Rainforest Run

The second they touched the ground, before a staff member could even come over to set them loose, the Pop sisters broke from their restraints themselves and dashed towards the exit, catching all eight the family’s eyes. They know, Frankie thought. They know we’re after it.

Leaving Willow behind, she tried to orient herself inside what she’d seen up in the air; difficult though it may have been, she at least knew the general direction of the cloudy area, even if an optimized route was impossible to plan. The family must have not been as competitive as she was fearing, because there weren’t any footsteps behind her as she and Katie dodged crowds and staff. Still, she ran anyway. She ran, again, even with her flip-flops slipping and her stomach burning. The icon of desperation didn’t know anything else, after these travels that made her break forever.

When they found themselves in the rainforest, running became even more difficult. Next to impossible. Frankie didn’t want to slow down, and Katie wasn’t planning to either- yet, however determined they were to ignore their surroundings and beeline to the crow, the dangerously increasing wetness of the ground couldn’t be brushed aside. Forced to take in the atmosphere of the rainy jungle, clouded with fog and the sounds of animals, they wondered whether or not they were enjoying any of this to begin with.

“There.”

In time, Frankie pointed to a watchtower centered in the core of the subzone, tall and wooden, topped with a black roof not visible from the ground. They took the stairs up inside it, entering a glass cabin atop its supports. Here they could see over the trees again- but unlike the swings, more intimately: guests below the leaves could be spotted, taking different paths through the same cartoon wildlife preservation, all here to claim some commercialized experience for the earnings no doubt made from supporting a different one in their own hometown. Earth’s microcosm, laid out before their eyes- Frankie’s disgusted glare, and Katie’s admiring stare.

Not much time was spent people-watching before they tried to find a way to the roof. There wasn’t a ladder in the room, or even some trapdoor on the ceiling. The only staff member there was a tall girl waiting in anticipation for someone, anyone there to ask her a question.

“Katie.”

“What?”

“Go ask the staff. Tell them we need up on the roof.”

“Are you… scared? Frankie, in the past few days, we’ve literally-“

“Just do it, okay?”

Frankie watched her sister saunter up to the over-enthusiastic young employee and talk to her, all while continuously turning back to point to her younger sister. Humiliating though it was, the employee soon led them back to the top of the stairwell they’d came from.

“You’re the first ones to get here.” She spoke with a smile, grabbing hold of a wood beam on the corner of the porch entrance. Revealing a secret button, a noise buzzed as she pressed it, the guard rails behind her collapsing as a spiral staircase jutted out to take their place, leading up to the watchtower roof. “Good luck! If you see Miss Willow, tell her I said hi.”

Frankie nervously nodded as they took a walk up the newly-created second layer of stairs. The roof was fenced-in now, providing safety. Someone really seemed to care about this sudden game, the introvert thought, climbing over to find the painted crow head on the side of the circular roof facing the Flock 100. Over its mouth, an old, proplike key covered in false moss was taped to the surfaces of the roof.

“About time.”

Frankie felt the weight of the key in her hands, unsure of where they’d go next or how completion was supposed to go in this hunt when only two proprietary keys were needed to enter. She just hoped she could find the second one sooner than later.

When they stepped down, the woman closed the stair contraption, grinning as she did.

“Is it sad that you only get to use that once, after someone went through the trouble of building it?” Katie suddenly asked exactly what Frankie had been thinking just as they were leaving, itching at the sister’s patience anyway. The cast member was more than happy to answer.

“Usually, those stairs are for VIP guests who want someplace special to go. Miss Willow caused quite a stir, reserving them for her project.” She giggled. “Isn’t she the best?”

“Yes, she is, thank you very much.” Frankie took her sister’s hand, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Stepping back out into the woods, their clothes soaked, Frankie wondered where that next key could be.

“Where to next?” Her sibling asked.

“I dunno. Maybe we should just-“ about to suggest they retrace their steps, Frankie caught an eye full of luck. Whether it was good or bad this time remained to be seen.

A short, prickly-haired blonde girl, no older than seventeen, marching forward as if she owned this park and all the world they stood in, spun her matching key in her ringed fingers as she tried to blow a bubble of gum inside the heavy artificial rain, the frail thing popping instantly.

“Ah, hell.” She frowned, heading on to somewhere they couldn’t predict, her baggy pants growing annoyingly heavy as the water collected on them under her simple tank.

Frankie had no choice but to follow.