Make A Wish (Ricky and Lola Request)
By Ray Bush
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Lola asked her best friend Ricky. “This place looks way crazy at night.”
The two young girls stood outside the enormous gray mall across the enormous parking lot. It was not technically night, but dusk was upon them and soon night would be. Ricky remembered the stone walls being white, maybe they were just dirty. Surprisingly nobody spray painted a single spray of paint nor had a single window been shattered. The mall was a two level hulk of a structure with probably fifty abandoned stores. Lola’s heart was pounding and Ricky was wearing a wide smile on her face. Ricky always thought this mall was amazing with all the AI technology. Even the mannequins moved thanks to the computer in the basement of the mall. That is the exact reason Lola had never liked this place.
“We’ll be alright,” Ricky answered, “It’s not like there’s monsters in there.” Lola thought that there just might be.
“I guess you’re probably right,” Lola took a timid step forward. “But it does feel like something’s watching us.”
The night air was cool, the freeway next to the mall was nearly empty, and the air smelled fresh. Ricky took her friend’s hand, Lola let herself be pulled faster than she really wanted to walk. In reality Lola wanted nothing to do with this place. The way the mannequins moved really creeped her out. Everyone always told her that it was just controlled by computers. They assumed that would comfort the young girl but it had the opposite effect.
“It’ll be fun,” Ricky was trying her best to be encouraging but knew that it was doing nothing to calm Lola’s fear. The two began to move quicker with Ricky guiding them to the entrance of the sporting goods store named Elwood’s.
The few cars that were on the freeway made no sound, Lola couldn’t hear a thing. It was like someone turned down the volume of the world. Lola didn’t like how the night seemed to get darker with each step, the dusk was being swallowed by the night. Lola really didn’t want to do this but she also didn’t want to bum Ricky out. It was all Ricky talked about since she borrowed the flashlights from her Gpa. Like most teenage girls Lola really hated disappointing her peers, most of all Ricky. Lola’s hands began to shake when they stepped onto the walkway and looked into the dimness of the mall through the three sets of double doors. Somehow the mall was not completely dark, the overhead lights barely glowed blueish white. The fresh smell of the night was fading to the dusty, almost moldy smell of the abandoned building. Ricky gave her hand a comforting squeeze that did nothing to comfort Lola. Lola let out a scream when she thought she saw something move robotically from a rack of sports bras to behind the display case for basketballs.
Lola looked embarrassed, Ricky didn’t even hesitate reaching for the handle. Lola hoped with everything that she had that it wouldn’t open. She was disappointed when the door opened and terrified when she thought she heard footsteps. Lola agreed, even though both of them knew that there was no way that had been an animal. It almost sounded like the feet making the footsteps were plastic. The mall didn’t smell moldy as they thought before they entered but it still smelled dusty and also ancient, much more ancient than this mall was. When Gpa asked what the flashlights were for Ricky lied and said they were camping out in Lola’s backyard. Lola’s parents thought the same thing but at Gpa’s house. Somewhere in the mall the fountain was singing its song beautifully like a choir of angels. That made Lola even more scared, she would have thought it would have shut down when the mall shut down. But here it was nearly a decade later and the damn thing was still running. Who was maintaining this mall, the clothes on the racks looked nearly brand new with zero dust.
Lola stopped just inside the second set of triple double doors. She didn’t move until Ricky’s hand slipped from hers and Ricky said, “C’mon Lola, I’m so excited.”
“I really don’t think we should be doing this,” Lola had her flashlight fixed on the faceless face of a creepy mannequin to the right that was holding a fishing pole. Lola hated all mannequins but this one’s empty face looked not so empty. “I don’t want to do this, I hate those things.” Her flashlight was shaking lightly.
Ricky took her friend’s shaking hand in her own calm one, “If you really don’t want to go in then you don’t have to.” Ricky saw the relief on Lola’s face. Lola also saw the disappointment that Ricky was trying to mask. “I won’t make you go, but I’m still gonna.” Lola couldn’t let Ricky go in this horrifying place on her own.
Lola looked into the dimness of the mall, “Just stay by me,” Lola was nearly begging, “This place is scary and you know how I feel about mannequins.”
`I won’t leave your side,” Ricky promised, “Where do you think that water is coming from.” Lola didn’t know so she didn’t answer. “I’ll make you a deal, we can leave as soon as we find where the water is coming from.” Lola reluctantly agreed.
“Why do you think they just left everything?” Lola asked as the two walked deeper into the sporting goods store towards the cash registers. “This has to be a bunch of money worth of junk.”
Neither girl had a feasible explanation, Lola decided she really didn’t want to know. The walkway split around the cash registers and the back side of dead escalators. They scanned their surroundings with their flashlights, Lola wondered who or what was in here to see their lights. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were being watched. In the quiet mall Lola thought she could hear the movement of mannequins turning their heads to watch the friends. She hated those damn things. Lola’s heart began to beat faster and harder. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. The girls walked past tennis racket racks on the left and probably ten thousand dollars worth of shoes on their right. Ricky planned on snagging a couple pairs on her way out. Something scurried in the dark making both girls jump then laugh nervously. This time both girls agreed it was a small animal. Probably a racoon.
As the entrance to the main hallway and lobby of the mall approached, Lola began to pray to someone that the door would be closed and the adventure would end here. Her hopes went unanswered, she was disappointed when she saw the door was open wide. Like the mall was inviting them in. The air smelled dusty but it was much more fresh in the main body of the mall. From behind them in the sporting goods store something took three slow steps then stopped.
Lola’s eyes filled with tears, “Please Ricky, can we leave? I don’t want to be here anymore.” Ricky agreed, she never considered what kind of people were in this mall. “I don’t want to be here.”
Ricky tried to remain strong for her best friend. “My Gpa says there is always a logical explanation,” Ricky sounded reasonable but could see that it had done nothing to calm Lola.
Ricky took Lola’s hand and led her deeper into the belly of this beast. Lola dragged her feet but quickly gave into her best friend. The two shined their lights around the mall, Ricky kinda hoped they would see something scary. Lola wanted the opposite, she wanted nothing more than to leave. At first neither saw anything significant or even interesting. Lola froze, let out a short lived scream that echoed away to nowhere, then dropped her flashlight. Both were looking at the strange scene being illuminated by Lola’s fallen flashlight. Neither noticed the cage like door to the sporting goods store roll down then lock. For a minute neither girl could tell what they were looking at. It was three or four mannequins tangled around each other forming a rough oval shape. Like a deformed egg. It was creepy for sure and made Ricky wonder what kinda weird S.O.B. put those mannequins like that.
“Let’s leave Ricky,” Lola was begging and didn’t care if Ricky was disappointed. “Can we please leave?”
Ricky agreed but when they turned around they saw the door to the sporting goods store had closed. Lola again wondered how this place had electricity to run the lights and close the doors. Ricky took Lola’s hand and neither of the girls could tell which one of their hands was shaking. Ricky really didn’t want to admit to the possibility that it was her hand.
“This mall isn’t that big,” Ricky said in a very forced big girl voice, “As soon as we see a way out we will use it. Just try to be strong while we're here.” Lola breathed in hard through her nose and tried to release the fear with the exhale. It worked a little, “Ok? Are you good?”
Lola assured Ricky that she was so they moved deeper into the mall. Ricky thought that it was most likely a fountain making the water sounds. Lola kept the flashlight shining ten feet in front of her feet. Ricky was scared but she was still curious. She was shining the flashlight all over the place. If there were people Ricky was letting them know exactly where the two girls were. Her light shone in through the glass windows of a toy store. She jumped but managed to hold back a scream that tried to escape her lips. At least twenty toddler two preteen mannequins stood looking into the body of the mall. Ricky could almost feel their eyes on the two friends. Their faceless heads were awful and each was in a position that looked like an attempted escape. Ricky moved her light, she didn’t want to look at those creepy things. The sound of forty plastic-ish hands sliding down the glass was maddening.
Ricky hoped her friend hadn’t heard that but knew that she had. How could she not have? If Lola did hear it then she did a hell of a job staying calm. She was trying so hard to ignore her surroundings by singing in her head. She was so scared that she reverted all the way back to her toddler days.
“Ring around the rosey’s, pocket full of posey’s, ashes ashes we all fall down,” She sang in her head and tried to ignore everything else, but then remembered the meaning of the song so she moved on to the ABC’s.
The water stopped, as a reaction Ricky and Lola stopped too. Neither girl could stop the tears from spilling down their cheeks when the dim lights went dark. Then the mall came alive with the sound of a thousand ghosts tap dancing. Lola and Ricky shined their lights around wildly but the sound seemed to be coming from the darkside of the light. Neither girl realized that they were both screaming. The dancing continued until both girls' screams were stopped by empty lungs. The mall went silent, like buried ten feet underground silent. It was almost worse than the dancing ghosts. Thankfully the fountain returned, the musical sound of the running water was very calming.
The lights began flashing much brighter than they shined before. Accompanying the light was the terrifying mechanical laugh blaring from all the speakers in the mall. When the light strobed bright Lola could see mannequins everywhere. She had never been more scared. They were tall and short. Fat and skinny. Men and women, and from toddlers to crawling babies.
“We have to run,” Ricky spoke softly with a voice coated in fear. “I don’t know where but we need to find a way out of here.”
The lights went black and the speakers went silent. As the girls were deciding which way to run a pure white light glowed from the top of the fountain. As the girls' eyes adjusted they saw that it was a beautiful white owl surrounded by an angelic aura. The aura brightened until the whole fountain was glowing white. The owl stared into Lola’s eyes but more accurately into Lola's soul. It beckoned to Lola, both girls knew that is where they needed to run.
“Make a wish girls,” A voice said inside both girls head’s. Now they knew where to go and what to do.
Ricky took Lola’s hand and said, “Don’t let go no matter what.” The girls interlocked their fingers, “Don’t let go.”
Ricky shined her light into the crowd of motionless but not lifeless mannequins. She found a gap in the crowd like a running back finds a gap in the defensive line. She pulled Lola towards it, then inside the crowd of life sized doll creatures. Plastic hands pawed at their faces, arms, and the toddler mannequins pawed at their legs. Ricky tripped over a crawling baby mannequin but was able to keep her balance, Lola was not so lucky. She tumbled to the ground hard but Ricky was able to get her friend back on her feet quickly. The gap was closing but the girls were still small enough to find trails in the maze of bodies. Two came together and Ricky lowered her shoulder then ran through them. Those two knocked four off balance which knocked eight more off balance. There was a slight mannequin domino effect that opened enough room for the girls to really gain some speed.
Just when Ricky thought they were home free, the fountain was so close. A group of mannequins blocked their way, Ricky couldn’t bull charge through this group. The girls turned but there was nowhere in any direction to go. The group closed in then several collapsed on the girls. The weight of one was nothing, but the weight of twenty was suffocating. Even worse, each time Lola let her breath out the dog pile of mannequins would push down harder. It was like being squeezed lifeless by a python. Through the minimal gaps in the mannequins the girls could see the lights flashing and hear the mechanical laughter.
Ricky couldn’t let this happen to Lola, it was Ricky’s fault the two girls were here. Ricky used every once of her strength to get to her hands and knees. She pulled Lola who was still laying flat. Ricky crawled and pulled, crawled and pulled until she reached the edge of the herd of dummies. The lights went black but this close to the owl there was plenty of light. Thankfully the laughing was also gone, thank god for small favors. A hand grabbed Lola’s wrist and pulled, then another hand, then another. Ricky lost her grip. Ricky watched as her best friend got swallowed by a sea of mannequins.
Lola could barely breathe as the mannequins pulled at her in every direction. No matter how hard she fought she couldn’t get out from underneath these freaks. She was trying to breathe in short bursts in order to try to keep her lung capacity. She was crying and praying. This couldn’t be the end for her. Lola used the last of her strength to push herself to her hands and knees. She was able to crawl but only a few feet before she collapsed under the weight of her attackers. Luckily the things had no mouths or fingers to bite or tear at her. The hands were able to close but the things didn’t have individual fingers.
Ricky could hear her friend’s muffled screams as she sprinted to the fountain. This close to the fountain, the owl’s aura made it bright enough to see everything clearly. Somehow she still had her flashlight so she dropped in and didn’t pay attention to the spinning light. She dug in her pockets for change but it is 2024 so nobody has change in their pocket. Ricky had to hurry. She looked back and for a moment saw Lola’s face. A hand grabbed her by the forehead and pulled her back into the pile of bodies. Ricky scanned the ground for any change but there was none in the immediate vicinity. She looked back and still no Lola. She moved around the fountain while a few mannequins closed in on her. She yelped with pleasure when she saw the fifty cent piece. The robot laugh kicked on louder than ever.
Ricky immediately threw the large silver coin into the fountain while the owl watched. She didn’t hear the splash through all the chaos. “I wish Lola never agreed to go in the mall.”
Footsteps were closing in on Ricky. Ricky closed her eyes and wished again. A plastic hand grabbed hers. Ricky knew that it wasn’t Lola’s. Ricky knew now that neither girl would be leaving the mall. They must have imagined the voice, it was just a normal owl watching the show. Ricky began to cry when a plastic hand smacked her in the back then pulled her shirt. Ricky wished one last time but knew it was pointless.
The air slowly became more fresh and cool. The hand in Ricky’s hand softened and felt more lifelike. The mechanical laugh began to fade. Before long everything was quiet and Ricky was holding a human hand. She was scared to open her eyes, she didn’t want to know what was there.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Lola asked her best friend Ricky. “This place looks way crazy at night.”
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