Entries for National Reader's Contest Season Two

Phobia on Phobia

Go on the Ferris Wheel, they said. It will be fun, they said! Yeah right! They knew I was terrified of heights, but the moment my friends and I got onto the carnival grounds they dragged me to that Wheel of Death. 

"Gabrielle, you're, like, such a wimp!" Marisa teased and twirled her rich blond locks through her fingers. "It's just a little ride, and, like, everyone does it. Like, you haven't lived until you've at least, like, gotten to the top."

"Yeah, girly," Pam said, "I'm terrified of birds, remember, but I still come to your house despite that stupid cockatoo."

"It's a sparrow," I muttered, but she was right. She faced her fears every time she came over. The least I could do was go on a ride, her favorite ride at that. "Fine," I groaned and let them drag me by the wrist to line to wait. 

It took a few minutes to get to the front of the line and hand over the tickets, and the entire time my heart thudded, and my chest grew small and tight. I swiped my sweaty palms against my tight jeans. The towering wheel stretched up so high above us, I felt like I was going to throw up. It had to be a mile high!

"Um.. Excuse me, sir?" I meekly croaked to the ticket collector. "How high is this thing?"

The man turned and looked at me with a chuckle. "It's only 63 feet or so."

I gulped, and I knew the color drained from my face. 

"Looks like it's your turn!" The guy announced cheerily and opened the gate and helped us into a little circle bench with nice protective bars to keep us from falling out pressing into our thighs. It seemed okay, I guess. But then it pulled out of the waiting spot and swayed suddenly. My arm shot over to Marisa's and clenched her forearm tight. 

"OW!" she gasped. "Honey, you're, like, cutting of my circulation or something."

"Sorry," I said, but didn't loosen my grip in the least. Slowly, we climbed up and up, the ground growing farther and farther away. My eyes stayed fixed on the one blade of grass until I couldn't distinguish it from the others, at which point I just watched the place I knew it must be.

"Guys, I don't like this," I whimpered."Like, at all."

"Baby!" Pam joked, and slid her thin form out from under the restraining bar and stood up to start hopping around the center. 

"PAM!" I shrieked. "Sit down! You'll fall!"

"It's fine!" She laughed. "I do this all the time!" She yelled with delight, but I couldn't watch. As we rose higher and higher she bounced, and my heart grew tighter with every second her feet were off the ground. 

"Look!" She squealed. "We're almost at the top!" Then the ride came to a shuttering halt, and Pam jerked back to a seat. 

"What was that?" I gasped. Pam actually looked a little concerned. 

"I guess we stopped," she said, and got back into the center to hang out. My grip on Marisa's arm grew even tighter.

"Are you, like, trying to like keep the blood from getting to my hand?" she mumbled.

"Sorry," I said, and this time let her go. Just then, she pushed up the restraint bar.

"Aren't these, like, supposed to stay locked?" Marisa said aloud, and went to stand with Pam. I looked back at the ground and gasped.

The carnival lights, the street lamps, every other ride, they all lost power leaving the ground a chilling black. The crescent moon did nothing to lighten the space. The stars glowed brightly in the dark.

"What was that?" Pam whispered suddenly, and pointed at the sky. 

"Where? I don't see anything?" I said.

"That!" She shrieked and I saw it, the dark outline of a bird blocking out a fair part of the sky.

It darted to and fro, slowly turning it's pattern into a steady circle right over head. Pam wimped softly. It didn't take long before another joined the first, then another, and yet another. 

"I don't like this..."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have forced us to go on this God forsaken ride!" l

"Girls, there's, like, nothing to worry about. It's just a couple of birds!"

But at that moment, one of the dark silhouettes dove and swiped huge talons across Marisa's face. Pam screamed, as did Marisa, but all I could feel was my heart pounding, and the lack of ground under me and somewhere safe to run. We were trapped.

The creature struck again, its claws catching in Marisa's hair and dragged her to the edge of the compartment, nearly dragging her over. Her fingers grew white as she tried to cling to the edge. They fought, the bird flapping it's powerful wings, and Marisa digging her nails into any surface she could get a hold on.

Neither Pam or I made a move to help her; Pam was to scared to go near the bird, and I was to scared to go near the edge. 

"Help!" Marisa shrieked, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why won't you help!"

Slowly, her fingers began to slip, and she relied more heavily on her long, well kept fingernails. Her face contorting with pain, her nails slowly peeled back, blood dripping from the tips of her fingers like water from a leaking water bottle. At last, the nails ripped right off and she fell with a blood curdling screech. It ended with an audible thud from somewhere down below. I couldn't bring myself to look.

Pam had tears silently streaking down her cheeks and she collapsed by my feet in the pit between the circular benches, curling into a fetal position and rocked herself back and forth.

"This is all my fault, this is all my fault," she chanted. "This is all my fault." I sat in shock.

What had even just happened?

Before I could answer my own question, a cry sounded from somewhere up above, and the second of the three birds dove down. This one went for Pam. 

It's toes curled into her back, causing her to scream in pain. But I sat, and watched, as the blood seeped from the puncture, as the fiend pulled her up and dragged her over the edge, and dropped her. This time the thud was muffled, as the girl had landed on something soft-

I slowly pulled myself out of the shocked state, and vomited over the side, unable to contain my disgust and fear any longer. Part of my was tempted to cast myself over the edge before the third and final bird came for me, as I knew it would, but I was limp with terror. 

That was when I felt it, the strong rush of air against my back, the claws digging into my shoulders and base of my neck. That was when I heard to screams, both primal, one with glee and the other with pain. One of them had to have been mine, but I didn't feel like I was screaming. Then I saw the ground, the blood dripping past my eyes, and watched as the bodies of Pam and Marisa grew closer and closer and