One Last Time Around the Big Fountain

Ethan and Trish didn't meet until their twenties, but they both grew up going to the old mall in Cedarville.

Back in those days, the mall was more than just a three-story shrine to commerce; a person's regard for it defined their being. Some scoured Leon's Books for the latest comics before running off to trade dollars for tokens at Zoned Out Arcade. Others preferred to hold court by the big fountain, sharing popcorn and gossip with friends. The wide-eyed kid who once set off to explore every florescent-lit inch of the building might one day get their first job there, only to spend there the money which they earned there. And all the while, more and more people filtered in from the crowded parking lot. As many types of people as the world had ever seen, they all came to the mall in Cedarville.

Until they stopped, of course.

"My friend Stacy used to rearrange the mannequins at McNeilly's," Trish said as she sat on Ethan's, now hers-and-Ethan's, living room floor. She sifted through a box of things from her previous apartment.

"Wait, what? I invented that!" Ethan stood in the kitchen doorway, still chewing the last of a leftover spring roll as he asked, "Did she make them cup each others' junk?"

"Yes, she did. And sorry, but she invented it. Next you'll be telling me that you were first person to run a lap in the big fountain."

"Well, not me personally, but I was there the first night it happened."

"Oh, yeah? What was his name?"

"Her name was Rhonda Ramsey. And she deserves her rightful place in the history books for it!"

Trish smiled as she pushed aside the cardboard box. It was midday on Sunday and the couple still wore the unofficial pajamas they had slept in the night before.

"Hey, why don't we go?" she asked.

"One minute unpacked and you're already bored."

"Bored, yes, but I'm not quite unpacked. There's still more in the bedroom." She walked to Ethan and laid her head on his chest. "But it could be fun. And I haven't been to the Cedarville Mall in forever."

"I have, a few years ago," Ethan said. "It was like a ghost town. Macy's was still open, but the rest of the place was pretty sad."

"I want to see the big fountain," Trish said, her voice curled into a silky pout. "One day they're going to tear it all down and we'll regret not going today."

That was all it took. Within five minutes they were dressed, in the car, and on their way.

The mall wasn't visible from the rebuilt section of highway that replaced the older, more dangerous road. The shopping center sat back a considerable distance, behind a wall of tall trees. But as they neared the ancient Mecca of the American consumer, Ethan and Trish saw that the old mall was less a ghost town than it was an artifact. The main building's structure seemed intact, though something about the facade looked off kilter, unbalanced. A wall-sized designer mural that was added when the couple were young, still strangers to one another, had faded into a pale reddish brown phantom.

Ethan drove through the nearly empty parking lot. A few cars dotted the perimeter; all appeared to have been there for a long time.

"Wow. It's worse than I remembered," Ethan said.

"Do you think we can get in through the main entrance?" Trish asked.

"No idea. I think the whole thing is closed down. Probably not safe to go in." Ethan slowed the car to a crawl as they passed the sets of doors under the Cedarville Mall rusted iron banner. "It might be dark in there."

"The top floor is practically all skylights. It'll be fine," Trish said, nodding at the memory.

Ethan parked the car next to the curb and they got out. It was a hot, clear day. They silently approached the entrance, both looking around as though someone might try to talk them out of going inside. Hoping for it, almost. Through the big glass doors, they could see that the section immediately beyond the entrance was dark. However, as Trish had predicted, the center area appeared to be lit by the skylights from the ceiling.

"Okay," she said, grabbing the metallic door handle. She took a short breath and pulled hard, but it swung open so easily that Trish had to quickly plant one foot behind the other to stay upright. "Okay," she said again, smiling at Ethan.

"I can't believe it's unlocked," he said. Trish shrugged and they walked inside.

A large earthenware pot stood tall in the center of the darkened hallway, crumbled leaves splayed over the rim. Behind it stood a map of the mall, sans backing light, which Trish and Ethan walked by without a glance. Once they reached the sun-drenched center section, they could clearly see that most of the stores were closed, including Macy's. The edges of the walkway were lined with metallic gates pulled to the dust-covered ground.

The signs of long gone companies still adorned many of the shops. It was clear that, at some point, the mall's management stopped expecting new tenants to replace the old ones. Ethan and Trish passed by old haunts such as the Juice Counter and a clothing store called Climate before arriving at Leon's Books. At Leon's, they both walked to the gate to see if anything was left inside. All they could see in the dusty front section were a few silhouettes of cardboard displays and magazine inserts littering the hardwood floor.

"Damn," Ethan said. "I can't believe this used to be Leon's. Well, I guess it looks no worse than most libraries will in a few years."

"I hope that's not true," Trish said as she peered into the dark bookstore. Ethan lightly kissed her above the ear and a thought occurred to him.

"Okay, this is going to make me sound like an amateur," he said. "But I think I'm lost. Shouldn't the big fountain be over here somewhere?"

"You obviously didn't spend a lot of time there," Trish said. "The big fountain is by the rear entrance. From here, we need to go to the second floor and double back a ways."

"Wait, the fountain's on the second floor? That can't be right."

"No, it's...you'll see."

She led him to the escalators banks, which appeared to have been dormant for ages. The still, metal steps were covered in dust and bits of plaster. Trish and Ethan did their best to not touch the filthy rubber railings, though the act of climbing the immobile stairs felt more difficult than walking up a normal staircase.

"I know I'm not this out of shape," Ethan said once they reached the second floor.

"No, it's psychological," Trish said. "Your brain feels like your body shouldn't have to work so hard when you go up a broken escalator."

"There's no such thing as a broken escalator," Ethan said. "They just become stairs."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I think I got it from a Popsicle stick."

The second level was in further disrepair than the first, also hotter and darker. Ethan and Trish walked along the railing, favoring the side furthest from the shadowy walls. A few dark hallways branched out into recesses that they did their best to ignore.

Ethan looked over the edge of the railing to the first level. He saw the arcade below and pointed. "Look, there's Zoned Out. We must have walked right by without seeing it."

"It's not even gated," Trish said, squinting a bit. "I don't see any games still inside, but we can get a closer look when we come back through. The back entrance is just ahead."

In front of them, another dark section stretched out for about twenty meters. However, just beyond that, they could see the top rails of the rear escalators. Trish picked up her pace, nearly slipping on a mossy patch that had grown on the tile floor. Ethan guided her around it. They got to the edge of the level, where it dropped back down to the first floor again. There was no third floor in this part of the mall, but another skylight sloped down from the second floor ceiling. The glass doors of the rear entrance also let in plenty of light, making this section the brightest they had seen yet.

And at the bottom of the escalators stood the shiny ceramic allure of the big fountain.

As they descended the escalator, Trish and Ethan could see that the famous well had run dry and its tiles were cracked in places. Coins tossed in for wishful indulgence had long since disappeared. But they approached it with reverence all the same.

Trish sat on the tiled edge of the fountain and smiled at Ethan. "Okay, it's not quite like I remembered it. But still, this is pretty cool, right?"

"It's starting to come back to me," Ethan said as he looked at some of the gated shops near the glass doors of the back entrance. "A little. Didn't that used to be McNeilly's? Over there?"

Trish looked at the unlit, empty display behind dirty glass and imagined the mannequins that they would rearrange into lewd positions when the clerks weren't looking. "Yeah. That's it," she said. "Or was."

Ethan jumped up onto the edge of the fountain. He looked around a moment, before turning his attention to the glass doors of the exit. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. But I hope those doors are unlocked. I don't care if Zoned Out still has every game I've ever played - I'm not walking back through there." He pointed to the dark alcove at the top of the escalators.

Trish laughed. "Agreed. I'm really glad you said that." She looked around a bit more and sighed. "Okay, we can go whenever you want. This was fun, though."

Ethan reached down to Trish and pulled her up to stand on the edge of the fountain with him.

"How about one last race around the big fountain first?" he asked her.

Trish looked at the cracks and the faded mildew stains on the fountain's floor. Ethan nodded and shrugged. He said, "Well, it was worth a-"

With a laugh, Trish pushed him off the edge, away from the fountain. She jumped onto the dry ceramic and began to run a solo lap.

"Hey!" Ethan said, joining her laughter. He considered trying to catch up, but became hypnotized by Trish's movements as she raced through the evening's last bit of sunlight.

Once she completed the circled path, she mimed kicking water into his face. "Splash! I win!" she shouted.

Ethan picked her up from the side of the fountain and spun her around. He kissed her gently and returned her to the mall floor. Trish leaned her head against his chest and they stood by the big fountain for a moment.

"Okay. Time to go home," Ethan said after a while.

Ethan took Trish's hand and they started for the exit, where they would turn back once more to say their goodbyes to the Cedarville Mall. But they soon found that the glass doors of the rear entrance were gone, replaced by none other than Leon's Books.

"Oh, hey," Trish said, walking up to the threshold. The metallic gate was now lifted and the shop was considerably brighter. She could even see a few bookshelves sitting near the rear of the store, filled with shiny new paperbacks. Ethan stood behind her, trying to figure out how he had lost his sense of direction again.

"I'm not sure what is happening," he said. From a far away section of the building, rhythmic clicks and faint music echoed down to them.

"It sounds like a game of air hockey back at Zoned Out," Trish said, her eyes wide with amazement. "C'mon, let's check it out."

She took Ethan's hand again and they walked to the escalators, which seemed to be working fine after all. As they were lifted up, back into the dark recesses of the second level, Trish and Ethan heard a spate of gentle waves crashing onto tile behind them as water began flowing into the big fountain again.

Trish looked at Ethan and squeezed his hand. Smiling, she said, "I think the mall is waking up."