I desire: To be anyone but me.
Folding the paper, I drop my pencil in a little basket and wave at Arial. “Come on.”
“You’re done already?”
“I didn’t write a 12-book series like you did, Arial. Come on!”
She scoffs at me. “Write one more thing. Just one more.”
Hesitating, I roll my eyes, grab her pencil to scribble on my list.
I desire: True love.
Knowing full well that none of my wishes will come true, I hold the list it in my left hand and wait in line for my turn in the tunnel. The people ahead of me are looking at their phones and pointing to the tunnel. Curious, I grab my phone to see if an app pops up. The only thing displayed is the same text message Arial got on her phone. I try and clear it, but it won’t go away.
Another thrilled set of shouts blast from inside the tunnel. A deep tremor of excitement goes through me. Arial links her arm into mine.
“What’s going on in there?”
“I can’t wait to find out!”
We’re next in line when my phone beeps. Random bursts of light twinkle inside the darkened screen, as if I’d smashed the glass and ruined the liquid screen. But the glass isn’t broken.
“What the hell?”
I show Arial. Her face contorts. “Mine is doing it, too.”
Realizing it’s my turn, I hold my phone with the screen facing me so I can see what happens when I enter the tunnel and grip the paper tightly in my left. Giving my friend a smile, I take a deep breath and enter.
The crowd ahead of me is gone, leaving me alone inside. Heart beating with wild anticipation, I touch my fingers along the smooth interior of the tunnel as I go. The colors increase in intensity about halfway through and the air pulsates like a speaker pumping straight bass. Bracing myself to experience something amazing any second, I keep going. And then I’m at the end.
Glancing over my shoulder, I look for Arial, but I don’t see her. She must not have come through yet. I want to wait for her, but there’s only a couple feet of tunnel left. People mill around the exit, staring inside and watching me. I’ve got no choice but to get out.
Frowning, I make my way through the last bit of tunnel and exit. There’s a metal container on my left with a mesh dome that contains a slit in the top. A glowing orange light comes up from the bottom, giving the appearance of flames.
“Put your paper inside so your wishes come true.”
I glance at the man giving instructions, and dishearteningly drop my paper into the lame, fake fire. My shoulders slump, my excitement dislodging with deep disappointment. That was a letdown.
Arial runs out of tunnel with her arms held high, and an exuberant, “whoop-whoop!”
Her face is pure joy as she runs a circle around me. “That was awesome!”
Was it? It was just a tube with weird flashing lights. Strange. I don’t say anything because I don’t want to dampen her experience. A woman in a striped yellow and blue dog costume comes around with the tray supporting long, slender flutes of neon alcohol. Wisps of smoke rise from each glass. She stops before us and hitches a brow.
“Are you ladies over twenty-one?”
We both show her the bright orange bands on our wrists that indicate we’re old enough for alcohol. She passes each of us two drinks. “Cheers to your deepest desires! Be careful ladies, these are pretty strong.”
She flounces away leaving me to my double fisting.
I am not a drinker. I’m lucky if I have half a glass of wine every other month. But this is CosPlay Con and Arial and I have a hotel room for the night right next door. So, here goes nothing.
“Here’s to poison of the Gods, or whatever!”
We give each other cheers and toss back the first flute. It tastes like strong blue raspberry with a slight, burning kick of alcohol. Arial makes an ‘O’ with her mouth and a stream of smoke comes out. Energized by the drink, I toss back the next one. Whoa, the waitress wasn’t kidding. The alcohol goes straight to my head.
And just like that, I’m having a very, very good time.
