As the Ferris Wheel Turns

This little story is for Mikeydred’s November challenge.

November may signal the start of winter, but also brings new possibilities.

Life turns when our minds do.

**************************************************************

Everfall was an apt name for the nondescript town - almost everything in it had fallen apart. The town had basked in glory days - it had been a thriving community, with families enjoying moments together at picnics and beaches.

At the centre of this once-living town was a long-abandoned amusement park, where these same families converged, holding bales of cotton candy and paper cartons filled to the brim with tacos. A once-grandiose Ferris wheel remained at its centre, creaking in pain as it turned. Arlo, the town’s tireless engineer, worked throughout the day to make sure that all was in order.

One wondered what the use of his supreme efforts was since no one noticed the wheel. Arlo, though, possessed greater understanding than most - his dear grandfather, before his recent passing, had warned that leaving it to disrepair would lead to Everfall truly falling and losing its once-vibrant wonder.

**************************************************************

Like every typical small-town teen, the cloying atmosphere of Everfall held Elise in a chokehold. Not one to stay at home when told, she often gave in to her curiosity and sought the unusual, no matter the cost.

She hadn’t the resources to venture far, so she made do with what was available to satisfy her teen wiles -the town’s now-defunct amusement park. With nothing to manage her restlessness, she found herself on the grounds, on a hunt for any remotely captivating activity.

She witnessed Arlo, as usual, trying his utmost to give life to the amusement park’s Ferris wheel. But it wouldn’t turn, no matter his physical effort; he had put in all his strength.

Then, she noticed him getting a little disgruntled. “I wish that this darned contraption would move, just once!”

The wheel, ever so slowly, budged a few inches. Then Arlo, anxious to be the engineer who finally got it to spin, cranked it with his spanner.

That was when it stopped moving altogether. Elise realised the wheel, inanimate as it was, would only move when the engineer wished it would.

“It moves only when someone wants it to.” She uttered under her breath.

After watching Arlo work at the wheel for a while, she also noticed something else - the wheel slowed further each time Arlo grew too impatient to wait for it to pick up speed.

“That contraption will move only when someone takes action to make his wishes come true.”

The realisation was profound. The young teen, wise beyond her years, also knew what it meant - if no one took action to make their dreams a reality, the Ferris wheel would not move.

Arlo was growing old - he would soon no longer have any more fight in him to spin any further.

Neither would Everfall.

**************************************************************

Pushed by her realisation, Elise gathered the townspeople at the amusement park. Lulled by mundanity, they were resistant at first; but the urgency and passion in the young teen’s tone told them to give her a moment.

“Ok, but you’d better give us something worthwhile,” Sam, the town’s clockmaker, sighed, relenting at Elise’s enthusiasm.

Elise shared the wheel’s secret with them. “It’ll stop once we’re too content with the way we are. We’ve become too ready to baulk at the slightest curve ball…and if we keep doing that, the wheel will eventually stop turning.”

Sam, ever the hardened sceptic snickered under his breath. “Who’s ever heard of a wheel that revolves when a person’s dreams? That’s utter rubbish!” The others nodded.

Abruptly, each of the wheel’s lights gave out. The crowd buzzed. Arlo’s features were taking on a dark pallor; he holding on to his last vestige of strength.

Mabel, the town’s seamstress, finally spoke. “I think I know what this little girl means. That heap of junk only crawls to life if we want it to. Let’s save Arlo…and ourselves.”

Slowly, each person shared his dream in halting words.

“I…..want to open a restaurant one day.” Sam kicked things off.

Then, Mabel, the town’s seamstress, followed. “I want a boutique.”

Finally, Elise shared her dream. "I've always wanted this town to grow. Become bigger. To be more than it already is."

As each of them shared their aspirations, the rusty Ferris wheel came to life, spinning slowly, then faster.

And faster.

**************************************************************

As the wheel transformed, so did Arlo. It reached its highest, brightest point, with its lights shimmering.

And they waned again. The crowd gasped.

Arlo struggled to breathe. “I…have a confession to make. I’ve never ridden that wheel -I was too busy supporting my family. Now -” he choked, “I’m too old to make it turn.”

Elise gripped his shoulder. “No, Arlo. You’ve turned it. But…” She faced the crowd. “We need to help you.”

“B…but how?” The engineer sputtered. He had grown weaker, more pallid.

Elise turned to the crowd. “What we need to do..that wheel lives when we will.”

Arlo’s eyes slowly closed, and his face took on a radiant glow. He passed with a gentle, beaming smile.

**************************************************************

At the stroke of midnight, the Ferris wheel, having returned to its former glory, lit up and revolved with an energy no one had seen or sensed in decades. Vibrant colours soon lit up the park and its stores. The little gathering gaped as it took in what was happening.

Small crowds returned over the next few weeks. These grew…and grew. Everfall had its first November of hope in years.

Arlo had left Everfall, but not in despair - the Ferris wheel now had Elise winding and spinning its cogs. It came to life each night, as did the once-lifeless amusement park.

As December approached, the wheel spun to new tunes and lights, ever ready to lift Everfall.