By: IO

The metal rowboat begins to swing like a pendulum, gaining velocity as the ends reach their zeniths. It’s a never-ending carnival ride, pushing the torsos of its occupants back into their seats and then forward into the steal bar across their waists.

From the front to the back, riders watch the sky and ground advance and retreat. They let out primal sounds from deep in their guts and throw their arms up as they fall. Sitting in the middle seat of the middle row, a young woman keeps her eyes and mouth closed, fingers clasped around the restraint bar. She feels the wind pick up, push the curls from her face, listens to the screams of fear and excitement emitting from those around her. The shifting gravity disturbs her stomach, an unsubtle lifting and falling of her organs behind her ribs.

The serenity of sensation, of deep breaths, of fast air, persist past any perception of time. She does not count the inhales, nor the exhales. Just focuses on the air passing through her until she notices the screams have stopped. The boat continues to swing, almost flipping over itself as it extends its terminal points. She opens her eyes and knows it’s a mistake. There are no people, not in the boat and not on the ground. There is no ground. No sky either. Just her, alone on a carnival ride boat, swinging through the void.