BazzieGabby

Lousie’s Arcade

Record #60

(Mark begins to record the video player, sitting on his wooden desk with piles of files, record players, and a board behind that connects lines with suspicious citizens around town.)

Mark: I’ve investigated the abandoned theme park once more, but… of course, there were no leads. I’ve looked over the internet and noticed several people visiting the abandoned theme park. They were either looting or inspecting the abandoned places for sport. (Mark’s hands are on his forehead due to stress or tiredness.) If I could tell you how enraged I was for the disrespect shown to the abandoned theme park.

(He is silent for a moment, looking down and examining his thoughts, then he looks back up at the camera.)

Mark: December 5th was the day my sister went missing. I thought I would repeat the occurrence every 10 records so I could remember where to find her next. I’ll be glad to explain this again.

Narrator (Mark): It’s been twenty years, and I still haven’t found any leads. But something tells me I won’t give up. My sister’s name was Lousie. She was around 13 when she went missing. Normally, she would hang out with her friends at the theme park, Happy Haven.

Narrator (Mark): I was twenty. Soon, I’ll be 40. I never really had the detective mindset, and neither did the detectives. They couldn’t find anything and decided to close the case. Where I lived was a small town, so there were fewer criminal activities. I have files on my desk so I can recall each case they discovered in that park.

Narrator (Mark): Usually, her friends’ parents would drive them to Happy Haven, so my mother didn’t have to stop her schedule of going to work. But this time, they had to run errands. My sister looked devastated, so I volunteered to look after them and drive them to the park.

Narrator (Mark): It was a 30-minute drive from home to the theme park. As I drove, they already had their IDs ready, their bags getting ready to be checked once we parked. We got out the door and walked to the entrance. We heard playful music with trumpets on the sound bars. It was like a Happy Haven. That’s where they get their name.

Narrator (Mark): Lousie and her friends frequently visited there, so the employees knew them well. Their favorite place was the tall-looking roller coasters, which I wasn’t fond of at all. Mother and Father would take me to the theme park back then, but it just didn’t fit right with me.

Narrator (Mark): Anyway, once we passed through security, I let them wander off while I still watched over them. I noticed they turned to say hello to the other workers, went in line, and rode the rides. They were having fun. I didn’t think anything would happen. I bought them snacks when they were hungry and took a break after a walk. Everything was fine.

Narrator (Mark): Just as we were walking, Lousie saw a stall that had an enormous plushie. Even as a teen, she loved plushies. She thought they were cute and be used as collectibles for later. So, she and her friends went to the stall. To my surprise, she won the highest points and got the plushie.

Narrator (Mark): She was delighted when she received her plushie, and her friends congratulated her. This lasted for around five hours until around evening. After going through many rides, we stopped by our last destination, the arcade.

Narrator (Mark): Now, the arcade is the oldest building in the theme park. Based on its history, it began as an arcade before more land was built to create a theme park. I decided to wait outside until they were done.

Narrator (Mark): As I waited outside, I noticed upcoming families taking pictures with mascots. They walked around the theme park. What I didn’t expect was the owner of the theme park next to it. I thought Lousie would’ve loved it. So I went inside the arcade to tell her that the owner of the theme park had come to visit.

Narrator (Mark): As I searched, I couldn’t find Lousie. So, I went to look for her friends. I couldn’t find any of them. I went to the reception desk and asked if they had seen them. They said no. In this building, they can only leave through one door, the entrance door. There’s no back door. If they left, I would’ve noticed.

Narrator (Mark): The workers volunteered to look with me. I described to them what Lousie and her friends looked like, and we began searching. As we searched the arcade for the second attempt, it was weird that we couldn’t find any of them. What’s even more surprising was that the workers should have known who they were, but I couldn’t make any assumptions.

Narrator (Mark): I remained calm and thought about a plan on how to find each of them. Once I did, I would make it official to never let her out of my sight again. The supervisors alerted us that they were missing, and we began a search. I called out their names, but no one answered.

Narrator (Mark): This lasted for three hours, and I began to get nervous.

Narrator (Mark): They contacted law enforcement. I explained everything that happened, as they had already closed the arcade, following the procedures for reporting Lousie missing. Missing was not the term I wanted to hear. I had several thoughts. How am I going to tell our mother, her friend’s parents, or guardians? How the hell am I supposed to explain that? I was going to hold this blame forever.

Narrator (Mark): Hours passed, and they checked the camera. Not one of them was seen right after we went to the arcade. A case was about to begin, and I was the #1 suspect.

Thanks for reading this short story!