when i'm gone

im lost

the monorail lasted only a few more minutes before we had to get off at this place called downtown disney. it was full of restaurants and shops and fun colors. it smelled amazing, too. cc tugged on my shirt, "what ride do you think we are gonna go on first?" i nodded, "probably space mountain." i actually wasnt confident about my answer. i didn't care either. i scratched my button nose as we all formed a group and decided that we should start walking over to california adventure. twyla and i held hands while quade told cc more facts about this place than i could ever believe existed. i was actually a little bit impressed. mommy reached down for my hand and held it tight, as if a warning for us to stay close to her. grandpa and grandma chattered away, making small comments about how things have changed here and that it's been ages. i thought hard about it. they shouldn't say anything since we haven't been yet. everyone's spoiling all the fun. there's nothing unexpected anymore, which i think takes a chunk of fun out.

we all stopped at this ticket booth thing and got the tops of our hands stamped. once we all pushed through the metal rotator, we made way for california adventure. i looked around at the buildings that formed a small town feeling. i smelled popcorn and i could see straight ahead was a big pond and a ferris wheel with mickey mouse on the front. i had never been on a ferris wheel. i looked a little to the left of the ferris wheel and saw a huge roller coaster with a loop and bright red decor. that one looks a little scary. "first we are going to go on soarin around the world. sound good to you, babes?" grandma looked at us like she was a kid herself. excitement sparked in her eyes and she clutched her purse like it held all her joy inside. "that sounds good to me." i offered a smile to her. grandma hip hopped and led us all in the right direction. "you know, soarin around the world used to be soarin around california. i wonder how much better it is now." grandma tightened her cap.

aunt lily pulled out her phone that had something called a max pass on it and she took us to the front of the line where someone in uniform scanned her screen. "enjoy the ride!" he nodded to our group. "why'd we go in front of everyone?" twyla asked aunt lily. "since we go a lot, we thought it would be a good investment to always have these things called fast passes. they let us cut everyone. shhh!" i shrugged. i didn't think it was fair for everyone else to wait, but at least we didn't have to. in this heat, i wouldn't have been enjoying myself in line. eventually, we were let onto the ride where there were rows and rows of people buckled in. my heart raced. there was a massive screen in front of us and i gasped aloud. "scared?" cc teased. "no, this looks awesome!" i liked his stomach. "it looks like a big movie..." twyla didn't seem to interested.

we had been in california adventure for about three or four hours and had gone on as many rides as possible, it seemed. my feet ached and my shirt was sticky from sweat. we had gone to pixar pier, cars land, gone on grizzly river run, guardians of the galaxy and more. everyone was starting to slow down as we were heading towards disneyland. we had only been in california adventure! i groaned, and i never complain, to mommy, "can we please sit down and eat?" mommy nodded, "yes, just stay patient for five more minutes and we will be sitting down before you know it. we just need to make it into the park first." i dragged my feet after me, twyla and cc close behind, panting and trying to stay up.

quade seemed to still have a bunch of energy. he claims he gets exercise from coming so often. he had probably told us a million of facts. i couldn't stand to hear more. gradually we headed onto main street after we got our hands stamped again and made a long trek. i saw a huge castle down the road and a statue of a man holding mickey mouse's hand. i smiled in awe. it distracted me momentarily from being exhausted. we made our way into a small diner inside one of the cute buildings and sat down, all groaning with satisfaction. grandma and grandpa immediately ordered ice water for everyone, except for quade who requested his favorite lemonade. the booth we were in was packed with all of us, my thighs stuck to the cushions and stung when i lifted them off.

after i chugged my water, i had the urge to use the restroom. i held my breath before i asked if i could go. i told mommy i wanted to go alone, too. she told me that was ok as long as i don't wander off. i turned a corner and did my business. as i made way back to the table, i was distracted as i saw the statue of the man and mickey. i looked over my shoulder and when i saw it was safe, i walked out the door. i went over to the shiny figures and looked up in awe. it reminded me why were here and i got a warm feeling in my chest. disneyland was truly the happiest place on earth. i had enjoyed every single ride we went on and felt a thrill on each one. i had to admit, i wasn't looking forward to leaving. as i turned to leave and return to my family, i seemed to be lost. i wasn't sure which building i had left. they all looked so similar and i wasn't sure whether i had walked far or not.

this wasn't good.