The Real Magic Kingdom

for bridget

For the happiest place on Earth, there sure were a lot of grumpy parents and crying kids. Victor was hoping that he wasn’t wasting his time in this line. He had been turned away from Space Mountain for being too tall. TOO TALL! How many people can say that they’re too tall to ride a roller coaster? The man in front of him was arguing with his pre-teen daughter about whether it was worth leaving the line to get chicken strips. When the man saw Victor, he turned ghost white and agreed with his daughter that now, after spending 43 minutes in line, was the appropriate time to go eat overpriced food.

Victor was accustomed to this reaction. When people saw him, they generally reacted with a combination of horror and disgust. It was like they were face to face with an extremely unfortunate burn victim whose features made them inhuman. But Victor was the opposite. He had no features. His defining characteristic was his height and build. A few people on the internet had taken to calling him Slenderman and created lore about him luring children into the woods. Victor wasn’t sure how he had become part of the internet mythology. But he was, and at this point, there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

When he got to the front of the line, the teenager running the Haunted Mansion ride craned his neck to look up at him. He whimpered as he pointed Victor to the last seat on the doom buggy. Haunted Mansion was one of Victor’s favorite rides. He felt at home with the creepier things in life and there was less of a chance that someone would panic around him. The ride made its way through the mansion and people jumped as ghosts appeared. But not Victor. This was his happy place. He wished that people could see his smile. But they couldn’t, because he didn’t have one.

When the ride ended, he left the exit back into the sunny and muggy Florida day. He thought it best to head home before everyone headed for the exits. He still needed to grab one more souvenir before he left. He walked over to a shop selling every Disney character in plushy form. Even the new Marvel superheroes were stuffed and sold. There was a boy, maybe 11, looking into the store window at a realistic-looking Thor’s hammer. He was trying to get his parent’s attention with the hope that they would shell out a month’s pay for it. But his parents were busy arguing about whether it was best to leave now or stay for the fireworks. Victor had found the perfect thing for his collection. He went up and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. With a loud “crack”, they were now standing in the woods. The boy’s confusion had not yet turned into panic.

If he could speak, Victor would say to the boy “I can't wait to show you the real Magic Kingdom.” But he couldn’t. So he wrapped his tentacles around him and carried him into the dank, overgrown castle.