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Description

Every town in America usually is known for something, and Mirtham Haven, on the Atlantic coast of Florida, is no exception. Since the 1950’s, this little surfing community has always known how to throw a party. Every Halloween, Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo, and any other holiday, the town would go wild with merriment. Most of the neighboring towns found these people odd, but left them alone as long as no one broke the law.

Little did they know, soon Mirtham Haven would hold a party so unique, it must be seen to be believed.

----

Monday, March 14th, 201X.

Gwendolyn Wong was an Asian-American girl with a passion for exploration. She often looked at life as one big adventure, always hoping to make each day as exciting as the last, if not more. Her ultimate dream was to go exploring new places outside her home town, curious and eager to see what lay beyond. But over time, she knew that would take more time than it seemed to achieve; and figured that as long as Gwen had other things to occupy her time until then, that big adventure would still come to pass someday.

Gwen awoke around 8 AM, more excited than she usually was, since not only was this week her school’s spring break, but today was also her 12th birthday. To celebrate, her aunt and uncle decided to rent a bouncy castle at their house for the party, and Gwen couldn’t wait to see it.

Around noon, Gwen arrived at her aunt Donna’s house, packed with many guests and relatives. It wasn’t long at all before her grandparents brought out their succulent barbecued ribs and brisket, followed 30 minutes later by her mother’s carefully prepared German chocolate cake. Gwen adored every minute of the party, but her eyes always seemed to dart towards the huge dragon-themed bounce house in the backyard. Something drew her to try it, but she couldn’t place why.

After Gwen unwrapped her annual assortment of presents, she, her siblings and other kids flocked to see this brightly colored inflatable attraction. Up close, they noticed just how large it was, and the strange factor of the dragon’s colorful smiling head used as the entrance. Four tubular legs acted as its columns, two huge vinyl wings as a decoration on the roof, and an enormous tail with an opening at the tip resembled a slide. Labels indicated that this was to be the ride’s exit. The kids found all of this rather unusual for a bouncy castle, but Gwen liked the ride for that feature. The entire thing looked expensive as far as inflatable structures were concerned, so she honored her aunt and uncle for going the extra mile.

Being the birthday girl, Gwen went first. Taking off her shoes, Gwen stepped forward into the shiny maw, gently grabbed onto the ladder embedded in its tongue, and found herself climbing up to a small rubber chute leading into the bounce house proper. As she lifted herself onto the chute, Gwen noticed another oddity about this bouncy dragon: The walls were made from transparent vinyl, rather than open netting. Gwen had seen her fair share of bouncy castles and slides in her childhood, and figured that this choice would make the dragon very warm inside before long.

One of the partygoers shouted, “Hey Gwen, are you going in or what?”, breaking her observation. Then as she let go and slid down the chute into the chamber, rebounding off the colorful inflated floor, Gwen found herself in what actually felt like an air-conditioned space. She wanted to understand more about this structure, but the other kids joining in behind her directed the girl’s thoughts to staying upright while jumping.

For several minutes the room was filled with the laughter of children, the muffled hissing of air from a compressor, and the squeaking of the rubbery chamber. Then as the kids finished, Gwen took the first spot in line again, and when they noticed that the chute was too steep to climb, Gwen entered a passage at the other end of the bouncy room, which turned out to be the inside of the dragon’s tail, coated in numerous colorful inflated vinyl panels. Climbing up over the edge of a giant orange inner tube surrounding the opening, Gwen laid back and slid down the inflatable slide, followed close behind by the other kids.

As Gwen enjoyed the soft, squeaky ride, she couldn’t help but feel something cool and smooth on her skin while it rubbed against the inflatable walls. Gwen looked, but the dim light in the tube made it hard to tell what was happening. Soon, Gwen landed on a balloon cushion as she left the slide, where she immediately jumped up to make room for the other patrons.

Before she had a chance to look around, however, her mother Mina asked, “Honey, where did you get that costume?”

Gwen looked down and saw that indeed, somehow she was wearing a colorful inflatable costume, just as garish as the dragon she came off of. Most of the other riders emerged the same as they entered, though two of them also bore similar costumes to Gwen. The question on Gwen’s and her mother’s minds remained: Where did those suits come from?

Trying to make light of the situation, Gwen turned to her mother and answered, “I...guess I found it in that bounce house.”

Her parents looked at Aunt Donna and Uncle Owen. Donna looked at her husband, who sheepishly explained, “I think I remember something from the company saying costumes were a bonus feature.”

Mina thought for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Okay then.”

-----

With the sun approaching the horizon, Gwen and her parents decided to go home for the day. Per orders from her mother, Gwen took the suit off – finding her regular clothes underneath, yet nary a hint of discomfort or sweat – and hung it in her closet, before heading off for dinner.

Later that night, as Gwen was about to go to sleep, her curious mind went back to that mysterious rubber costume. For reasons she couldn’t understand, Gwen decided to put it on and wear it to bed instead of her regular pajamas.

Though the full-body rubber suit squeaked now and then as she tried to doze off, it was soft enough to not be a distraction. It was hard to tell, but Gwen thought the suit was getting tighter around her body as the night went on. At around 10 PM, she fell asleep.

At around 3 AM, Gwen awoke noticing her bedroom had somehow changed. What was once plaster and concrete had become smooth inflated vinyl, covering every wall, the floor and ceiling, and even her furniture. She turned and saw the digital clock on her now inflated nightstand still showed the time, but had an outer sheath of rubber around the display. As Gwen rolled back, she also found her own bed to be entirely inflatable, right down to the pillows, sheets and balloony comforter, which seemed to have a dragon motif to it in the dim light from outside.

Gwen initially wanted to panic or write it all off as a dream, but as she took in the new environment, she found it rather appealing. The inflatable mattress beneath her body felt wonderfully comfy compared to her old spring mattress, which she’d hoped would one day be replaced with a memory foam one. To top it all off, Gwen realized she was still wearing her costume from the bounce house, and pondered over whether it had something to do with this surreal experience, but she figured it’d be better to investigate in the morning, and so Gwen contentedly laid back to sleep. She didn’t even notice something inflating on the costume’s right shoulder.

Description

Every town in America usually is known for something, and Mirtham Haven, on the Atlantic coast of Florida, is no exception. Since the 1950’s, this little surfing community has always known how to throw a party. Every Halloween, Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo, and any other holiday, the town would go wild with merriment. Most of the neighboring towns found these people odd, but left them alone as long as no one broke the law.

Little did they know, soon Mirtham Haven would hold a party so unique, it must be seen to be believed.

----

Monday, March 14th, 201X.

Gwendolyn Wong was an Asian-American girl with a passion for exploration. She often looked at life as one big adventure, always hoping to make each day as exciting as the last, if not more. Her ultimate dream was to go exploring new places outside her home town, curious and eager to see what lay beyond. But over time, she knew that would take more time than it seemed to achieve; and figured that as long as Gwen had other things to occupy her time until then, that big adventure would still come to pass someday.

Gwen awoke around 8 AM, more excited than she usually was, since not only was this week her school’s spring break, but today was also her 12th birthday. To celebrate, her aunt and uncle decided to rent a bouncy castle at their house for the party, and Gwen couldn’t wait to see it.

Around noon, Gwen arrived at her aunt Donna’s house, packed with many guests and relatives. It wasn’t long at all before her grandparents brought out their succulent barbecued ribs and brisket, followed 30 minutes later by her mother’s carefully prepared German chocolate cake. Gwen adored every minute of the party, but her eyes always seemed to dart towards the huge dragon-themed bounce house in the backyard. Something drew her to try it, but she couldn’t place why.

After Gwen unwrapped her annual assortment of presents, she, her siblings and other kids flocked to see this brightly colored inflatable attraction. Up close, they noticed just how large it was, and the strange factor of the dragon’s colorful smiling head used as the entrance. Four tubular legs acted as its columns, two huge vinyl wings as a decoration on the roof, and an enormous tail with an opening at the tip resembled a slide. Labels indicated that this was to be the ride’s exit. The kids found all of this rather unusual for a bouncy castle, but Gwen liked the ride for that feature. The entire thing looked expensive as far as inflatable structures were concerned, so she honored her aunt and uncle for going the extra mile.

Being the birthday girl, Gwen went first. Taking off her shoes, Gwen stepped forward into the shiny maw, gently grabbed onto the ladder embedded in its tongue, and found herself climbing up to a small rubber chute leading into the bounce house proper. As she lifted herself onto the chute, Gwen noticed another oddity about this bouncy dragon: The walls were made from transparent vinyl, rather than open netting. Gwen had seen her fair share of bouncy castles and slides in her childhood, and figured that this choice would make the dragon very warm inside before long.

One of the partygoers shouted, “Hey Gwen, are you going in or what?”, breaking her observation. Then as she let go and slid down the chute into the chamber, rebounding off the colorful inflated floor, Gwen found herself in what actually felt like an air-conditioned space. She wanted to understand more about this structure, but the other kids joining in behind her directed the girl’s thoughts to staying upright while jumping.

For several minutes the room was filled with the laughter of children, the muffled hissing of air from a compressor, and the squeaking of the rubbery chamber. Then as the kids finished, Gwen took the first spot in line again, and when they noticed that the chute was too steep to climb, Gwen entered a passage at the other end of the bouncy room, which turned out to be the inside of the dragon’s tail, coated in numerous colorful inflated vinyl panels. Climbing up over the edge of a giant orange inner tube surrounding the opening, Gwen laid back and slid down the inflatable slide, followed close behind by the other kids.

As Gwen enjoyed the soft, squeaky ride, she couldn’t help but feel something cool and smooth on her skin while it rubbed against the inflatable walls. Gwen looked, but the dim light in the tube made it hard to tell what was happening. Soon, Gwen landed on a balloon cushion as she left the slide, where she immediately jumped up to make room for the other patrons.

Before she had a chance to look around, however, her mother Mina asked, “Honey, where did you get that costume?”

Gwen looked down and saw that indeed, somehow she was wearing a colorful inflatable costume, just as garish as the dragon she came off of. Most of the other riders emerged the same as they entered, though two of them also bore similar costumes to Gwen. The question on Gwen’s and her mother’s minds remained: Where did those suits come from?

Trying to make light of the situation, Gwen turned to her mother and answered, “I...guess I found it in that bounce house.”

Her parents looked at Aunt Donna and Uncle Owen. Donna looked at her husband, who sheepishly explained, “I think I remember something from the company saying costumes were a bonus feature.”

Mina thought for a moment, then shrugged and said, “Okay then.”

-----

With the sun approaching the horizon, Gwen and her parents decided to go home for the day. Per orders from her mother, Gwen took the suit off – finding her regular clothes underneath, yet nary a hint of discomfort or sweat – and hung it in her closet, before heading off for dinner.

Later that night, as Gwen was about to go to sleep, her curious mind went back to that mysterious rubber costume. For reasons she couldn’t understand, Gwen decided to put it on and wear it to bed instead of her regular pajamas.

Though the full-body rubber suit squeaked now and then as she tried to doze off, it was soft enough to not be a distraction. It was hard to tell, but Gwen thought the suit was getting tighter around her body as the night went on. At around 10 PM, she fell asleep.

At around 3 AM, Gwen awoke noticing her bedroom had somehow changed. What was once plaster and concrete had become smooth inflated vinyl, covering every wall, the floor and ceiling, and even her furniture. She turned and saw the digital clock on her now inflated nightstand still showed the time, but had an outer sheath of rubber around the display. As Gwen rolled back, she also found her own bed to be entirely inflatable, right down to the pillows, sheets and balloony comforter, which seemed to have a dragon motif to it in the dim light from outside.

Gwen initially wanted to panic or write it all off as a dream, but as she took in the new environment, she found it rather appealing. The inflatable mattress beneath her body felt wonderfully comfy compared to her old spring mattress, which she’d hoped would one day be replaced with a memory foam one. To top it all off, Gwen realized she was still wearing her costume from the bounce house, and pondered over whether it had something to do with this surreal experience, but she figured it’d be better to investigate in the morning, and so Gwen contentedly laid back to sleep. She didn’t even notice something inflating on the costume’s right shoulder.