Jake and Dean sneak their way back to the bunkhouse and look inside. All the lights are one, but the boys are just milling about and talking. Dean walks to the back where there’s an open window to the bathroom. “Give me a boost,” Dean points. Jake helps Dean up into the window, and the Dean helps Jake in.
They both wander into the bunkhouse and several boys see them come in. “What happened?” one asks, “Did you guys get caught? Did you get away?” asks another. “Listen guys, something weird happened, they had these donkeys and-“ Jake can’t finish because all the lights outside go dark and all the boys run back to the windows to look. Then the man in red enters the bunkhouse. He looks around at the boys and then smiles, “so sorry about all the noise boys, just some minor technical problems. So back to bed.” The boys all shuffle to their cots and Jake and Dean get into theirs. “Oh, and by the way,” the man starts again,” several of the boys decided to head back home. So they won’t be coming back. Night.” The man shuts off the light to the bunkhouse and leaves. The door is then locked from the outside.
“Go home?” Jake asks Dean, “you know as well as I do they were caught.” Dean shrugs, “so what, they were caught and sent home for sneaking out. End of story. Good night.” Dean turns over in his cot away from Jake. “Dean, you have to listen, something is going on here,” Jake pleads. Several boys yell to keep quiet and Jake is forced into silence.
The next morning, the boys all wake up groggy for the day. The man in red unlocks the door and enters. “Good morning boys, are you rested and ready for a full days work?” The boys don’t seem enthused. “Well, tell you what, I have a full breakfast buffet waiting for whoever gets cleaned up and their uniform on in the next hour.” He closes the door and boys start to scramble for their uniforms. Jake gets up and watches Dean go through his trunk and find all the pieces of the uniform. “Are you really gonna work?” Jake asks. “That’s why I came here, dude. They are paying us good money,” Dean answers. Jake looks over at the four empty cots. “What do you think happened to Garrett?” Jake stands pointing at a cot. “He probably got sent home, too,” Dean explains, “and besides, aren’t you hungry?”
Jakes stomach growls and he nods. The boys all fill the shower stalls and wash up and get changed into their uniforms. They laugh at each other with their long donkey ear caps and fake tails. The buffet was waiting as promised and the boys filled up on pancakes, eggs, bacon, and chocolate milk.
The man in red came to the tables where the boys were eating and stood up on one of them. “Well, since you’ve had a good breakfast, it is time to get started. It is now… 11:30am. The park will open and two, and the customers will start arriving. It will be your job to make sure everything is running smoothly. Don’t worry about controlling rides, they’re all automated, but the food dispensing areas require constant supervision.”
The man gestures for several of the other park control men to walk over. “Pair up, and get ready for some fun,” the man in red laughs and steps down. Dean and Jake pair up with and stand in line with the rest of the boys. One of the men from last night walks up to them, “Well, I guess you’re coming with me boys.” Jake goes white and swallows as the man leads them down the boardwalk. He stops at a small cart filled with beer kegs, “you boys ever tap a keg before?” They both shake ‘no.’ The man does a brief explanation and then goes on,” and when all the kegs are empty, just hit this red button, and another cart will be delivered. Easy. Good luck.” The man walks away without a chance for follow up questions.
“Seems easy enough, right? Dean asks. Jake just nods, “yeah, I guess so.”