead,

"See the dim light over there? We're getting close."

Slinx groaned, even with the wildest of guesses he would not foresee this scenario.

They arrived at the entrance of the sewers at the end of the beach. The entrance, in no sign at all, indicated it led towards the sewers. It looked like an entrance to the subway with proper stairs, so when Cavina said: " We're gonna go for a walk, It'll be fun!" Slinx actually believed her.

But as soon as he saw the sewage-flooded floor reaching knee-level, he knew he had made a mistake.

"Who in the right mind takes a walk in the sewers?" Slinx thought. Though he dare not say it aloud. After all, who was he to question Cavina of her actions? She was clearly the cooler, and wiser between them.

They continued their "walk" for 20 minutes, with every step they took pushing them towards the beam of light. And when they reached it, Slinx's jaw-dropped for the second time this day.

Cavina smirked, "Welcome to the Atlas Fair!"

In front of Slinx was a theme park that was built in the sewage. They were standing in front of the entrance which was the height of a five-story building. A colossal Neon sign hung above the entrance, it read "Aas air" with three of the glowing letters malfunctioning. It also had a goofy looking humanoid rat as its mascot which was suspiciously reminiscent of the mascot of another theme park in real life.

"You'll like it more when you see what's inside." Cavina whispered softly into Slinx's right ear.

She took his hand and pulled him forward, Slinx smiled. Though this was clearly no magical date at Disneyland, it was close enough to a perfect fantasy.

But he clearly misjudged the kinky old Atlas fair.

This fair was no garbage dump Slinx had expected it to be.

In fact, there were actually people.

Hundreds. No, maybe even thousands.

Who were these people? And why were they here? Why were these people smiling and laughing? How did he not hear this massive crowd from the entrance?

"This place..."

Why do I feel like I've been here? Why is there light and electricity down here? What exactly am I seeing? Why isn't the pirate ship guarded by fences? How is it possible that the spinning cups levitate in mid air? What kind of mundane concept is this to put multiple Ferris wheels onto a Ferris wheel? How are these small Ferris wheels all attached to this one big Ferris wheel circulating yet in different directions? Can this still be called a Ferris wheel?

Slinx could have chosen to raise all of those questions in hopes of rationalizing this world he was in. But he held his tongue and his lips shut, he knew the answers would not satisfy him, for reasoning was not why Slinx fell in love with this place.

" It's no fun if we just stand here all day," Cavina impatiently poked Slinx on his arm.

" We've got to do some exploring! Let's go!" Cavina grabbed Slinx by the hand. Again.

For the second time in this dream, Slinx felt a thrust of energy he never experienced in the real world. He was feeling more alive than he had ever been awake. Despite its location and malfunctioning sign, Atlas Fair would still win by a landslide compared to any real-life theme park. In short, Atlas Fair was better in every way you could imagine: the laser shooting hover crafts felt more futuristic than modern spacecrafts, and the flying tea cups were more fantastical than any of the castles and monsters you see in medieval folklore. Slinx allowed his mind to wander off as he stared infatuatedly at Cavina, smiling as he saw her scoring her third shot to win a prize.

As a city boy, Slinx never learnt the thrill in exploring the unknown. Neither did he know it was one of his deepest cravings. He was a caged bird, who never understood the concept of freedom. He felt trapped but saw no escape.

Dreamland was his gateway to freedom, and Cavina was his key.

Slinx had found his escape, and could now see what makes dreamland so enchanting to him.

It was the chance to explore the unknown, but not the reasoning behind.