Once upon a time, there was a ferris wheel…

In a land of ferris wheels, there stands a ferris wheel with many passenger wagons. The coloured wagons make it striking during the day, and as night falls, the intertwined lights make it festive. 

A ferris wheel

Unaware of how you arrived onto the ferris wheel, you see a few occupied wagons. The wheel, already in motion, instills its thrill and you feel your belly rise to your lungs. Days and nights pass, yet the wheel has not completed a full circle. 

You take your first leap to a different wagon, wanting to meet new passengers. The smile of a passenger gives you wings to fly through clouds, while another’s silent tears bring thunderstorms. As you move from wagon to wagon, some wagons roar with laughter and music, while others draw the curtains. Nonetheless, you carry the weight of that smile and those silent tears on your shoulders.   

You take your blind leap but the motion unbalances you, leaving you dangling on the spokes. Just as the last finger is ready to give you up, some passengers reach out, grab, and place you safely in a wagon. Though the wagon comforts you, the trauma of the fall shudders your heart. Your face exposes the smile and the silent tears. You continue in the same wagon, balancing the warmth of the passengers and the shadows of the past. 

With every blink of an eye, each passenger from your wagon disappears, and in the final blink you see the ferris wheel come to a stop. The colours, though faded, still striking; and the spokes, though rusty, still stand strong.  

Sitting in an empty wagon, you notice the passenger, whose tears once brought thunderstorms in your life, fly through clouds. You let a tear slip on a sunny day. You wonder whether the ferris wheel has ever been in motion or if there have ever been passengers at all.