Gerald Abbing's Amusement Park: A Short Story

Gerald Abbing’s Amusement Park Gerald Abbing sat in the corner of his dark, musty living room. He held the paper in his hands, gently flipping the pages every moment or so. He hadn’t done much since his wife had left for vacation last week. In fact, he had done almost nothing at all. Gerald had spent the last few days re-reading his newspaper and taking sips of his water. But then he heard the piercing ring of the telephone come from the kitchen. It took him a minute, but he got himself out of his chair and went to answer it. He didn’t recognize the voice speaking to him at first, but then he realized. His son, Alwin, was asking his dear father to watch his two children, just for a weekend. Gerald hesitated, he didn’t want to, it would be awkward, considering he hadn’t spoken
to his grandchildren for five years. He was obligated to say yes, and his grandchildren showed up at his door the next day. Small Edmund and Gaby knocked loudly on his flimsy door, until the old man had to get out of bed to answer it. The first thing the two children noticed as they stood outside waiting for their distant grandfather was the vast play area that covered at least an acre of the countryside. Not just a play area, but perhaps an entire amusement park. It had rides, and a pool, and bumper cars. Little Edmund, the younger of the two, pointed to it and jumped up and down, looking at his older sister with excitement. Gaby banged her fist harder onto the door, eager for Gerald to show them what it was. Gerald, in the house still, took a very deep breath. The last thing he wanted was the two rowdy children to disrupt his peaceful weekend. Slowly, he held the door open, revealing the two children’s faces. He could barely recognize them, it had been so long since he last saw them. “G-Gaby?” He asked, shocked. The young girl, maybe nine years old, nodded her head abruptly. “And… Edmund?” The little boy was too distracted by the park, he didn’t even glance at his grandfather. “Come in, then.” Gerald held out his arm signaling them to enter the home. But they didn’t. “Can we play on that?!” Edmund smiled at his grandfather. Gerald, feeling guilt for never seeing the children, gave a heartwarming grin at the brown haired boy. “Of course you can.” Gerald stated hesitantly. There was only one thing he had forgotten. After he had been certain that he would never have a child in his house again, he granted the amusement park to others in the area. The squirrels. There were approximately thirty squirrels in his three acre lot, and they were all devastated when one third of their home was turned into an amusement park. Gerald had built it for his two sons when they were young. He had no use for it after he had never seen Gaby and Edmund for years. Gerald told the squirrels that they could have the amusement park for their own, to keep. The rodents had learned to operate the rides and have fun with the toys the park provided, and Gerald was completely content with that. It made him happy, in fact, that his invention was still being used. “But come inside first.” Gerald told the children. Gaby and Edmund came inside with their grandfather but still asked many questions about the park. Gerald was trying to quietly formulate a plan to quickly get the squirrels out of the park before the children could get over there. He was afraid that, maybe Gaby and Edmund would hurt the squirrels, or the squirrels would hurt Gaby and Edmund. “Go into the kitchen. There is cheese in the fridge, have some before you go outside. You can’t play on an empty stomach. I’ll set up the park for you to use.” The children reluctantly grabbed and ate their slices of cheese as their grandfather left to “set up” the park for them. Gerald was in a mental state of panic.
First, he went to the carousel to confront the squirrels. He asked them gently if they’d be so kind as to leave the premise only for two hours, so his grandchildren could play. But they refused. They shook their small squirrel heads and refused. Gerald began to softly hyperventilate. He should have never given the squirrels the park. Slowly, he left them. Gerald agreed that he didn’t have time to think about another plan, he would have to do something or else his grandchildren would never want to come back to his house. As much as he thought before that he wouldn’t care about them, or how many years had passed, the feeling of guilt ran over him in jolts like he was being electrocuted. He stood square to the squirrel who refused him, held out his hands, picked up the tiny body, and threw him onto the ground. There was a small pause of time before he had really realized what he had done. The fluffy animal lay limp on the dirt. Gerald shed a small tear. But this was the road he felt he was destined to take, for his grandkids. He ran back to his musty, dusty home. The grandchildren sat contently at the dinner table, still nibbling on their
cheese. “Grandpa,” said Gaby, “Have you set up the park for us yet?” Gerald stopped in his tracks and looked at the small girl. Oh, how he had missed her and her dark hair in pigtails behind her ears, and her gentle smile. “Not quite. But soon. I just have to… adjust some things.” He smiled back to his precious grandchild. “I’ll have another slice then.” Edmund said in a lower voice. Gerald ran down the steps into his bedroom. What would he do? He glanced at the shotgun sitting in the corner of the gray room. He shook his head at himself, but eventually, he picked it up. For my grandkids, he thought. Gerald hid the gun behind him as he left the house, being careful the children wouldn’t see it. “Be right back.” He mumbled. Outside, the squirrels all huddled around the one dead rodent. They held a small squirrel ceremony for him and his tragic death. This was the perfect time for Gerald, though, as all of the squirrels were in one area. He lifted the gun, pointing it to the group. He shot three times. All of the small squirrel heads turned to Gerald. He felt his heart beating in his chest rapidly. One squirrel held up his small fist at the man, signaling he would seek revenge. Gerald ran back to his house, tripping on his gun, falling to the ground. Picking himself up, he breathed heavily and then trampled back to where his grandchildren sat. “What’s wrong Grandpa?” Little Edmund queried. “Nothing,” His grandfather smiled. “Have some cheese.” “But I’ve already had five slices!” “Eat some cheese.” Gerald said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t sure what was about to come, they were only a couple of squirrels. For the rest of the night, Gerald focused on getting the kids to forget about the amusement park. He cooked a delicious spaghetti dinner and then they watched a movie together. When the day ended, everything was peaceful. He put the children to bed in the spare bedroom, and then went down into his own bedroom. Little Edmund and little Gaby fell asleep quickly in their cozy bed. Small Edmund had heavy breaths every other second, and Gaby dreamt sweet dreams. Soon though, Gaby woke up to a small scratching on the roof of her room. She furrowed her eyebrows at it, but laid her head back down on her pillow. A few minutes later, she heard the distinct sound again. This time she propped her body up. Once she had heard it more than five times, she confronted her brother. “Edmund”. She whisper through the dead of the night. “Edmund.” “Edmund.” After a few calls, the sleepy boy lifted his head. “What is it?” He asked. They both listened silently for seconds. He heard the noise too. Soon, the scratching became louder and louder, until it came to almost a grumbling sound. The grumbling got louder and louder and louder until it was impossible for someone not to hear. The neighbors five miles away must have been able to hear the grumbling that came from the roof of Gerald Abbing’s house. “What is that!?” Edmund’s voice was muffled under the deafening rumbling. Suddenly, the roof burst open. Hundreds of hundreds of squirrels fell through the ceiling, falling onto the kids in their beds and suffocating the needy, wanty, greedy children.