Winter wonderland

Jim and Mary had been walking around London in the cold December air when they spotted the 'Winter Wonderland' from Marble Arch. They both agreed it would be worth looking at.

There were all sorts of Christmas themed stalls and rides, amongst a lot of decidedly non-Christmas rides. A band was playing music and there were lots of cheerful kids running all over the place.

The best looking ride was a simple one which looked like it would have a nice view from the top. It was a tall tower with revolving suspended seats around the outside which swung outwards as they sped up.

Mary knew Jim was uneasy about heights and thought it would be a subtle way to help in easing that feeling. After a few minutes of thinking, Jim said it would be ok since Mary was there beside him for support.

Even though the park was very busy, there was no queue to the ride which seemed a little strange. Disregarding this, they ran over to a pair of seats and an assistant strapped them in.

The ride began, first lifting a few metres above the wet ground before starting to slowly spin. Mary was smiling, knowing she was going to enjoy it. Jim was holding on tight in anticipation of the height.
Slowly but surely the seats lifted higher and higher while increasing the rotation speed. They could see all of Hyde Park and even the tower blocks of the City and Canary wharf.

After some time, Jim was a bit wary of the rotation speed that was accumulating, the lateral force was swinging the seats out almost sideways now. He looked to Mary, who had stopped smiling. Even she knew this was a bit fast.

Round and round the seats went, gaining and gaining speed. Metallic straining could be heard from the supports above the seats. Still faster the rotations increased. The pair of seats in front of them came away from the support and was barely hanging on by one chain.

*Ping* a bolt came away from above Jim and Mary's seats. They looked at each other in shock and closed their eyes. It was no use yelling out because the attendant had disappeared from sight.

A couple of terrifying minutes later there was a terrible sense of cold. Even though it was a cold evening already, this was bone numbingly cold. The relentless spinning continued until the pair became dizzy and disoriented. Jim opened his eyes again, and to his shock - all the other seats were missing! Mary hadn't opened her eyes again, just as well Jim thought.

An orange flash streaked across the horizon. The ride began to slow. In just a minute the ride was turning so slowly that it felt almost still. The seats began to descend from their top position and in a couple of minutes they were back on solid ground. There was no sign of the attendant still, so they let themselves out, shaken and afraid.

After exiting the ride, something was strange. The shouting kids couldn't be heard. The band playing Christmas music was silent. Jim and Mary walked slowly over to a crowd of people to see what was happening. The people were standing completely still, too still. They were frozen like ice statues!

Mary cried out in shock, what was happening?! Jim approached a man and touched his forehead - icy cold and wet. This was too much to understand. Jim and Mary ran through the statuesque crowd to the least occupied spot to escape whatever had happened.

Sitting on the edge of the ice skating rink, Mary heard a noise which sounded like snoring. The pair went towards the sound with caution, thinking someone might be able to explain.
They heard the noise again, coming from behind a ticket booth. It was the attendant from the ride they had just escaped... he was sound asleep and snoring furiously.

Jim nudged him in the ribs with a wet shoe. No response. A slap across the face - that worked. The attendant woke with an angry look on his face.

The sky lit up with another orange flash. The attendant simply got up and stared at Jim and Mary with a fiery orange hue around his pupils. He walked off, rubbing his face.

The music had started again, kids could be heard and people were walking about as though nothing had happened. Jim and Mary walked back towards the ride to see if they could get an explanation. It was gone.