right.” I closed my eyes and sighed deeply. When I opened them I looked at Frankie. He was sitting on the other bed in the room using his lap top. I didn’t even feel him take it from me. I reached over and picked up my book from my night stand. Maybe reading would help me forget about the park.
I read a page or two, but just couldn’t concentrate. Instead I opened my laptop and did a search for books about theme parks. There were plenty on the major parks, but that’s not what I was looking for. I continued and found quite a few on subjects like theme park planning and careers and added them to my wish list. Then I saw one on abandoned theme parks. I bought the electronic version right away and started reading it.
It had some of the eeriest photos I’ve ever seen. It creeped me out and made me sad all at the same time. Those photos represented lost dreams, lost opportunities, and lost jobs. I was saddened just looking at them.
The photos had more of an impact on me than I realized. The images haunted my dreams. In those dreams I walked in to Adventure Planet and the entire park was nothing but images from the book. In one of my dreams, I was being chased by an abandoned carousal horse who wanted revenge for his death. Next I dreamed about Jerome and his family. In my dream Jerome, his wife and about 10 children sitting on the street corner begging in Dickens style. It was even snowing.
“Mom. Mom! Wake up! Mom!”
I heard Frankie calling my name. I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. I looked around the room. I was in the hotel. In my bed. That was good. There were no carousel horses in there. That was even better.
“Mom, are you ok? You were yelling.”
I hadn’t seen Frankie look like that since the last time he had a nightmare when he was a little boy. I took his hand.
“It’s ok, Honey, I just had a nightmare. Dreamed about Adventure Planet and it wasn’t good. What time is it?”
“About six.”
“Did you stay in my room all night?”
“Yeah, sorry. I kind fell asleep while using my computer.”
“It’s ok,” I smiled at him. “Let’s get ready to go, I have to find Jerome and make sure he’s ok.”
“Um, Ok.”
I kicked him out of my room so I could shower and get dressed. I put on a pretty off white short sleeved top, purple shorts, and my favorite comfortable sneakers. I met Frankie in the lobby. He was wearing new looking jeans, a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and some sort of suede shoes. Nothing of his was ever faded or worn looking. I wondered if he bought all new clothes just for the trip.
We sat at a table and ate the hotel’s free breakfast. I ate stale muffins and some just ok fruit. At least the coffee and juice seemed good, if not watered down. Frankie seemed to love everything. I questioned his taste.
After breakfast Frankie told the lady at the desk (the same one from last night) that we were going to Adventure Planet today. She looked at him kind of funny, but didn’t say anything. She gave us permission to leave the truck and the car hitch in her parking lot while we were gone. In fact, she let us keep the keys to our rooms in case we decided to spend the night again. In my mind I questioned this, but I suppose she didn’t do much business and it was wishful thinking on her part.
We unhitched my car from the moving truck and we were on our way. What was going to happen next I didn’t know. Looking back, I never could have guessed.
Chapter 4: Adventure Planet: Let the Adventure Begin
We pulled up to the entrance of Adventure Planet and we stopped. It was like one of the pictures in that book I read last night. It was a sad, sad looking place. The paint was peeling. The foliage was growing over on to the road. There was nothing inviting about it. It would have made a fantastic heavy metal album cover.
We were trying to figure out where to park when we finally saw a worn out sign that said “Parking”. We assumed it was once in the shape of
I read a page or two, but just couldn’t concentrate. Instead I opened my laptop and did a search for books about theme parks. There were plenty on the major parks, but that’s not what I was looking for. I continued and found quite a few on subjects like theme park planning and careers and added them to my wish list. Then I saw one on abandoned theme parks. I bought the electronic version right away and started reading it.
It had some of the eeriest photos I’ve ever seen. It creeped me out and made me sad all at the same time. Those photos represented lost dreams, lost opportunities, and lost jobs. I was saddened just looking at them.
The photos had more of an impact on me than I realized. The images haunted my dreams. In those dreams I walked in to Adventure Planet and the entire park was nothing but images from the book. In one of my dreams, I was being chased by an abandoned carousal horse who wanted revenge for his death. Next I dreamed about Jerome and his family. In my dream Jerome, his wife and about 10 children sitting on the street corner begging in Dickens style. It was even snowing.
“Mom. Mom! Wake up! Mom!”
I heard Frankie calling my name. I opened my eyes and sat up in bed. I looked around the room. I was in the hotel. In my bed. That was good. There were no carousel horses in there. That was even better.
“Mom, are you ok? You were yelling.”
I hadn’t seen Frankie look like that since the last time he had a nightmare when he was a little boy. I took his hand.
“It’s ok, Honey, I just had a nightmare. Dreamed about Adventure Planet and it wasn’t good. What time is it?”
“About six.”
“Did you stay in my room all night?”
“Yeah, sorry. I kind fell asleep while using my computer.”
“It’s ok,” I smiled at him. “Let’s get ready to go, I have to find Jerome and make sure he’s ok.”
“Um, Ok.”
I kicked him out of my room so I could shower and get dressed. I put on a pretty off white short sleeved top, purple shorts, and my favorite comfortable sneakers. I met Frankie in the lobby. He was wearing new looking jeans, a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and some sort of suede shoes. Nothing of his was ever faded or worn looking. I wondered if he bought all new clothes just for the trip.
We sat at a table and ate the hotel’s free breakfast. I ate stale muffins and some just ok fruit. At least the coffee and juice seemed good, if not watered down. Frankie seemed to love everything. I questioned his taste.
After breakfast Frankie told the lady at the desk (the same one from last night) that we were going to Adventure Planet today. She looked at him kind of funny, but didn’t say anything. She gave us permission to leave the truck and the car hitch in her parking lot while we were gone. In fact, she let us keep the keys to our rooms in case we decided to spend the night again. In my mind I questioned this, but I suppose she didn’t do much business and it was wishful thinking on her part.
We unhitched my car from the moving truck and we were on our way. What was going to happen next I didn’t know. Looking back, I never could have guessed.
Chapter 4: Adventure Planet: Let the Adventure Begin
We pulled up to the entrance of Adventure Planet and we stopped. It was like one of the pictures in that book I read last night. It was a sad, sad looking place. The paint was peeling. The foliage was growing over on to the road. There was nothing inviting about it. It would have made a fantastic heavy metal album cover.
We were trying to figure out where to park when we finally saw a worn out sign that said “Parking”. We assumed it was once in the shape of
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