I too wish you wouldn't leave Hive, @raj808. You have such creative fire. The Ink Well misses you!

This story is painful and intense, but an incredible read. I think it's a bit like an acid trip, although I've never experienced that. But the sense that we're traveling through a place that is almost normal (the amusement park setting), yet at the same time haunting, creepy and surreal, is present throughout. You have an amazing gift for language. You truly do. I know you're leaving the platform to focus on pursuing your creative goals, and I do applaud that! And I believe in you!!

I do have one little request of you, my friend. Because of our rules about gore, and how hard we've worked to set a consistent baseline for what's acceptable, I need to ask if you would please edit one line. I'm not going to repeat it here, but I'll just tell you it's the one where he sees that the boy is dead. Would you please edit that to make it less... oh... cringe-worthy? Thank you. (Also, if you could link directly to the image source, that would be best. Currently the links go to the artist and to Pixabay, but not to the source.)

Well, thank you for popping in to share your story. It's always good to see you here! Hugs!