Ling Fanchu smiled sadly to herself as Zane’s hand brushed against hers as they walked slowly down the narrow fair street. It had been three weeks now that they’d been officially apart, three weeks since his father had been declared dead by his division in the Navy Seals and he had asked to be alone for a reality check on life, leaving Ling to wait and wonder if he’d return just as gregarious and whimsical as he’d been. He seemed to have returned more mellow, more introspective than anything, staring quietly into empty space, occasionally snapping out of his trance to pry apart Ling’s whitened knuckles on a particularly frightening ride to weave their hands together as a sign that he was still there for her.

His affection didn’t seem right, though, as it had become diluted by the disappointment of losing someone that was clearly closer to him than she was, fifteen years of companionship concluded rather than a mere three. She put aside her thoughts for a bit, pondering rather what she could say to pull him out of his reverie.

“Zane? I don’t really know how –“

“It’s okay, Ling,” Zane interrupted. “ It’s me. I’m not on terms with it yet. But I shouldn’t let that ruin our night. Let’s go do something fun, OK? I’ll come out of my shell. I know you don’t like to see me like this.”

“Oh, Zane. Don’t worry about me. I’ll wait for you if you need more time to muse, you know that. If now isn’t the time for me to jump back in, then just say it,” Ling responded to Zane’s turned face.

“No. let’s do something real now. How about a Ferris wheel, how’s that sound?”

Ling cocked her head at Zane, trying to judge his sincerity. His face was brilliantly outlined between the glistening lights of the attractions behind him, but no amount of flash could shield his sadness. She could tell that, despite his low spirits, he did want to make Ling as little a part of his as he could.

“Okay. We’ll go ride the Ferris wheel. But promise me you’ll explain to me what’s going on in your head.”
“I don’t even know where I’d start. My head is such a whirlpool,” Zane sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Ling with a blank smile. “I’ll try to give you as much as I can.”
He pushed his fingers into Ling’s, lacing them in the same way he had always been able to: perfectly, his capacious palm consummately accommodating Ling’s petite fingers in a wonderful grasp. They strode in sync to the line below the metal wheel surrounded by a blinking, shimmering corona, letting the light cast their dim shadows across the tattered pavement.
The attendant gave the pair a innocent smile as he took their tickets, showing them to the new, enclosed seats for their ride. He pulled open the door, breathing out audibly once it opened. Zane shot a puzzled look at the man, but he just shook his head, shutting the door behind the couple and heading back to his post.
“Okay. So you want to know the whole story?” Zane looked at Ling with a hesitant expression.
“Of course. But Zane, if you’re not comfortable telling me all the details, then that’s okay. I love you anyways, whether now’s the time to tell me what’s on your mind or not. I just don’t want to have the guilty feeling that I wasn’t able to help you through your hardest times. We’ve known that we’re for each other for a while, and I don’t want you to forget that.”

Zane looked at Ling, then out the glass capsule at the parking lot behind them. His eyes widened by the most inconceivable amount, then returned to Ling’s expectant visage.

“Is something wrong?” Ling asked, noticing the change in his demeanor. She stopped speaking, looking over her shoulder at the parking lot. The cars were coming and going as they always did; a fleet of vans, emblems of a red outline of the globe emblazoned on their roofs, entered the park, assumedly filled with some youth group or class; an empty, roofless trolley turned towards the park to pick up some guests.

“No, nothing at all. Anyways, my story,” Zane said quickly as Ling turned back to him, looking satisfied and curious. “As you know, my father was declared dead about a month ago, but I didn’t find out until after his funeral. They told me it was better that I not find out about it until after because it was so close to senior exam time and they didn’t want me to screw up at such an important time. I asked them why they couldn’t move the funeral and they told me something about not being able to postpone a Seals event. What sucks is that everything, and I mean everything I heard about this was over email and phone call, so I never once got to have face-to-face, straight answers for anything. It’s time like these that I wish Mom was still here for me to lean on. I felt so… alone, I guess?”

Zane put his head in his hands and looked through his fingers at Ling. “I know you were still there for me, but I guess I wanted to be alone and consoled at the same time. When I heard that he was gone, I just… I just couldn’t bare to look at anyone because I was worried I would rub my sadness off on them.”

Ling slid over to Zane’s side, putting her arm around him and bending her neck down to his drooping head.

“Zane, I get it. It’s okay. You may not have wanted company then, but I’m here for you now, so don’t worry about anything. I’ll always be –“

In an instant the glass around the capsule shattered and Zane had a stripe of blood down the side of his cheek. There was a long, shallow gash where his skin had been a split second earlier.

“Get down, Ling!” Zane yelled, not giving Ling the time to react as he pulled her down to the floor of the pod, her bare knees grinding against the shards that sprinkled the metal floor.

“Oh my God, what was that?” Ling cried, breathing sporadically. “And – Oh, Zane, your face!”

“I don’t know! Stay close to me. I don’t want you to get hurt,” Zane spoke quietly, trying to soothe Ling’s panicked tone.

As he spoke the Ferris wheel screeched to an immediate halt, the capsule’s momentum sending it swinging. There was a ping above the pair and the light in the pod went out, sending another rain of glass down on them.

“Oh God, oh God, is that a bullet?” Ling sobbed, shaking violently as Zane wrapped his arm around her to shield her neck from the falling shards.

“I don’t… Yes, I think so. But what –“

Zane was interrupted again as a series of pops were heard from the ground far below, followed by a cacophony of screams of terror. The sound reverberated through the entire park, deafening even Ling and Zane despite their elevated position.

“Ling, I think I know what’s happening down there. I have to look.”

“No! Zane, I don’t know who’s down there, but they’re shooting. I don’t want you to get hurt,” Ling blubbered through her tears, trying to pull down on Zane’s shirttail as he peeked over the edge of the broken glass perimeter.

“What’s down there, Zane?” Ling asked, hunkering down farther as she saw Zane stare over the edge of the ride. “What do you see?”

Zane turned around and hit the floor. His face was paled and his eyes wide. He looked like he was going to be sick.

“What’s wrong?” Ling questioned hurriedly, watching as Zane looked up towards the edge of the pod and then straight into Ling’s eyes.

“That’s… that’s my dad.”