the abandoned theatre part twenty-one

When the script is nothing but ashes and the ghosts are gone, I feel myself fading away. He is also starting to fade.

"So this is the exit?" I say.

"No," he says.

I start to worry but before I can think too much, I find myself standing in the field outside the theatre, the one that I formerly only saw through the cracks in the walls. Soon the man appears next to me, holding a piece of paper. I am about to ask him what is written on the paper, but then I see something in the middle of the field. Curious, I start to walk toward it.

It is a ferris wheel, upright and spinning in the middle of the grassy field. It has twelve seats, a number carved on each one along with a picture of an hourglass. There is a small sign sticking into the ground with instructions taped to it:

"WELCOME TO THE FERRIS WHEEL
You thought you had escaped? Wrong.
Burning scripts and embracing the now is all well and good...
But next you must find out the mystery of the wheel...

You must be this tall to ride.
The cost of a ride is something of value to you.
Two to a seat, no more and no less.
Choose your number wisely or foolishly.
It is all up to you."