Another Use for a Bouncy Castle

Written by Orangutango
== A Brief Introduction ==
Childhood. The word alone probably provokes imagery of a time long lost, held dearly in your mind as pure and innocent. Of course, following your graduation from whatever primary school you attended, this whimsical world you once knew likely shattered into a million pieces. These days, your childhood may seem distant and forgotten. But is it really unattainable? It'd be the dream to be able to relive perhaps even a day of childhood. The dead relatives you'd talk to, friends you'd see, experiences you could have...
Yea, it's the dream. And, unknown to you, it's all possible.
This specific ritual goes back over two hundred years, and has arguably existed in other forms for over five hundred. To put it simply, the ritual involves the use of a "vehicle" to temporarily transport a version of yourself back into your childhood consciousness. Sound complicated? Let's break this premise down. 
A "vehicle" is a loosely defined term, and over the years many hundreds of them have been used in this ritual ranging from ball pits to jungle gyms to hopscotch courts. All it really has to be is a relatively large play structure which holds sentimental value to you. We'll be focusing on performing the ritual with the most effective vehicle today; Bouncy Castles. But know it can be performed with other similar play structures.
For obvious reasons, don't even try doing this until you're at least 16 or 17 years old. Before then, you're too similar to a child for the ritual to work.
A quick forward before the instructions and details of this ritual, the ritual can be considered... unsafe. Temporal travel has always been a rather risky phenomenon, and similar risks exist in this ritual which will be described in detail later. Do this at your own discretion.
== Preparation ==
To begin, you'll need to choose your Bouncy Castle. In theory, any one of suitable size (meaning large enough/spacious enough to contain you and some other supplies) will work. In practice, however, some other factors are extremely important to your chances of success. For one, sentimental value is huge. The entire ritual is based on using the power of childhood nostalgia; so the more nostalgia or even affinity you have for the Bouncy Castle, the greater your chances of success. Ideally, there'd be a Bouncy Castle that you used for all of your childhood birthday parties which you loved. But that's quite rare, so try to go for something you used in at least one birthday party. Don't mind if it's not the exact same, slight differences in color or model don't matter as long as you feel nostalgia for it. If it's functionally the same, it's the same.
If by chance you never had a Bouncy Castle in any of your birthday parties, think of one you used at another person's party, public event, etc. If you (somehow) haven't stepped foot in a Bouncy Castle in your entire life, or you don't like them in general, consider using another vehicle or abort the ritual entirely. The consequences for an unwise choice in Bouncy Castle can be dire.
The other factor to consider is practicality, and while it's significantly less important than sentimental value, it should be noted. The ritual takes up a good deal of space, and you'll want your Bouncy Castle to ideally have a wide, easily accessible area to perform it in. This may also be important in emergency situations. For this reason, an obstacle course style Bouncy Castle would be less than perfect, as 1) it might lack appropriate space requirements and 2) in the event of the need for a quick getaway, you might have a less than ideal time escaping.
Choose a day to perform the ritual. Any day of the year will be fine, so long as it isn't a day of great tragedy or unwell memories. I'd recommend trying it on your birthday, Christmas, or another day of childhood significance, but these are not strict requirements.
Make your choice and acquire your Bouncy Castle. Inflate it and set it up in a backyard. The backyard should be spacious enough to host your Bouncy Castle with room to spare. For obvious reasons, the best backyard choices would be either yours if you have one, your parents', or your childhood home's. If you can't access a backyard which you're sure will be "secure", meaning one you have legal access to, then abort the ritual.
There are still some supplies you'll need to obtain, listed below. Don't be lazy here; make your choices considerately and you will be rewarded. In contrast, making them unwisely will put you at much greater risk.
# Pick a crayon. Its color should be visible against the surface of the Bouncy Castle and, ideally, it should be your favorite color. This provides the most guaranteed protection, but in most situations any color should do so long as it's visible. 
# Pick a favored childhood book. The most important factor here is sentimental value, but it should also be at least six pages long with a "middle point" meaning both sides of the spine of the book will be weighed equally when flipped to that point. Hardcover is also preferred. 
# Pick a song from your childhood and any kind of music player; if it's working and loud enough to hear, it works. Again, the most important factor for the song is sentimental value. It needs to carry emotions and memories with it and needs to be from your childhood. The song can technically be any length, but choosing one under two and a half minutes would be severely unwise. I cannot emphasize how important music choice is, you don't want to choose incorrectly here.
# Pick a toy from your childhood. Again, the more sentimental value, the better. The best option would be your favorite stuffed animal that you slept with every night for years, but not everyone has one. Any toy you enjoyed for a good amount of time will serve fine.
# Pick a candy you loved during your childhood. The same point of sentimental value applies. The candy should be still available today and you must still like or tolerate its taste.
# Pick four candles of a scent you found pleasant during your childhood. Whether you currently like the smell or not is irrelevant. Pick up a lighter along with this.
With your supplies obtained and your Bouncy Castle ready, it's time to begin the ritual.
== The Entrance Ritual ==
Head out to your Bouncy Castle at any time of day when the sun is still out. You'll want to begin at or before sunset, just make sure it's not at night and you don't have other commitments in the time frame. I'd recommend trying it during "golden hour", as it produces the most nostalgic setting for most people. Inflate your Bouncy Castle if you haven't already done so. Once it's completely inflated, set your four candles in the four outside corners of the Bouncy House. Do not place them inside the inflatable. Light them. After the fourth candle is lit, enter the Bouncy Castle with your supplies and make your way to your designated ritual space. Take your crayon and draw a large circle in the space. It should be large enough to fit your whole body laying down with plenty of leg room. Take special precaution to ensure this is the case. Make sure the circle is clearly visible against the surface and unbroken.
Set your supplies down in front of you; note, you can do the following instructions in any order. 
* Take your childhood book and read it. You don't need to read the whole thing, just enough so you feel and remember why it was so enjoyable. Once you've done so, flip to its exact middle pages, so if it was 10 pages long, flip to pages 5-6.
* Take your crayon and place it somewhere surrounding your circle.
* Take your toy and play with it for a minute like you used to. If it's a stuffed animal, hug it deeply. You want to reactivate those memories of fun.
* Take your candy and eat a piece of it. Don't wash the flavor out of your mouth with refreshments.
Once you've done all of the above, arrange all your supplies except the song and music player in a circle around your circle. I'd advise putting the crayon closest to the entrance of the Bouncy Castle, but other than that, the arrangement should be fairly inconsequential. 
Take your music player and get your song ready. Keep it on pause at the beginning of the song (0:00). Place the music player with the other supplies around your circle. Take a deep breath; it's almost time.
Lay in the middle of the circle, the orientation doesn't matter. Relax yourself. Think only of the memories you brought with you here and the carefree days of your childhood. Don't take too long to enter this state of mind, or you risk overthinking yourself into failure. When you are ready, say the words: "I do not acquiesce. Concede my time."
Immediately following the last word, you should feel your senses numb until they are completely gone.
== The Birthday ==
You will feel like a floating being of consciousness; no sound, no taste, no smell, no anything. After a minute or so of this, you will feel each sense begin to return. Keep your eyes closed until you feel all your senses are back to normal. Open your eyes.
If everything is as it was, and the song is still paused, and you are still in your time, then you have failed the entrance ritual. It's really not the end of the world. This likely resulted from a poor choice of supplies or Bouncy Castle. In this case, draw an X through the circle with the crayon, snuff out the candles, deflate the Bouncy Castle, and return to your home.
But if everything is not as it was, and you awaken to the sounds of laughing children and parents holding conversations, then congratulations! You have successfully transported your consciousness back in time. Isn't that great?
The first thing you should notice is you are now yourself as a child. Don't worry, your mind is still the same, as only your consciousness was transported back. Remember not to panic. Take a look around you. Your supplies will all be there, except for the music player. So what the hell is going on?
This plane of existence is entirely supported by your supplies up in our reality. This is why your choice of supplies and proper following of the instructions was so crucial; the supplies are vessels of perception. Say you made a poor choice in candy; notice how everything tastes bitter, or you can't taste at all? Or say you didn't flip the book to the midpoint, and now your vision isn't balanced between your eyes. The candles and the smell, the song and your hearing, the toy and your sense of touch... all of your perceptions here are only made possible because of your preparation up there.
If you properly followed all the instructions, your senses should be totally normal. But if they aren't, I'd proceed with extreme caution. You may need those senses in the event of an emergency, and proceeding without them functioning properly (or at all) is ill advised. 
Stand up and exit the circle.
You have been transported back to a birthday party, yours, for any age between 4 and 9. Even if you're a twin or triplet, it will only be your birthday. Looking around, you will see other children playing. Many of them you will recognize, being your childhood friends from that age. If there are any you do not recognize, don't worry, as they're probably friends from other stages in your life who have now taken the form of a child. 
Looking to where the adults are, you will see your relatives dead and alive, babysitters, teachers, etc. Any adult that was prominent at this time can be there. If you see an adult there that you don't recognize, return to the Bouncy Castle without hesitation. Do not talk to them. Do not look at them for too long. Don't say a word. Just get back in there and perform the return ritual.
If everything is well, congratulations! You're now a child again and can do whatever you please. Play with children, talk to relatives, anything you want. But be aware and be vigilant. This place may seem safe, but there is danger around you. Keep your eyes open, and you should be fine!
== The Realm ==
So, how exactly does this place work? We've already covered your perceptions, but that's not all. The Bouncy Castle, or whatever vehicle is being used, is really the center of it all. It's your anchor into reality and your true self. Being near the Bouncy Castle will keep you grounded, but wander far enough, and things might get... eerie. If you are bold enough to exit your house/backyard and venture out into the wider world, you will begin to feel strange. Color may become saturated and grainy in your eyes. Proportions may swell or shrink. These distortions will begin to take strong effect in around a two football field radius surrounding your Bouncy Castle. If you notice these signs, turn back immediately and return to the party.
It only gets worse as you keep going. You may come to the realization that there are no other people in this world besides your partygoers. As you venture further out, your perceptions will break down. Movement crawling to a halt. Your consciousness will be exposed and ripe. See, this reality you're in isn't yours. You are merely a guest in it, a visitor. Your Bouncy Castle also serves as a disguise for your entrance into this realm.
The beings here don't like intrusion. With every inch farther from the Bouncy Castle, you open yourself more and more to them.
Not fun, right?
Be sure not to attract too much unwanted attention to yourself. Seeing as it's your birthday, a good amount of it will be fine, but try not to get hurt, damage the Bouncy Castle, or anything of the sort. These will only damage your disguise and expose you more. If you're discovered by any of them, you will feel their cold. Get back as fast as possible to the Bouncy Castle and get out of the realm.
One last thing. In the true world, your music player will have automatically began playing your chosen song. Hopefully, your choice was good. No matter what it is, you're on a time limit, as the second that music stops, your shields against the beings are exposed. Each minute in the song roughly corresponds to an hour in this realm, so you should have at least two and a half hours here.
It's not that simple though. Temporal travel is messy, and time telling objects are one of the surest things to be affected. Clocks will be out of order, moving too fast, you get the point. You'll need to track the time yourself. Keep track of time by any means necessary. The sun's movement should stay consistent, so it's a good place to start. That's also one of many reasons why doing the ritual at night is utterly stupid, as without the sun to track, you are effectively helpless. Should you fail to keep track of the time and overstay your welcome, your foreign nature will be completely exposed. The party will stop. They will stare at you, silent and unmoving. Within a few minutes, it'll be over.
== The Return Ritual ==
So, you've had your fun with friends and you're ready to return, right? Or perhaps you talked with some late relatives, gaining answers to questions you had always longed for. Whatever you needed from this experience, I hope you've obtained it. It's time for you to return.
Don't make a big scene of leaving. Remember, according to them, you were always here and never "entered" in the first place. Attracting attention to your whereabouts makes you a target. When you're ready, you'll want to do some preparation. First, if you haven't already, wash all tastes from your mouth. Do this with water (it will be available). Following this, slip back into the Bouncy House. No matter if other kids played in it, all your supplies should still be there, exactly where you left them. If something is missing, you absolutely need to find it. If you fail to do so, you won't be able to leave. This can have extreme consequences. 
Only proceed if your supplies are around the circle and crayon positioned. Perform the following instructions in any order.
* Take your childhood book and read it in reverse. Do this for at least a minute or so. When you're done, position it upside down back where it was before.
* Take your toy and play with it again, but this time, do so aggressively and without care for damaging it. When you're done, try and damage or break it. Succeeding doesn't matter, just earnestly try to damage it and you'll be good. Place the damaged toy in back where it was before.
* Take your candy and chew it without swallowing. No matter how it tasted before, it will now have a slightly bitter, unpleasant taste. Spit it out, and place the chewed remains where the candy was before.
* Leave the crayon where it is.
With this completed, lay back down in the circle. Make sure all parts of your body are within it. Close your eyes. Relax. Fill your mind this time with all the joys of being a grown-up, the beauty of obligation and deep love, what makes it truly better than being a kid forever. Take a deep breath and say the words: "We concur on this matter. I wholeheartedly return."
Once again, your senses will fade until you are solely your thoughts floating in the vastness. Wait for a minute. Hopefully, you begin to hear your song. No matter how much time you spent there, it will always start playing from the last thirty seconds. You will hear it crescendo and shine, it will sound better than it ever has. Slowly, as the end of the song comes and the music fades, your senses will return to you.
You have returned, but the danger isn't over yet. You'll notice you're back in your own current body, with any warped senses repaired to their true status. Look around your circle. Your supplies should be gone except for the crayon and the music player. The latter will have stopped playing, with the song you chose paused at the end. The former will be lying as it was.
Take the crayon and draw an X through your circle. Go outside. Snuff out the candles. Deflate the Bouncy Castle. 
With these steps done, you can finally breath a sigh of true relief. It's over! You have successfully returned to reality with the experience gained from the ritual. Most people feel an end to their desire to return to childhood and fully embrace adult life. In any case, I wouldn't try the ritual again. Your soul is now marked to the beings, and they will likely know when/if you return to that realm.
Or perhaps you were stupid and didn't bother finishing what you started. If you failed to cross your circle out or perform any of the final steps in time, then congratulate yourself, as you've just opened a temporal portal for them to come for you. If I were you, I'd just off myself at that point.
Otherwise, enjoy the results and the rest of your years!
Category:Ritual
Category:Reality
Category:Items/Objects