Caratland [Seventeen FF]

-51-

Everything seemed to float. It was... bright? Yeah, I would use this word to describe it. I wasn't heavy at all, when I fell on the floor. The grass was coloured in a striking green and the sun shone brightly. I didn't remember anything at all, but everything seemed so peaceful. I also felt relieved, as if I escaped something bad lately and can now live in peace. I looked down to my tiny hands. Seems like hands from a seven year old. I looked in front of me and saw a lot of trees and flowers. Just nature being nature. I stood up and started walking around.

While walking around, the world build itself. It was creepy, but I somehow found it familiar. It also had a relaxing feeling to it. I liked it. Suddenly a person appeared in front of me. He was tall with short hair and a nice smile plastered on his face. He wore a blue jacket and dark pants. He seemed so familiar to me, but I didn't remember where I saw this person before. I tilted my head, but he just started laughing.
"Don't you remember me, Soonyoung?", he asked, still giggling a little. All of a sudden a hard headache hit me. I held my head because of the pain, but it disappeared shortly after. My eyes grew bigger as I looked at the person again.
"Dad?", I asked excited and overjoyed, jumping up and down.
"Yes, it's me", he replied and spread his arms. I immediately ran into them holding him tightly. It felt as if I haven't done that in a long time. His hug felt so warming and full of emotions even though I didn't understand everything yet. He let go of me and we kept walking.

As we walked down a hill, an amusement park appeared from the far. I stopped walking to look at it in detail. I could see the ferris wheel and the carousels and the roller coasters, but most importantly I saw the game stands. I usually liked the roller coasters more, but for some reason my eyes kept stuck on the game stands, as if I shared precious memories with it.
"Can we go there?", I asked my father, but he shook his head, still walking. I pouted, but followed him again.
"You can't go there anymore", he denied without looking at me.
"Why?", I asked confused, but he didn't reply.

While we kept walking, I saw a golf ball and two bats floating in the air. I got shivers from looking at it. I think I had bad memories, but also good ones with it. I could only sense that feeling, but I didn't know from what it was coming.

Further away from the gold equipment I saw zombie-like pigs and goats eating tangerines. The sight of it made me happy instead of scaring me, which zombies are supposed to do.

Lastly we went to a house. It was a small hut to be specific. It seemed old as nature made it half a part of it with the flowers growing on it.
"We're here, Soonyoung", my father smiled.
"What's that?", I asked him pointed at the hut.
"We're home, Soonyoung", he said. Home... A home is something good, but why wasn't I feeling happy?
"Can't we play outside a little more?", I asked sulking.
"It's already getting dark. Little kids shouldn't be around this late", he explained. I pouted and followed him to the door. The world seemed so fantasy-like. As if it was everything I ever wanted even if I don't remember anything. My father opened the door and behind that door were two plushies. The one being a little tiger, which was held by a boy plushie. The boy wore a striped shirt combinated with beige shorts. The thing that stood out the most were it's pink short hair, styled in bowl-cut. Suddenly I got this headache again. This time it was worse than before. So painful that I held my head with both my arms, crouching down. And then something hit my mind like a hard tennis ball.

I remembered everything. I remembered the amusement park. That park was called caratland and I was working there. I wasn't a kid anymore I was a grown up 22 years old guy. The goats and pigs from before were from a game that I always played with someone. And that someone was a small pink haired guy called Jihoon. But why am I here? What's going on? We were seconds ago in a living nightmare. What is that world? Where am I? And why is my father alive?

"For what are you waiting? Let's eat something delicious inside", my father said, reaching out to me.
"Dad, you died years ago. Why are you here? And what is that?", I asked, backing up a little from him. His smile finally faded. He looked down.
"So you remember now", he said. "It's okay, Soonyoung. You don't need to worry anymore. It's all fine now. You aren't in danger anymore. Now let's go in and eat", my father said, smiling a little.
"But I worry. What happened to my friends?", I asked. He sighed and looked away again.
"You need to decide now: Don't you want to stay with me in a world without worries or pain? In a world full of your wishes and things you ever asked for?", he asked me. I had to think, but I actually already knew the answer. I balled my fists and looked at my dad's eyes.

"I felt so much pain in my life, but I learned that this is the way life works. I missed you so badly, dad. There was nothing I wished more back then than having you in my life again. I would've done everything only to see you again. And I don't know how you can be here, but I know one thing for sure: You aren't the only one I started craving in my life. Living with worries made me human like the others. Learning how to appreciate the people remaining in my life. Things that I learned after your death and things I don't want to forget. This world isn't perfect, because something is missing: My friends aren't here, dad. I want to see my friends again even if I have to return to that nightmare", I said, not looking at him.
"So you decided", he uttered sad, a bittersweet smile on his face. "Come at least visit me, when you think it's time to", he smiled. I looked into his eyes, but as I blinked he and the world started fading into the yellow nothing...