Where do I begin?

Well, I guess it happened when I was very young. Must've still been in third grade. The end of the schooler year was closing in. Definitely the best days for kids. I remember being really excited about the school field trip. It would be an amusement park.

End-of-school field trips are always a blast. I made sure I had the money for snacks and of course the arcade. That was my favorite part, to be honest, other than the rides obviously.

That day arrived and I went with all my friends. We were in a small group of four, Jason, Michael, Louis, and  I. We went on plenty of rides. One of those being a haunted house ride which I loved. Though it did scare me a bit if I remember. That just means It's doing Its job though.

After that, we went to the arcade. We play the many House of the Dead cabinets as well as Carnevil. Rail shooters were my favorite. We didn't know exactly what to do for the rest of our time there so we just explored around.

At some point, I went to get something to eat. The rest weren't hungry. They said they were gonna head back to the arcade. I told them I'll meet them there.

After I got myself a burger and some fries I started to head back to the arcade. I eventually got there but I couldn't find them. I looked all over the building to try to find them.

 That's when I saw something. A picket sign with the words "Happy Place" written on it along with an arrow pointing to a part of the arcade that I guess I never noticed before. I walked to wherever the sign pointed to and I saw a tall man dressed up almost like a member of an old barbershop quartet.

His skin was a pale grey, he seemed to have a long almost exaggerated-looking grin, and his hair was a bright red. He was standing next to a door with a black and yellow smiley face crudely painted on it. He turned his head to look at me.

"Hey hello there young boy!" He said in a cheery tone. "Welcome, welcome to The Happy Place! Here you will have the most fun you'll ever have in your life!" He pointed a boney finger to the door. "What do you say, young boy?" He looked at me with large unblinking eyes.

I had no idea what to say. The strange man just looked at me waiting for an answer. The man unnerved me. But at the time I didn't really know why. "Come on kid" the Man interrupted my train of thought. "Endless fun and Adventure awaits beyond that door" he turned his head slowly to that door.

I didn't like this. "No… no, I think I'm good" I said, my voice trembling. The man's grin somehow got even wider.  "Oh come on my young boy! Don't you want to have fun! It's just right behind that door. I bet your friends are having tons of fun in there!" I was taken aback by that last statement.

"How did you know I was looking for my friends?" I asked him. His eyes widened. He tilted his head up a bit and paused for a moment. "Well… They told me of course!" He said still in that overly cheery tone. "They're in there waiting for you. All you have to do is walk through this door."

He walked to the door and slowly opened it. He turned his head to look at me and pointed inside the room. It was pitch black. Like if that room or whatever it was, was just an entrance into the void.

I couldn't enter it. I turned around and ran away from there. I looked behind me and just saw the man enter the room and close the door behind him. He was still looking at me. Still with that uncomfortably large grin.

My friends were never found.

Neither was that so-called "Happy Place"