A Deflating Stunt

Prompt from DailyPrompt.com

The muffled screams were only mostly covered by the wheezing of the bouncy castle deflating.

Lara grumbled to herself while flipping through the employee manual on her phone. “Ok… so…”

“Heeeeelp! Helpmeplease!”

“Aha!” She grinned. “Sez here that I’m responsible for the safety of anyone I let onto the attraction. And I told you that you weren’t allowed on.”

“I CAN’T GET OUT!”

“Well, according to this, that’s your problem.” Lara clicked her phone off with a flourish and slouched back against the booth. She’d already flipped the sign around to ‘closed’. Thankfully none of the people who’d wandered over to inspect the collapsing attraction seemed inclined to fuss about not getting a turn.

“OH GOD I’M SO SORRY PLEASE HELP ME!”

Lara rolled her eyes. “Listen. I don’t have… whatever training covers climbing inside a cheery rubber deathtrap. That’s probably, like, health and safety level six. I have level one and I had to pay for it myself. So, you’re on your own.”

Not entirely true since there were now eight people loitering, one of whom was filming this in selfie mode while whispering into a mic. Presumably recording the incident for posterity. Or at least social media cred.

Deliciously ironic given how - and why - the fool had gotten trapped. Perhaps this would serve as a lesson to the next clout seekers.

“We could call them an ambulance.” Another guy ventured. Not producing a phone, Lara noted.

She consulted the employee manual again while the screams grew fainter and hoarse. “Mmmmm… I already notified security. That’s all it talks about.”

“Do they have to call for help?” The guy scratched his beard. Well, presumably there was a chin somewhere under it. He was probably aiming for that.

“I assume so.” Lara gave a lopsided shrug. “They’ve got all the, y’know, first aider people and everything. They probably have to get a first aider over and then they call outside help. Insurance and all. You know?”

The crowd nodded and murmured sage agreement. The castle was still whining. As was its unwilling occupant.

Lara, noting that the queue for the hotdog stand was pretty short, flipped through the manual once more, trying to figure out if this counted as the “attraction being in use” or if she could go for a break.

Prompt was “Your character is stuck inside a rapidly deflating bouncy castle at a fair.”

[I leapt off sideways because the perspective of a ‘so done with this’ wagie was immediately appealing.]