My Yellow fury: Part IV

Part IV: The Chasm

I looked to the rock face across the rift. A small tollbooth the size of a coffin erupted from underneath the cliff rock. At first I was confused at the weathered tollbooth that had been borne right from the boulders but I soon remembered it. This booth, fit for only one gnarled man—a small man in both stature and character—is where my Father had worked. Below the tollbooth, a causeway grew from the rock cliff and inched out toward me, bridging the crevice beneath my feet.

Although I stood far from his booth, I could see the magnified expression on his face. His brow was dim and sunken above his eyes. His nostrils flared, tenting the top of his mouth into a bitter grimace. He stared at me behind the window of his booth with wide eyes.

Although his face was vacant for the moment, it twisted in delight as he pulled a lever within the booth, which raised the bridge high into the sky, marooning me on my cliff.

His smile rotted on his face with pleasure at my plight. As I mustered the same hatred that I had reserved for Cosmos, my heart jumped as something fell on my foot. It was the yellow toy truck.

Curious now, I picked up the toy and spun one of its wheels, watching the small axle swivel in place. I was confused at its appearance but quickly learned that my Father’s face was washed with anxiety. Fear weighed his eyes and desperation spilled from his gaping mouth. It was the first time I had ever seen him care about anything. Realizing my leverage, I simply held the truck out above the chasm, threatening to drop the suddenly coveted toy.

I couldn’t hear his voice, but his face screamed with a panic and fear of which I never thought him capable. He held his palms out toward me in resignation and dropped his hand on a throttle, bringing the bridge back into place in front of me feet. Proudly I stepped forward to cross, but the scene cut out once again. The tollbooth sunk away and the bridge splintered beneath my feet as the toy truck became wind in my hands.

I fell through space and air for a moment, now fully submitting to whatever being or force that had brought me through these ancient memories.

Before I could guess where I’d be taken next, my feet lightly dropped in the middle of a playground.