Have a Banana

(9) A Maze of People and Mirrors

<< at the theme park, earlier that day

We rode the bumper boats, the sound of the engines deafening our ears. But we still had these huge grins on our faces as we soaked one another with every crash. She squealed in delight as water splashed around her.

"MICHAEL!" she squealed. "Stooop!"

"Say I'm the best at bumper boats!" I yelled laughing along with her.

"Aaaah!" she screamed before getting back in control of the boat. She laughed and threw her head back, her hair swaying in the air...it was strangely familiar. I can barely see a hazy little girl, throwing her head without a care in the world. That girl was-

"You're the best!!!" screamed Anne breaking me away from strange scenes that are only barely familiar to me.

"Damn right, I am!" I yelled just before the bell rang telling us to park the boats and let others have a chance to play.

I quickly jumped off mine and helped her off hers. Then we snaked our way out of the lines of people.

It was crazy, I didn't know where line started and where the other ended. When I asked what line a lady was in, she said it was for the roller coaster, then I asked the man next to her and he said it was for the Horror House. It seemed all the rides had lines a mile long. We kept bumping into people and kids kept bumping into us, their parents chasing after them, losing their place in line.

We contented ourselves to visiting the kiosks and stalls checking out the win-a-prize games. I wasn't gonna be the typical boyfriend who tried to win everything. For one thing, I wasn't her boyfriend. For another... I wasn't her boyfriend.

"I feel sorry for the fish," she said pointing at the kiosk where people tried to catch a fish with a paper net. "No one really takes care of them after they caught them."

"Let's try another stall," I said tearing her away from the sad sight of a little kid who kept poking the plastic bag where the fish was in.

As we moved through the park we managed to collect an assortment of knick-knacks: Matching key chains, small plush toys ('cause we wouldn't know where to put the big ones anyway), a silver chain, licorice. We were just enjoying the 'sugar crash' as we walked lazily to an area where the crowds were less dense.

We looked up from where we were and we saw, not a house of mirrors, but a roleplay type of entertainment with mirrors.

"Wow, look at that spider-girl," said Anne pointing to a spider at the opening.

" 'Maze Adventure'. Strange, I don't remember this ride," I said.

"We're new," said the girl with the spider costume. "We're trying out some new ideas for the theme park so... ta-da! It's historical roleplay."

"Mind filling us in?" I asked as Anne and I approached.

"Of course not. And it would mean a lot if you can try it out for us," she said pointing at the entrance. "Well, I'm Ariadne, that's who I am suppose to be anyway. So basically, you go in the maze and I help you by giving you this my 'thread'."

"Oh like the minotaur's maze," said Anne. "I get it. Ariadne's web helped Oddyseus navigate around the minotaur's maze."

"Exactly!" she said. "But there's a twist. See, you get to be a minotaur... or you can be the lost warrior."

"I'll be the minotaur!" I said excitedly.

"Oh sorry sir, you won't get to choose. Part of the thrill is, you don't know. You just pick up an item in the secret box," she said pointing at the box beside her.

Anne, without waiting for anything more, put her hand in and pulled out a horn.

"Oh that means you're the minotaur!" said Ariadne.

I put my hand inside the box and I drew out a small sword. "I guess, I'm lost."

"Here," said Ariadne as she placed a wound up coil in my hand. "The string does help. Good luck."

Anne waved at me then she suddenly dashed inside the maze. I ran after her but I stopped when I saw she was gone.

"Sir, the object of the game is to find the exit. But me thinks your objective is to find her... If this was real, you'd be courting your death. But since it's not, just try not to break anything."

And with that Ariadne turned away. "Wait, what's her objective? Doesn't the minotau stay inside the maze?"

"The minotaur is suppose to catch the warrior or keep him lost inside. But don't worry, we'll sound the bell when you've passed the exit, at which point guiding lights will guide her to the exit and she has lost the game."

I gulped suddenly feeling uneasy about this. But then I had to grab the minotaur by the horns and get this over with, no pun intended. I steeled myself and took a step inside.

I was immediately assaulted by the vision of a thousand different "Michael"s surrounding me. There were fat me's, tall me's, squiggly me's that it made it hard to decipher whether there was a corner or a dead end. It was gonna be a lot harder than I thought.

I looked at the coil and sighed. I knelt to the ground and placed the iron rod where the string was coiled on top of the loose soil. Using the sword prop, I started hammering it down to the earth. When I was confident that is was secured and wouldn't start following me around when I tugged it, I got up with one of the string around my wrist.

There in front of me was Anne's reflection. She was looking at me strangely, as if I was food. I saw her grin slightly and then she said, "Let the game begin."

She turned a corner and was gone from my sight only to be reflected by another mirror at the far end of the hallway to my right.

Thing about mirrors, they're liars. They make you think it's infront of you when in fact it's behind you. That beauty mark on the left, is actually on the right. It takes quite a bit of growing up to know the difference... and even then, sometimes, you still get fooled.

But the harshest thing about mirrors... they tell a truth beyond the lies aforementioned. And you find yourself in even greater trouble than you first thought. It's one thing to deal with how you appear to be, it's another to deal with who you really are... besides, what is real?

"Anne?" I shouted as loud as I could, panic sloly rising in my chest.

"Banana!" she shouted back as I made my way through, twisting and turning. I tried to ignore what I saw and what I still keep seeing at the corner of my eye. It was suppose to be my reflection. But I swear, that wasn't me.