Paranopoly

Chapter 1 - Nineteen Eighty Five

Chapter 1 :

Nineteen Eighty Five

Silver Sands Caravan Park had been a permanent fixture on England's North-East coast for as long as anyone could remember.  With its painted light bulbs jutting from the front of every building, its tired greying caravans and its kiosks which sold a plethora of kitschy souvenirs from key-rings with badly hand-drawn pictures of local landmark Marsden Rock to animals made of shells that had been gracelessly glued together, Silver Sands stood as a monument to the steadily declining British holiday industry.

                July, Nineteen Eighty-Five; the year Coca Cola changed its recipe and then back again within a few months, the year Bobbysocks! won the Eurovision song contest, the year the hole in the ozone layer was discovered and most important of all, the year Tetris was unleashed on the world.  Temperatures reached twenty nine degrees Celsius in some parts of the United Kingdom; in Whitley Bay however it was cloudy and what you might call 'fresh'.  That didn't stop Troy Thompson, a fifteen year old long-haired lad who had been trying to grow a moustache for three years without success, from donning a pair of swimming trunks then setting off for the outdoor pool carrying a long orange sponge cylinder he'd purchased from an on-site kiosk. 

 'What's that?'

Troy, en-route to a comfortable-looking sun lounger near the pool, turned to see Simon Johnson standing under a tree, covered head to toe in suntan cream.

  'You're supposed to rub it in you know.'

  'Rub what in?', Simon asked, scrunching his freckled face.

  'The sun lotion.  You look like Dr. Venkman after the Stay Puft Marshmallow man exploded.'

Ignoring Troy's observation, Simon pointed to the long thin orange sponge item in his hand.

 'What's that?'

 'Apparently, it's a flotation device which provides fun for all the family, not suitable for anyone under the age of thirty-six months.  You coming in?'

 Troy nodded his head towards the swimming pool which had various items of debris floating in the corners which included, but was not limited to, leaves, ice-lolly sticks, polystyrene cups and sticking plasters.

 'I don't think I'll bother.'

Troy stepped up to the edge of the pool to inspect the objects floating on the surface more closely.  The fact he couldn't quite identify them as objects that had existed on Planet Earth before they found their way into the pool limited his choice of afternoon activities, 'Me neither'.

                'Geronimo!'  A thunder of bare feet on tiles was followed by a huge splash which engulfed Troy in grimy water and sent several of the aforementioned unidentifiable floating objects into his unfortunately open mouth.  Gavin Jones' cannonball had caused several hundred litres of pool water to erupt into the air and cover everything within a ten metre radius which included Louise Anderson, who had been asleep on a nearby sun lounger but was now upright, soaking wet and livid.

Gavin exited the pool via a metal ladder bolted to one of the side walls, wiped water from his face in a satisfied manner and plodded off towards a kiosk which sold fast food.

 'Stupid ignorant –, ' Louise managed to control her temper sufficiently to not vocalise the expletives that were welling in her throat,  'Honestly, it should be put in a zoo'.  She towelled her face and upper body before settling back down on the sodden lounger with a disgruntled snort.

  'Who's that?', Simon asked, his mouth hanging open at the sight of the blonde girl who was now staring into the colourless soft drink in her glass, attempting to determine whether any pool water had managed to infect it.