The drive from the gas station to the city took two hours, and along the way there should have been nothing but wilderness.
But this ti, when they were halfway there, Everly was surprised to see a busy construction crew out in the open fields beyond the car window.
“Grandpa, what’s that?”
Old John glanced outside casually and told Everly that it was a construction team hired by a mining company.
While Everly had been away at college, the city of Micano had been quietly changing.
Soti around June this year, employees from the U.S. Geological Survey discovered a new lithium deposit in the wilderness southeast of Micano. It was said to have astonishing reserves.
Not long after the news spread, a mining company called McMurkin signed an agreent with the governnt. They invested heavily in building facilities near the deposit—factories, dormitories for miners, and more—planning to begin lithium extraction there.
Micano lies to the east of the Iramore Mountains, surrounded by wilderness. Its remote location has long severely restricted its economic developnt. The arrival of the mining company not only brought job opportunities to local residents but was also expected to attract a steady influx of newcors from nearby cities, boosting the local service sector.
However, everything has its pros and cons. Lithium mining requires large amounts of water and produces wastewater rich in heavy tals, which can lead to soil salinization and air pollution. And since Micano is already a water-scarce city surrounded by desert, this raised concerns among environntalists.
They held up banners filled with slogans, staged sit-ins in front of the mining company’s office building in the city, handed out flyers to passersby, and even organized marches to pressure the governnt, attempting to halt the mining operations.
Because of this issue, there had already been several protests in Micano’s urban area. Even the construction sites were repeatedly vandalized and attacked, forcing work to halt.
Only recently, with everyone going ho for the holidays, had the environntalists quieted down for a couple of days. McMurkin Company was probably wary of them, so they took advantage of the lull to carry out construction in secret, trying to catch up on the project’s progress.
Hearing that lithium mining was going to take place out in the wilderness, Everly felt a bit uneasy.
Just as the environntalists had said, lithium extraction is highly polluting. Although the site was nearly an hour’s drive from Old John’s gas station, over ti it would still have an impact on his place.
But as an ordinary person, her opinion didn’t matter at all, nor could it change anything.
She could only comfort herself: at least when she saw the construction site, she didn’t feel any ominous premonition. That ant the kind of horror-movie scenario—where mining accidentally uncovers so unknown monster buried deep underground—hadn’t happened.
The jeep sped along the highway, quickly leaving the mining site in the wilderness far behind.
After nearly another hour of driving, they finally arrived in Micano’s urban area.
Having lived nearby for eighteen years, Everly was extrely familiar with the city. So the mont they entered the city, she imdiately noticed that it seed livelier than before.
In past years during the New Year holidays, residents would also go out and have fun, but even at the busiest tis, the streets had never been this crowded.
“It’s also because of that lithium mine,” Old John said, noticing Everly’s confusion and explaining.
The exploitation of a mineral deposit brings far more jobs than just mining.
After the ore is extracted, mining companies often carry out subsequent processes to increase its value—such as ore dressing, slting, refining, and even direct deep processing into finished products. The early stages of factory construction, equipnt assembly, and later worker recruitnt—all of these require a large amount of labor.
In addition, because mining causes pollution, environntal protection companies often move in as partners to handle waste and ensure compliance with local environntal regulations. These companies also need to build facilities and hire workers. After extraction, transporting the ore requires solid logistics infrastructure, which creates a large number of freight job openings…
All of this has given Micano a kind of “siphon effect” on surrounding cities. Even while the mining area is still under construction, residents from other cities have already spotted business opportunities and moved in ahead of ti.
One essential condition for economic developnt is people. As the population grows, consumption increases, and the service sector begins to flourish. Everly had only been away for a single sester, yet when she returned, Micano’s urban area now even had an amusent park!
Yes, that’s right—an amusent park.
Before McMurkin Company moved in, Micano had never had one. To experience the kind of fun attractions often seen in TV shows, people had to travel long distances over mountains to bigger cities and queue for tickets.
Everly had never been to an amusent park as a child. She rembered that school-organized outings were either trips to the Lemot Desert to look at sand and rocks, or aimless walks in suburban parks. At first it felt fresh, but after a while, it beca very boring.
Interestingly enough, the amusent park was also built by McMurkin Company.
Everly heard from Old John that this wasn’t the first ti the company had done sothing like this.
Any mining enterprise will eventually face the depletion of land resources. At that point, in order to revitalize assets and reduce losses from idle land, soone—no one knows exactly who—ca up with the idea for McMurkin Company to start building amusent parks on forr mining sites.
After trying it a few tis, the company found the results to be quite good. On one hand, amusent parks proved to be fairly profitable; on the other, local governnts often provided strong policy support in order to enrich residents’ lives. With just one or two years of operation, the parks could quickly recoup their costs and beco a steady source of inco.
So wherever McMurkin Company went, an amusent park nad “McMurkin” would follow—it was quite a remarkable pattern.
“Co to think of it, Everly, you’ve never been to an amusent park, have you?”
Everly nodded.
Old John raised his hand and smacked his forehead in annoyance. “That’s my oversight. I can’t believe I never thought to take you to an amusent park… I’ve really been a negligent grandfather. It was the sa with Rachel back then. On her sixth birthday, I promised to celebrate with her at an amusent park, but right before we left, an urgent assignnt ca down from the departnt, and I had to go back to work overti. After that, Rachel stayed angry with for half a month…”
“Maybe I’m just getting old. Lately, I keep thinking about the past. I often wonder—if I had given up that assignnt and gone to the amusent park with Rachel, if I had shown up at least a few tis during all those many absences afterward, would things between us have ended in such a complete falling-out… I really wasn’t a qualified grandfather or a qualified father. Only after losing everything did I begin to regret it.”
Everly felt a pang of sadness.
She couldn’t forgive her grandfather on behalf of her mother, who had been ignored and let down countless tis. He might not have been a qualified father—but he was certainly a very, very good grandfather.
She walked over to Old John and reached out to hold his hand. “It’s not too late to go now… Want to go to the amusent park together, Grandpa?”
Old John froze for a mont, a faint glimr of moisture appearing in his deep-set eyes.
“Yes… of course.”
He replied in a hoarse voice. For a fleeting mont, it was as if he saw a trace of his daughter Rachel in his granddaughter.
…
The amusent park had been open for over a month, and business was still booming.
Perhaps in order to build a good reputation in Micano and maintain long-term stability—reducing conflicts with local residents during the mining period—McMurkin Amusent Park kept its prices relatively low. For just 35 dollars, an adult ticket granted access to all attractions, including roller coasters and pirate ships.
It was now the New Year holiday, and the entrance of the amusent park was packed with people, lively and bustling. Everly and Old John had co on a whim without making an online reservation, so they could only line up at the ticket booth like everyone else.
While waiting, Everly looked around. By chance, she saw two security guards roughly drag a skinny young man—thin as a bamboo pole—out of the entrance and throw him aside.
“Get lost! Don’t let us catch you here again!”
“Pah!”
After scrambling up from the ground, the man imdiately raised both middle fingers defiantly and hurled a string of curses at the guards.
Once the guards left, he turned back around. In full view of the crowd, he unzipped his padded jacket and pulled out a banner that read: “Oppose mining! Protect Micano’s ecosystem!” He spread it open and held it up in front of his chest.
“Those people! Those evil capitalists—they don’t care about the lives of us locals, nor about our Mother Earth! All they do is squeeze every last bit of value out of the land, then leave behind a scarred city and endless environntal hazards for us! Let’s start a petition together—oppose lithium mining, oppose environntal destruction, and drive McMurkin out!”
The man’s expression was fervent, his pale, thin face flushed with excitent. He moved among the waiting visitors, waving his arms and loudly voicing his views.
People around him turned their heads away, a trace of awkwardness appearing on their faces.
Although what the environntalist said made so sense, when life was already becoming difficult, if slightly harming the environnt could allow a whole family to eat well, stay warm, have a good New Year, and even have so extra money left to visit an amusent park—then what was so wrong with that…? Besides, during the New Year, when everyone had co out full of excitent to have fun, a scene like this really dampened the mood.
Just then, it was Everly and Old John’s turn in line.
Everly withdrew her gaze, took out money to buy the tickets, and, leaving the commotion at the entrance behind, walked side by side with Old John through the ticket gate into the amusent park.
Strictly speaking, amusent parks are also common settings for horror stories.
Especially those old parks that have been around for many years—where aging facilities and poor maintenance can lead to accidents. If there had ever been fatal incidents during operation, there might even be supernatural phenona like a “cursed clown,” a “haunted house with real ghosts,” or “toy bears that chase people at midnight,” triggering a new wave of bloodshed.
Fortunately, such situations were unlikely to occur at McMurkin Amusent Park.
After all, it had only been open for less than a month. All the facilities inside were brand new: traditional attractions like carousels, Ferris wheels, and bumper cars, as well as more modern rides like suspended roller coasters, 360-degree swinging pendulums, and high-altitude bungee jumps. In terms of attractions alone, it was hardly inferior to amusent parks in more modern cities.
Horror Movie Survival Rule #1: Pay attention to hints.
Following their usual habit, the grandfather and granddaughter first walked to the large map at the entrance. They took photos of the park layout and evacuation routes, then picked out the attractions they wanted to try and planned an optimal route.
Only after completing these preparations did they leisurely make their way further into the park.
Old John was getting on in years, and Everly wasn’t much of a thrill-seeker either. The two of them naturally skipped over the more intense rides that could strain the body—even passing on spinning teacups that might make people dizzy. Instead, all the attractions they chose were slow, gentle ones, like the kind of little mining trains ant for children.
They first rode the aerial bicycles, then the sowhat silly but still enjoyable carousel.
After getting off the rry-go-round, they passed by a tea restaurant and saw a clown standing at the entrance selling cotton candy, surrounded by a group of eager children.
Clowns are a classic image in horror stories. Perhaps due to cultural reasons, so Aricans have an innate fear of clowns, which has led to an overwhelming number of horror works featuring them.
If possible, Everly would rather avoid any interaction with clowns. So when Old John asked if she wanted so cotton candy, she shook her head.
She didn’t like Arican desserts anyway—they were overwhelmingly sweet, far too much for her Chinese palate to handle!
“Hey! There’s cotton candy here!”
“Want to get one?”
“Why not?”
During that brief pause, five young people—three girls and two boys—ca rushing past Everly and Old John, noisily pushing through the children gathered around the clown and pulling out cash to buy cotton candy.
They looked to be about high school age, and their appearances covered all the archetypes: a blonde beauty, a sunny boy, an athletic type, a Black girl, and a shy, bookish girl. Just from their vibe alone, they stood out sharply from the drab local residents, easily catching Everly’s attention.
Among them, a black-haired girl looked rather frail. As she reached for her cotton candy, she was accidentally bumped by a child behind her. Her hand shook, and she nearly dropped it.
The clown reacted quickly, grabbing the stick just before it fell and placing it back into the girl’s hand.
“Oh, little miss, you’ve got to hold onto it this ti—Danger of Falling ~!” he said, winking and making faces as he cheerfully reminded her.
The clown used a playful phrasing here. He mimicked a common warning sign, saying “Danger of Falling” instead of sothing more casual like “Watch out! Don’t drop it.”
It was clearly ant as a joke, yet the black-haired girl reacted as if she had heard sothing utterly terrifying. Her whole body stiffened, and a look of horror spread across her face.
“The sa… it’s exactly the sa…”
“What? What’s wrong? Beatrice, what happened?” Her companion—the striking blonde girl—hurried over and held her trembling shoulders.
“Deciding to co to the amusent park on a whim, that clown saying ‘watch out for falling’—it’s all exactly the sa as what was written in that book! Sophia, do you think I’ll end up like it says in the book… falling to my death here…?”
The fear in the black-haired girl’s voice made Everly stop in her tracks as she was about to leave.
————————————————————————————————
Author’s Note:
A light, casual arc~
The next two arcs will move a bit faster, since the previous one was too long—I was tired writing it, and you were probably tired reading it too.
Let’s all relax a bit.
Just in case—I’m really scared of being scolded—so I’ll clarify that the earlier parts about the mining company and the environntalists weren’t just filler. They’re related to what cos later… as for how much later, well, you’ll see.
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