Tired out of our minds after a long day of adventure, we feverishly walked down Disneyland’s main-street, strolling through a sea of people staring at empty windows and sickeningly tall facades. It felt like a dream. We marched, me holding Valerie, me and my daughter. She was wearing a Mickey Mouse cap and a royal, subtle smile on her face.
It was getting late, and the sky was jet black. The absence of stars was becoming intimidating and forced my attention on the surroundings. Neatly arranged bricks outlined by a polished stone curb formed a road. Gray, sandy pathways ran parallel with odd, snaking…
“Snake!” Valerie interjected. Strange plastic snakes wormed and squirmed along by our feet, squelching-squelching as they passed. That absence of light from above caused everything to be uniformly lit, no shadows or depth. Everything seemed two dimensional, it was like the buildings were paper-models.
“Daddy? I wanna walk,” I let Valerie slide down from my hip and walk next to me, catching her hand, we continued. She tugged on my arm and pointed at the lego store.
“Unfortunately, I can’t buy anything today.” Looking around the crowded street, I sleepily pointed out the mascots with my free hand, “Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Black Widow, Gaston, Captain America and who’s that lady, Valerie?”
“Peggy!” She giggled, “Peggy-is-like-Mommy-when-Mommy-is-fancy!!” She jumped up and down in excitement – I held her hand tighter and higher so she couldn't trip and fall. Wait.
“What the- …Valerie?” Where is she? “Valerie!!”
Suddenly, people packed the street. Mascots began to move along down the street; following them, I kept calling for Valerie. “Where did… did someone…?” A deep chugging sound, the thumpa-thump of a train in the distance, grew as I searched. It shook the ground and hummed in my brain – all at once, I felt so exhausted but determined to find her. The chugging grew louder, louder and louder until I could barely hear myself screaming her name, pleading, “VALERIE!”
Still afraid, I strained to open my eyes – I saw a woman’s face. She was beautiful... The chug had gone and was replaced with a comforting, steady breathing. Staring at me with tired eyes my baby’s mother leaned in, curiously searching my stirred and woken face; and she whispered, “Are you alright?”
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