Corkscrewed

Corkscrewed 12G38805

Corkscrewed

‘Are we there
yet?’ My brother’s voice punches a hole in the
air-conditioned atmosphere of the bus. So does his eight years of
anticipation.

‘No!’
Dad barks grumpily, not for the first time this holiday or this
morning, even.

‘Soon, Luke.
Soon’ Mum sighs, trying to smooth over the hole he just placed
in the air. As for me, I just sit there thinking about what waits for
me ahead. Movie World! A twelve year old’s dream.

Thinking back, I
couldn’t believe it when I got home from school that day. My
parents sat Lukas and me down at the kitchen table for a “talk”,
as they said. I panicked. They never sit us down for anything “good”;
my parents say a lot of words strangely. Just the other day they sat
us down to “talk” about missing biscuits and a trail of
crumbs. I thought the ants would eat them, guess I was wrong.

This time was
different though. They looked at each other in a weird way, kind of
in a we-know-something-you-don’t way. Barely suppressing the
smile that jumped at their lips, they said it. Complete parental
unison. “We’re going to the Gold Coast!” I couldn’t
believe it. I still can’t believe it, despite the fact I’m
on my way to Movie World on the theme park’s own bus.

Five
are-we-there-yet’s later I see it. Movie World. It comes into
view in that slow, panorama, get-your-wide-screen-out way. I see the
tips of the rollercoasters peeking above the walls of the theme park.
The walls themselves are covered in colourful paintings of movie
scenes. Even the flags wave at us. It all seems so close yet so far
away.

I look to my brother
and see the excitement on his face. He looks like a caged animal
about to be released into the wild as the bus pulls up to the front
gates. Before the bus even stops, Lukas springs out of his seat and
moves down the aisle as fast as he can. He stands at the doors of the
bus, clawing at it with his mind, as we make our own way down the
aisle train like, Dad leading.

I step off the bus
and get hit with, and by, everything. The heat grabs at my armpits,
the sun spits in my eyes and the rattling, jumbled sound of
rollercoasters, laughter and screams of delight rush my ears. It’s
overwhelming. All I can do is stand there and stare at the towering
rollercoasters, the brightly coloured buildings and the familiar
characters greeting families and posing for happy snaps. Even the
entrance greets me as I walk through the gates. The bold letters may
spell “MOVIE WORLD” but they read “happiness”
At least to me they do.

‘WOW!’
Luke says, breathless.

Yes, I
think. Wow is correct.

The rest of the day
flies by in a wash of colours, rides and smiles. I buy a souvenir
from “Diagon Alley”, the Harry Potter gift shop. Lukas
buys a tub of fairy floss shaped like a cartoon character which
shares a similar name to the southern state where our house patiently
waits for us to return to. The fairy floss disappears in five seconds
though. Mum takes me on all the rides; I’m not sure which one
of us is having the most fun. Even Dad joins us in a leisurely Looney
Tunes log ride. It’s a great day. I don’t want it to ever
end. But, of course, it must end. Not before I try one last ride
though.

‘Come on kids.
It’s time to go.’ Mum calls from the elbow of a smiling
Bugs Bunny bust.

‘Yeah,’
Dad adds, sizing up a Daffy Duck dummy, ‘the footy’s on
and my team’s playing.’ Parents: they certainly know how
to end a good time, don’t they? Luke looks up from the map he’s
been carrying around all day. On it, he has rides and the like
circled and ticked, there are still some without ticks.

‘Aww…But…’
He tries, but Mum is ahead of him. She gives him that now
you’ve had a big day… look and I
soon find Luke and me following them back to the front gates.

As we make our way
to the gate, I see an in park advertisement for a new rollercoaster.
“Fast paced! Action packed!” It spruiks. “From 0 to
100 in just a second! Can Superman Escape and save the day?”

Superman Escape,
I think, I’ve got to do it. Just once…

‘Hey Mum…’
I call.

I work my magic, use
all my tricks. Whatever it is, I use all the powers of persuasion a
persistent twelve year old pest possesses. It works and I soon find
us in line for the ride, just Mum and me. Luke was too short and Dad
stayed with him. Someone had to. It doesn’t matter though
because I am going to ride the Superman Escape.

The line moves
pretty fast as it’s almost non-existent at this time of the
day. However, it doesn’t move fast enough for me to miss the
warnings. “Not for the weak of heart”. “No
prescription lenses”. I start to get nervous. There is even a
sign saying it might aggravate back injuries.

Lucky Dad didn’t
come, I think. I just
hope I don’t suffer any side effects.

Before I have time
to tell Mum about any of it, I am sitting next to her in the first
carriage of the coaster. The harness comes down, securing me and my
anxiety in place. I look at Mum she is smiling at me. I try to do the
same but a little bit of my nerve escapes from between my lips and
slaps Mum on the cheek.

Not very tight
harnesses, I think as I turn back to stare at
the cape red tracks.

A surly teen gives
the safety briefing, his pimples emphasising each point with a
jiggle. When he finishes telling us to keep our hands and feet inside
the vehicle at all times, he pushes a button and the ride stirs from
its mechanical slumber.

Don’t worry
Mister Pimples; I assure him in my mind, I
won’t be sticking anything outside anytime soon.

We move slowly
through a gallery of moving scenes, each placing us in the midst of
the story while voices narrate, blaring from unseen speakers.
Twisting and turning through each set of animatronic scenes, I sit
wide eyed. So does Mum. She is on the edge of her seat; well as far
as you can be in a roller coaster carriage, as we come around the
final corner of the prelude and stop.

For a second I think
the ride has broken down and that this would be the end of my Movie
World experience. I almost turn to Mum to ask her what’s
happening but then I hear it. Superman’s voice bursts through
the speakers with a heroic “I’ll save you!” and he
does. In a second we are hurtled from zero kilometres an hour to 100.

It knocks me back in
my seat. The air whips through my hair, forces tears into my eyes and
jumps into my open mouth. The sudden rush deafening me momentarily. I
blink and swallow, before regaining my hearing. Over the noise of the
rollercoaster I hear a high pitched squeal.

Turning my head
towards Mum, I wonder where the noise is coming from. Mums’
mouth is wide open, her eyes fused in a wide smile and her arms are
thrown up into the wide sky, high fiving the clouds as we twist and
hurtle through a corkscrew.

Mum. It’s
Mum, I realise, it’s
Mum who’s screaming.

I close my eyes,
turn back and laugh at the twisting track whizzing over my head. The
whole way, Mum screams and I laugh.

My
Mum screamed on a rollercoaster, I smile, so
embarrassing.

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