The Fifth in a series of tales from Fun Planet
[TFs: Flattening, Turned into a mannequin]

Closing

She walks up. Her hair, while beautiful and long and brown, is off. Luscious, hazel eyes look up at him from the counter he stands behind. But neither of these is what he notices first. His training dictates that the paper in her hand is more important.

"Uhhh, hi," her eyes flip from a shade of green to a shade of blue as they bolt to his name tag, "Zeke." With a brief breath she forges on, "I have a V.I.P. ticket from a contest I won."

"Oh! You must be Yasmin. The contest people notified us of your name the moment you won. We've been waiting for you."

Concern enters her face. Zeke thinks that makes her look more adorable. She brings up the black and white ticket with the Fun Planet logo on it with a bow tie. With her free hand and painted fingernail, she points to it, "They said it included an early entrance to the park ..." He nods as she talks. "and an overnight stay?"

"That's correct." He turns to his co-worker, "Cover for me?" They nod.

He takes Yasmin's shoulder and turns her around as he exits his station. As they walk toward the front door and the rest of the park, Zeke speaks up, "So, as you might have guessed, this park has two places for our guests to spend the night. Our previous guests tend to refer to them as the place for the rides and the place to watch the crowds. Which would you prefer?"

She places a manicured finger to her chin. Her eyes, shifting back to green, dance back and forth before she asks back, "What's the difference?"

"Well, as you might have guessed, everyone goes home for the night and all the attractions close. One location is toward the back of the park where the employees return and the rides open first." He watches her consider this as he continues, "The other is at the front of the park, where the workers arrive a little later and the crowds start lining up to enter the park."

His eyes dance watching hers. This time the wait is less. "I think I'd prefer to people watch."

Zeke pulls out a phone-like device off his belt and punches a three digit code. Turning away to hide his smile, he talks on the device, "Helen? Could you stay open a little longer? Yasmin's here. Yes, that Yasmin. Great. We'll be there soon."

Like the rest of the crowd they meander toward the front of the park. With each passing ride and attraction, the lines get shorter. The park is closing and everybody knows it. Unwilling for their time of fun to end, they linger as long as possible. In that same mindset, the guest and the employee wander through the other 'land's.

"... And I was so surprised that my call had gotten through. I had tried five times before and gotten the busy signal." Zeke watches her animated face as she regales him with how she won. "And then the Deejay comes on," she deepens her voice and takes on a surfer's accent, "Duuuude, you've just reached KFIX where you get your fix. Soooooo, who's this?"

Yasmin goes on to tell about answering all the questions correct, even the trick question in the art category. Her voices and gestures make Zeke smile.

As they reach Art World, something catches his eye, an employee beginning to leave. Yasmin must have noticed too, because she interrupts her story for a, "Oh loook! A caricature place.

In response, Zeke calls out to the employee, "Don, could you come back here?"

Once he returns, Zeke makes the introductions, "Don, this is Yasmin, the winner of the contest. Yasmin, this is Don, your artist for the night." After the two nod at each other, Zeke continues, "Don, thanks for staying. I owe you one."

Don laughs, "Yeah, yeah. You see a pretty girl and just have to use my rig. I see how it is."

Zeke clutches his chest in mock pain, "You wound me, good sir. I am only a humble servant taking her to her overnight stay."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Zeke peeks over out of the corner of his eye to see that all of this has amused Yasmin. Getting back to the matter at hand, Don looks at the two, "So, I'm drawing a picture of her?"

"Well, she is the one who requested the booth."

Her green eyes dart back and forth, "I, uh, well, I don't think, I guess"

Zeke leans toward Don with a hand covering his face but not muffling his voice, "Me thinks she doth protest too much." Don sagely nods in agreement.

Yasmin blushes, "Well, okay, yeah, I do want a portrait."

Don perks up, "Great! Let me just turn this thing back on and we'll be done in no time." He inserts his key and flicks a switch. The machine hums for a moment and then goes silent. Then the white screen lights up. "Okay, we're ready. Just head back there and stand in the square. We'll do the rest."

Yasmin trudges back behind the screen. "Would you like to be sitting or standing?"

She reaches the edge of the screen, "Standing."

"Okay. A little more to the right and we'll be good." She travels the edges, so that she's never fully in the picture to the right side. "To the left, please." She repeats the pattern as she travels to where she started.

Zeke whispers to Don, "I'll go position her. Hit the button as soon as she enters."

"I'll do you one better. I'll set it to automatic. If she's all in the frame it'll lock her in."

"Sounds good." Zeke heads to the back where he sees her blue eyes shining.

A little too late he realizes she's up to something. As he approaches, she grabs him and swings him into the square on the ground.

And just like that, he's sucked onto the back of the machine.

Zeke finds it odd that he feels flat yet can move around and do other not flat things. All he can see is white.

His arms and legs start moving of their own accord. I'm being posed. Head, fingers, and other minor alterations happen. Don's not releasing me, so this must be the portrait she must have wanted. I suppose that makes sense since she had her choice from all the employees in the park, and she chose me. In the stillness, he loses track of time.

And then he pops back out.

Zeke heads back to the drawing side to look at what they are staring at. Neither is sitting. The picture is amazing. It's a picture of him in his uniform hurrying off somewhere with little dust poofs showing his speed. It's not in Don's style at all.

Noticing that Zeke is there, Don holds up his hands and steps back, "That was all her, man. I just showed her the controls."

Zeke muses that her art is so good, she could take Don's job from him. Then a thought occurs to him, "Don, you got one of those fancy tubes for our VIP, here?"

"Sure," Don grabs a tan, leather cylinder with a Fun Planet logo tooled into it. They roll up the picture, pop the top, and slide the drawing into it. "Hey, you got the last one. Good. Now I don't have to carry it back."

Zeke gives a nod to Don and takes Yasmin's arm. "Hey, where are we going?" She tries to look scared, but a smile hides just below the surface.

At the back of the machine, he tries to look angry but his smiling eyes give him away, "I'd say turnabout is fair play."

"Hey," she attempts to protest, but her heart's not in it, "this is my VIP ticket. You do what I say."

With a gentle shove, he pushes her toward the machine, "Oh, this will be something special for the VIP, alright."

She 'stumbles' back a step into the square on the ground. It rises taking her with it and presses her to the back of the machine.

Locked into place he heads back to the front. "Thanks, Don. I'll take it from here. Sorry for keeping you here longer."

"No problem at all. It was nice meeting Yasmin. See you tomorrow?"

"I doubt it. I'm off tomorrow."

"Okay. See ya when I see ya then." And they part ways.

Turning back to the drawing machine, Zeke sees a blank paper on one side and a color illustration of Yasmin on the other. He pushes a button to test his memory of the controls, the paper leaves the board and covers Yasmin. She can be seen through the paper. He shakes his head, "Nah, I'll do it freehand, too." He resets it back so they are separate.

Flat Yasmin is splayed against the canvas with legs at odd angles and one arm bent up and the other down. In a way she looks like an Egyptian hieroglyphic. With the press of a button, a black line surrounds her. A couple dials later, she is standing straight ahead, arms at her sides and legs together.

She smirks in an endearing fashion. He knows she can't see him, so he turns and starts.

His picture also has her running, but Zeke decides on a three fourths perspective to get more of her face. In short order, he's got her drawing inked and goes for the bonus of color. To get a better look at her face, he spins a dial and her head grows huge.

Meanwhile on his drawing he dips his brush into the paint. A holographic swath of blueish-green fills the eyes. She'll like that I bet. Her skin takes on a fleshy hue with a hint of a tan. Flashy colors splash onto her clothes.

Soon, the drawing of Yasmin is finished and looking fabulous, except for the hair. Right now she is bald. Zeke wants to give her long, brown hair, but he knows it won't look right. Just like now.

Zeke lowers the pen to outline the shape. When it almost reaches the paper, his mind lights up. Of course! He sets the pen to one side and grabs the brush. With the other hand he mixes the paint. Several dabs and a swipes later and she has gradient colored hair, green at the roots and blue at the tips.

His finger hovers over the Done button. Again, something's not quite right. She needs an accessory. With a few quick flicks of the pen, her picture tube hangs over her shoulder by its strap, like a purse. "Good enough. I mustn't keep the lady waiting."

Zeke signs it in the corner adding some numbers and slashes, as well. Then he rolls up the picture and places it in the tube with the other.

Quickly she makes her way to the front to see his art. Zeke smiles and shakes his finger, "Nuh uh uh. You don't get to see it until tomorrow."

She gives him a fake frown, "That's not fair. You got to see mine." She looks around, "Hey. Where's Don?"

"I sent him home. And we'd better hurry because we are keeping someone else from going home."

"You?"

"Well, yeah. But I was thinking of Helen who is waiting for us at your overnight place."

"Oh right." She sinks a little, "I forgot about that. I was having so much fun ..."

"I understand. Let's head there quick then." Then he adds to himself, I've been having fun too.

Just like his picture, Yasmin slings the strap over her shoulder with the tube hanging down by her hips. Zeke starts to jog. As his hand swings back her hand slides into his. Together, they hustle past the closed rides and locked up concession stands. As they approach the front, the last remnants of the crowd trickle to and fro, either stalling or getting in last minute shopping before they are ushered out.

Zeke pulls them into an alley, around a corner, and into a back door. Step by step they enter a dim clothing store. "Stay here." Releasing her hand he slides into the darkness and heads to the window. He tugs and pulls on the chain that lowers the screen that covers the window.

Now separated from the lights and crowds, the darkness is complete. A female voice startles them, "About time you got here."

---

Yasmin's heart skips a beat. Then the lights flare blinding her. She brings up one hand to shield her eyes while the other stays over her heart willing it to beat again.

When her eyes adjust, she sees an older woman smiling at her, "Oh boy, it's been a while since I was able to do that." The woman, Yasmin assumes her name is Helen, walks around Yasmin. "Now as a V.I.P. you get to pick one outfit of your choice, so shop to your heart's content."

Shopping? In here? Yasmin's eyes roam the store judging the selection at a glance. Not bad. She hands Zeke the tube of pictures and dives in saying, "Here. Hold this." She starts bopping from one rack to the next, picking items up then holding them up to herself in the mirror.

Helen hovers near her commenting on all the possibilities, "Not bad.", "That works.", "Oh, that looks good on you."

Zeke speaks up. Yasmin looks at him on the far side of the store. His eyes are darting and measuring like Helen's are. "Uh, Helen? You can go home now. I can handle it from here."

Helen looks back at him indignant, even going so far as to put her hands on her hips, "Zeke, let an old lady have her fun. Besides," Yasmin watches as the older lady turns toward her, "You can't shop for clothes without another girl, right?" She gives Yasmin a conspiratory wink.

Yasmin not expecting this, gives a not very believable answer, "Uh, yeah, right." But the more she thinks about it, the more she likes the idea. Helen is picking things close to what I would pick.

As if reading her mind, Helen hands her an outfit, "Here. What do you think of this?"

"That's cute." She 's just about to go for it when she sees the other half of the store unchecked, "Maybe. Let's go see if there's anything better first." The two women scour through the rest, but find nothing better.

Putting her hand on the younger woman's back, Helen directs her to the stairs. "Let's get you changed and ready for your spot."

Yasmin resists for a moment, "Spot?"

Helen chuckles, "Oh? He didn't tell you?" She turns to looks at Zeke, "Oh, he must really like you."

"What," she tries to act surprised, but her burning cheeks give her away.

"Ah, young love."

Both turn away and deny it, "No, no, no." "You must be imagining things."

Helen smiles all the bigger, "I must be wrong then. I was sure my old woman's intuition was spot on." Nudging Yasmin again, they head through a door and down some stairs.

Yasmin wants to turn back and ask him if she'll see him here tomorrow, but to do that would give the old woman fodder for her ideas. Maybe I'll stop by his shop first thing.

They stop in front of a door. It says 'Lounge' on it. "Like I said, it's time for you to put on the clothes you picked. The bathrooms are kinda tiny, so use the break room to get into your new outfit."

Yasmin closes the door behind herself leaving Helen in the hall. With deft motions, she swaps clothes. I wonder what they're not telling me? She calls through the door, "Hey. This thing Zeke didn't tell me about. It's not bad, right?"

A muffled response comes back, "Oh no, this is something special for the V.I.P."

"And you're not telling me what it is, because?"

"Well, I was going to tell you once you were back outside the break room. But if you would raaaather know now, then I'll tell you."

The fully dressed Yasmin flings open the door, "Okay, I'm here. What's the big secret?"

Helen chuckles, "It's no secret. You are going to get transformed into a store window mannequin modeling the clothes you picked, which I might add are quite fabulous. In the morning before everyone is allowed to enter, we'll open and return you to normal. Then you can hit the rides and stores early."

Yasmin finds herself at the end of a hallway that hasn't seen much use. It seems she followed Helen's lead while the older lady was talking. There in the dead end is a lit platform a step higher than the floor they are standing on. To one side is a door.

Helen turns to her, "Ready?" While waiting for a response she reaches in the door and pulls out a pole.

As an answer Yasmin steps up and turns to the other woman. "Great. Turn toward the wall and strike a pose." Gesturing to the pole, she adds, "This will be behind you to hold you steady through the night in case something like an earthquake occurs. I'll put this seat under you. You'll be sitting on it, so you won't lose your balance."

"Gotcha." Yasmin turns her back to Helen and bends a knee and places the opposite hand on her hip. Her other arm goes up and behind her head tilting her body to the side. She feels the stand seat slide under her butt.

"Perfect." After a moment of pause, Helen continues, "Now you shouldn't be able to move." A hydraulic mechanism hums beneath Yasmin. "I'll meet you on the first floor to open the window so you'll be able to watch the people arrive."

She sees the floor move past her vision and feels the floor lock into place. However, it's not Helen who meets her. "Hey Beautiful. You forgot this." In the dim reflection in the glass, she sees Zeke slide up behind her. She feels the strap wrap across her chest along a diagonal path to her shoulder. She hears the metal clink as he connects the strap to the tube. He releases and she feels its weight on her back.

He walks away and then back again. As best as she can tell, Zeke seems undecided about something. She watches as he turns away from her again. With a point, he follows his finger out of her field of vision.

When he returns, she sees things in his hands, but because of the imperfect reflection, she can only guess what he has.

In moments, it becomes evident what he has. With a tug, her beautiful brown hair pops off. In its place he puts a some short hair. He adjusts it a little and an aquamarine bang dangles in front of one of her eyes. Then the other thing makes an appearance. On top of that mop of a hairdo, he places a beret of sorts. Instead of flopping off one side, it poofs the same distance on all sides. It seems to be a yarn knitted thing with indiscernible patterns.

She silently curses the bad image in the window.

Zeke appears over her hand on the hip shoulder, "Good night, Miss VIP. I hope you enjoy your people watching." He steps back, "I'd say, 'See you tomorrow', but I don't work tomorrow. So, see you around, maybe."

Sad, Yasmin doesn't see him leave or the lights go out. Before she knows it, she is alone looking out on the dark plaza, night sky and patrolling security guards.

The sadness doesn't last long as her mind springs to life imagining pictures for her to draw including streaking stars over the entrance to Fun Planet. It's only the brightening colors of dawn that draws her back to the area in front of her. People come from all directions to stand in the various lines.

Sounds come from behind her. It takes a while, but someone comes next to her and closes the shade blocking her from the outside world. At the same time, she sinks back into the floor.

A helpful employee holds a bag, "Ticket, please." Yasmin pulls out her VIP pass and the employee scans it, "Enjoy your early entry into the park. She gives Yasmin a big smile. "Oh! And don't forget your bag. We laundered your clothes for you."

Eager and yet nervous to see what Zeke did to her, she rushes out the way she came to a bathroom. There, in a mirror, she gets a good look at the top of her head.The hat is the northern hemisphere of Earth and from beneath it, green ground and blue water bleed on to her hair.

She pops off the beret and finds that her hair is a gradient from a blue on her crown trickling down to an aquamarine on the tips. And it's short, too. The back just edges past her ears.

Yasmin wants to hate it for it's not her long brown hair, but she can't. It fits. It works. It's amazing. It'll be a great wig when I want to try something different. She looks in her bag and sees her former hair. Then she tugs on her new hair.

Pain shoots through her scalp as the hair stays in place. She looks at the brown hair again. It is a wig. "Great. I can put it over my hair. Thanks Zeke."

At the mention of his name, sorrow rolls in. His words echo in her memories, "I'm off tomorrow." He was fun she decides. Too bad. I could totally spend the day with him.

This triggers more memories, running hand in hand, getting their pictures done -- His picture! It's today. I can see it now.

Yasmin slings the tube off her shoulder and pops the top. Careful not to damage the picture, she slides it out. It's a full color picture of her almost like she is now. As she tips the illustration the eyes switch color from green to blue. She tilts it back and they switch back. It even has her smile. He did a good job, almost better than me.

He eyes drop down to the signature. "His handwriting's not bad either." Then the numbers below the signature catches her eye.

Several women enter the bathroom desperate from standing in line for so long. She plops the beret back on her head without straightening it and steps outside. "Those numbers can't be the date it is no where near that year." Upon closer inspection if she removes the symbols and separates the digits into a pattern they form a phone number. Clever boy. I should call him and thank him for the fun time we had yesterday.

She dials the number and while it rings in her ear a little jingle rings nearby.

She hears Zeke's voice answer, "Hello?" And a moment later it echoes in her ear. She looks around but the crowd entering the park is overwhelming.

"I want to thank you for all you did for me yesterday. You made me feel really special and important."

"You are very welcome." His voice is closer now and the echo still present.

She looks around and spots him. The patrons part around him. He looks rather nice out of uniform in some casual clothes.

She turns away so he won't see her smile. "Say, would you like to come to Fun Planet and hang out?"

His words answer her right behind her, "Sure. Maybe I'll see you around." Closing her phone to face him, she puts her hand into his.