The only clue was an old ticket that fell out of Vera’s coat pocket when Maggie was looking through her things. It was a faded ticket for the amusement park. The Wasteland. But that didn’t make sense. Vera had never mentioned that park before. It was the last place anyone thought she would go. Yet there it was, a ticket to the place everyone had forgotten about: The Wasteland.
The police searched the park, the woods around it, even the river nearby. They brought in dogs, drones, and search teams. But there was no sign of Vera. No footprints. No cause. It was like the earth had swallowed her without leaving a trace. And yet, something felt off about it. Maggie couldn’t shake the feeling that Vera had gone to the park for a reason. There had to be more to it.
One evening, Maggie decided to go to The Wasteland herself. She couldn’t stay at home any longer, wondering what had happened to her best friend. She drove to the edge of town where the park sat like a forgotten ghost. It looked even creepier in person, with the old ride looming in the distance and the wind making the rusted metal groan. Maggie felt a chill run down her spine but kept going.
As she walked deeper into the park, she saw how abandoned it truly was: broken fences, cracked concrete paths, and weeds growing everywhere and entwined with the contraptions around it.
The sound of the wind was the only thing she could hear until she thought she heard something else.
It was soft at first, like a whisper in the dead of night. Maggie followed the sound, stepping carefully around piles of old debris, moldy food, and fallen signs.
Then, she saw her. Vera. Standing in the abyss with an eerie smile on her face.
