Hard to believe it, but this is the last one-shot in the Spooked series! I may write a couple extra one-shots (before and after stories), but I'm not sure. I thought I had ideas for those two extras, but now I don't think so. This might very well be it. It's been a great journey over the course of a couple summers. Weird that I'm finishing this story off in December, one of the coldest months of the year when amusement parks aren't even open, but that's just how the timing fell, I guess.

Romantic Flight

It's still not quite dark enough! Hiccup observed. He and Astrid had been walking through the park as he stalled for time. As they'd walked, Astrid continued to tease and mock him about missing the golden ring on the carousel. Hiccup merely smiled back, letting Astrid have her moment of glory. He was just glad that she was having a great time.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Astrid asked. Patience was never her virtue. "Not that the park isn't pretty now that the rides are all lit up or anything, but we have just been randomly walking for awhile now."

Hiccup tried to think quickly, stalling a little for time. "Uh…can I interest you in an ice cream cone? Or maybe some cotton candy?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow, silently questioning her boyfriend. "We just ate those potato triangles…which were just as good as you said. Why would we need more food?"

Knowing that he wouldn't be winning (again!) against Astrid, Hiccup sighed. "Okay, fine, you got me. That was a bad excuse. Come on." Grabbing Astrid's hand, Hiccup slowly walked toward the center of the park where the ride he'd saved for last was located.

In the distance, Hiccup could see it, the spinning Ferris Wheel. As a young boy, he'd always love to stare up at it and try to see the top. The effort always gave him a headache, but it was worth it. If Astrid suspected that Hiccup was leading them both toward this ride, she did not voice it. In fact, a silence had fallen between them, but it was comfortable so Hiccup did not speak and break the moment. Hopefully, by the time we reach the Ferris Wheel and wait to board, it'll be dark enough, Hiccup silently reasoned.

Arriving to the platform where they would board the Ferris Wheel, Hiccup turned to Astrid. "Riding the Ferris Wheel last has always been a tradition in my family. You ready?"

Astrid smiled and nodded. "Yes, let's do it."

Hiccup led the way up the platform to wait for their turn to board. With this particular Ferris Wheel, the ride operators loaded the Wheel cars all at once, four cars at a time. Once the cars were all loaded, the Wheel would rotate usually about eight times before the ride operators would again stop the Wheel to reload passengers. It was a nice system that allowed riders' experience not to be broken up with a constant need to stop and load passengers. When Hiccup and Astrid arrived, the line was short but long enough that they would need to wait at least one more rotation before boarding. Both Hiccup and Astrid weren't in a hurry, so they were perfectly satisfied with the wait.

A short time later, it was their time to board the Ferris Wheel. Hiccup carefully entered first and then offered his hand to help Astrid aboard (even though he knew she was perfectly capable of boarding on her own). Surprisingly, she placed her hand into Hiccup's and allowed her boyfriend to help her get situated in the seat opposite him.

As the ride operators loaded and reloaded the cars, the Wheel crept along at a stop-and-go pace, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid complained. As the car inched closer to the top, the view below grew to take in more and more of the lit rides in the park.

"Now I understand," Astrid told Hiccup. "Why you spent so much time just walking around the park before coming to this ride. This is beautiful."

"Just wait until we stop at the very top. You can look out over the whole park and it's always an amazing sight."

Astrid smiled. "I look forward to it."

The Wheel started to creep upwards once again and the next time it stopped, Hiccup's and Astrid's car was positioned at the very top. Both Hiccup and Astrid took the moment to observe the park that spread out beneath them. Now that it was fully dark and all the rides were lit, Hiccup and Astrid could just take in the scene, looking out over all the rides that they had ridden over the course of the day. They pointed out some of the memorable rides from earlier in the day and both Hiccup and Astrid took a few pictures with their phone cameras.

As Astrid looked out over the park, Hiccup, unknown to her, grabbed one of her hands. Startled by the unexpected touch, Astrid tore her gaze away from the park and looked back to Hiccup. Shifting to move closer, Hiccup saw Astrid do the same. Their lips met in a kiss just as the Ferris Wheel lurched and began its decent. The kiss was over before their car passed the station platform.

"Well, that crosses a point off of my bucket list. I can officially say that I've 'shared a kiss with my girlfriend at the top of a Ferris Wheel'," Hiccup laughed.

Now that the loading of the Ferris Wheel was complete, the ride operators let the Wheel operate on complete circuits. Down and up, the wind rushed through Hiccup's and Astrid's hairs.

Fishing his Android phone back out of his pocket, Hiccup unlocked the phone and opened the music application. "Only one thing could make this better," he explained to Astrid. "Music for the occasion." He swiped through his music library until he found the one that he sought. He hit the "Play" button and turned up the volume just loud enough for the both of them to hear. The song was a slow instrumental tune.

"What song is this?" Astrid asked. Knowing that her boyfriend was intrigued by video games and soundtracks, she guessed that it was a background track from one of the many games that he had played.

"It's called Romantic Flight. This song is actually from the movie 'How To Train Your Dragon' which is a movie about—"

"You. Are. Such. A nerd," Astrid laughed, cutting off Hiccup before he could explain this movie that he had seen and the song from its soundtrack.

"Well, I do prefer the term 'media expert', but you, Milady, can call me whatever you'd like," Hiccup laughed in reply, fueling the witty banter between himself and his girlfriend.

"Okay fine...Mr. Whatever-You-Like, then," Astrid laughed, teasing Hiccup who replied back with laughter.

All too soon, their time upon the Ferris Wheel came to an end. The ride operators began another rotation of switching out riders, four cars at a time. When it came their time to exit, Hiccup made to leave the car first, but Astrid expertly pushed past her boyfriend and helped him out of the car. Hiccup knew that he should not accept help from his girlfriend, that it might make him look to be weak, but he just smiled and thanked Astrid for her generosity. After all, he was the one with the prosthetic leg anyway.

The amusement park was still open for another hour and a half, but, for Hiccup and Astrid, their day was complete. Hand-in-hand, they walked toward the park exit and parking lot.

"So, Milady, did you have an enjoyable day here at the park?" Hiccup asked, making conversation as they walked.

"I did have a fun day, Babe. This was a great idea," Astrid smiled, replying.

It was a short walk to Hiccup's car. When they reached the car, Hiccup unlocked the doors. Hiccup and Astrid took their places in the driver and passenger seats. As Hiccup pulled out of the parking space and drove slowly toward the exit, Astrid spoke up. "Babe, we should do this again next year."

And…that's a wrap. As I said in the opening AN, I thought about doing a prequel and a sequel, but I don't think I'm going to anymore. You see, this little one-shot series is perfect the way it is and I think any additions just wouldn't match in quality to what has already been written.

I hope that everyone enjoyed Spooked (and the whole one-shot collection). Thank you and for reading and supporting my stories!

Posted: December 31, 2015