It was the third week of the school holidays. Mummy was getting a little fed up of being indoors while the weather had turned bad. Ben seemed to be having fun on his tablet watching adverts and cartoons. Mummy looked through some leaflets and found a farm park that Ben had been too with his school. It looked like fun. There was a soft play adventure barn. Outdoor climbing parks, tractor rides, fire engine rides. Trampolines, animals, go- karts and lots of other things besides. It looked great.
" Ben, tomorrow we are going out. We are going to the farm park that you went too with the school. " Ben gave a little whiny noise. He always made this noise when he was asked to do something. But unless you got Ben to do it, he did not know what fun he was missing.
The next day came. Daddy was off, so he to could come to the farm park. They all got into the car. Mummy, Daddy and Ben with Tony Bear.
Ben and Tony Bear watched from the window as Daddy drove them to the farm park. When Ben had gone with the school they had done a lot of fun things. A nature walk with little monsters to find. A tractor ride. Fed the llamas and the sheep and pigs. Got lost in a maize maze. And had a ride on an old fire engine. There was a lot to do at the farm park.
When they got there after an hours drive, Daddy and Mummy went into the main building to pay to go into the park. Ben had done this with the school. They had gone straight into the farm through the big gate at the side. Ben did not want to go in this way. It was the wrong entrance to go in. Ben tried to pull backwards.
" This is where we have to pay to go in Ben. You might have gone in another way to the park but this is way we have to go in now. " Ben stopped pulling. " Look above the door Ben." Said Mummy. Ben looked up. It said - ENTRANCE. Ben stopped pulling altogether and walked forwards with Mummy and Daddy.
The door opened onto a big soft play adventure area. There was a ball pool, slides. Ball swings. Climbing and all sorts. Ben ran towards it as Mummy went to pay. Daddy grabbed Ben as he ran with his shoes on towards the soft play entrance.
" You have to take your shoes off to go in there. " Said Daddy as he undid Ben's sandals. Ben dashed off as soon as his shoes had gone. Tony Bear and he yelled loudly as they both climbed into the ball pool. They wandered all around the bottom half but Ben would not go up the steps or down the slides.
Ben and Tony stood and watched as the other children and some of the younger ones with parents in tow came down the slides and shot off into the ball pool.
" Come on Ben, let's go up and the top and come down the slide it looks fun. " Said Tony Bear. Ben grunted his usual whiny sound for a no. " Why not?" Asked Tony Bear. Ben looked nervously up. It was very high up. Ben had not been here before and he was a little frightened of things. Ben looked around. There were also a lot of children all screaming and shouting.
Mummy and Daddy watched Ben from the sitting area. Mummy knew that something was wrong. Ben was only wandering around and watching others. He was not climbing or sliding, and Mummy knew that he did like doing these things. At his usual soft play he now did it all the time. It had taken him nearly a year to get up courage to come down the big slide but once he did it, there was no stopping him. Ben would climb everywhere, slide down the slide by himself and climb the big soft stairs up again. He would go through the holes and explore where they went. He liked soft play.
So Mummy nudged daddy. " Would you like to go and play with Ben? " Daddy rubbed his shoulder. He still had a bad arm. Climbing around was not going to do it a lot of good. " It's okay love, I'll go with him. "
Mummy took off her shoes and climbed in. Mummy loved soft play too. After a little bit of pushing and a little bit of persuading Mummy finally managed to get Ben and Tony to the top of the big snake slide. Mummy was sweating a lot after pushing and pulling Ben upwards. Finally though they were at the top. Mummy sat down on the slide. Ben did not want to go down. Mummy pulled him down onto her lap. Ben was not refusing or stopping Mummy from getting him up onto the slide, he was just a little nervous.
Ben sat down on Mummy's lap. Mummy put his arms in and made sure he had Tony tightly in front of him. Tony Bear put his hands up in front of his eyes. Mummy pushed off. Down the tube they went. Ben laughed and squealed happily. Tony Bear let out a scream as they went down and so did Mummy. They came out and fell into the ball pool, balls went everywhere.
Ben jumped excitedly up and down. He pulled Mummy back up. Ben wanted to do it again. Mummy and Ben went down the snake slide several times. Then they went down big wavy slide. Ben and Tony had lots of fun. Mummy had to sit down for a while but Ben soon came back out after watching the others children for a while to get Mummy again. Daddy laughed, he took some photos of Ben and Mummy on the soft play and coming down the slides.
Ben and Tony Bear spent the whole day in the soft play area. He did not want to leave it. Mummy and Daddy had fun too. Daddy even went down the wavy slide a few times with Ben. But very soon it was time for the park to close.
" We will come back next week. " Said Daddy. Ben looked up at him. " I promise. " Said Daddy. " We will come back next week." Ben would not let Daddy forget his promise.
This place is great fun. Thought Ben as he fell asleep in the car.
YOU ARE READING
Ben and Tony Bear. Book 1. Ben meets Tony.
Short StoryThese books are about Ben and his bear Tony. It's about a bear and a little boy with autism and severe sensation issues learning together.
