Trapped Upside Down

When Bobby was a little boy for some unknown reason he had a fear of almost everything and he didn't know why. He grew up in a group home with many other children that did not have any of these problems. As he got older he believed that this problem had to be a genetic defect inside of his body. These phobias of water, heights, dogs, and closed spaces among others haunted him and made it nearly impossible for him to enjoy life or anything with any element of danger or risk. By the time he turned 18 he reasoned that it was time to get over these fears and to do this he would get professional help. 

​He scheduled an appointment with a hypnotherapist. That day he was nervous and knew little about hypnotherapy. All that he did know was based on rumors of what hypnotherapists did. He had been told that they were dangerous and that they make you do things to make you look stupid and then laugh at you. But for some reason he was not scared to go, which was unusual because he was scared of everything else. 

He entered the office building and took the elevator to the fifth floor. It was while taking the elevator that he became conscious that he was claustrophobic. He became sick to his stomach. He exited the elevator and found room #507 and gently knocked on the door. 

"Come in," said a muffled voice. 

Bobby opened the door and there was a man leaning up against a desk with his arms crossed. This man had tight curly black hair with a moustache and beady brown eyes. But what was distinguishing about him was the gold chain that swung from his neck like a hypnotic pendulum. 

"Well, hello there Bobby it is so nice to see you. Please sit down. Now, you called me to get help with multiple phobias. This is something that I can help you with. You must realize that these phobias are all in your head. There is nothing there. It is nothing more than a creation of your fantasy. So what I will do is is show you how to relax your mind so when you get in a phobic situation you remain calm and eventually face the fear. Now tell me your fears and how they make you feel."

Bobby thought about it for a moment and his initial reaction to the man was that he was likeable. "I would say that there is a girl I really like and she likes me but she likes to do dangerous things like mountain climbing and bungee jumping. When the carny comes this summer I want to take her. As for my physical symptoms when put in one of these situations I feel intense panic. My heart hammers, skips beats and feels like it is going to explode. I get short of breath and hyperventilate and I feel like I am going to die."

"Jimmy, you are not going to die. This is just your body's way of reacting to a situation you assess as dangerous. Your thought is irrational. What we will do is gradually expose you to your fears so you can overcome them. We will start by walking across a bridge together and slowly ramp it up until you can go on your own."

For the next several months Jimmy worked with the hypnotist to relax and overcome his fears. They walked across bridges, took glass elevators, went on a roller coaster together and slowly Jimmy got over his fears. Then came the big day came where he was to go on an upside down ride all by himself and he did so successfully. His hypnotist watched him proudly and gave him the thumbs up after he got off the ride.

The summer came and Jimmy asked out Amy to the carny to do a whole day of riding rides. The first ride they went on was a ride that revolved in an upright circle and went upside down. They got in and the ride started, but the on the fourth revolution the ride started to jerk like it was losing power. Then it stopped and Jimmy and Amy were hanging upside down in a cart. Jimmy remained calm for a bit but then started to panic. He looked to the ground to get the thumbs up from his hypnotherapist. But he wasn't there. He started to scream for help. Amy began to laugh at him and he started to cry. 

The ride then resumed after a couple more minutes. They got to the ground level to get let out by the ride operator. Amy stepped out and Jimmy sat there covered in vomit... Very limp... and very dead...