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Disneyland: the happiest, and my favorite, place on Earth. Or, so I thought…
I scampered around the square, my wide eyes taking in all of the sights in Disneyland. Cheerful, repetitive music wafted from a nearby ride, and a mechanical character was waving at the crowd. I turned my head in every direction, wishing I had about eight more pairs of eyes. Finally, I found a suitable target and locked my gaze onto it: A brightly colored cotton candy stand. My mouth watered as I imagined the soft, pink beehive that was any dentist’s worst nightmare. “Mom? Could I get some money, pleeeease?” I asked, tugging on her sleeve and trying my best to imitate Bambi eyes.
“Yes, yes, in a minute,” she replied tightly, looking faintly green. Perhaps the seven times I’d dragged her onto the spinning teacups ride had gotten to her. “I don’t want to wait a whole minute,” I thought, annoyed. As she began rummaging in her purse for a handkerchief, I darted forwards through the throng and twirled around happily, enjoying the feeling of the warm summer’s air slipping through my fingers.
I heard a jovial laugh behind me and whirled around. My eyes widened with glee, spotting a giant Mickey Mouse waving at me. I waved back and stared at him, enthralled. He was so… realistic! Like he had just stepped out of the TV, he stood there, in perfectly preserved cartoony-ness right there in front of me. “Wow! Mom, look at that!” I reached to grasp my mother’s hand, but my fingers closed on thin air. Confused, I turned around. “Mom?” I called, standing on my tiptoes, though it didn’t do much good. No friendly voice answered me back; I couldn’t see her anywhere. “Mom?” I called again, with a slightly more panicky edge. Nobody even noticed me.
The world seemed to freeze around me, and my heartbeat quickened frantically, thumping against my ribs like a frantic bird. Oh god, this was like one of those movies! My breaths quickened as I ran back to where I thought I had left her. She wasn’t there. Spotting a bench, I jumped onto it, peering into the crowd. “She was wearing a red shirt and a hat…” A spark of hope ignited in me when I saw one: I leapt down and dashed towards the person, but I quickly got distracted by three other people wearing the exact same outfit. “Where are you?” I whispered, as if she could hear me. I weaved through the crowd, hysterically asking random tourists if they had seen my mom. They were remarkably unhelpful, and I tore off again, examining every face.
Suddenly, I felt a large, heavy hand on my shoulder and froze in fear. Looking up slowly, I saw that the white-glove was attached to the massive body of Mickey Mouse, who was smiling down at me from his great height. As I stared at him, the smile became an unpleasant sneer, the wide, happy eyes seemed to glare at me threateningly, the adorable buck teeth transformed into vampire-like fangs… Immobilized by terror, I stood frozen to the spot, and a deep, slow, demonic voice said, “Do you want a hug, little girl?”
“NO!” I shrieked. Throwing the white-gloved hand off me, I sprinted away at top speed, not slowing until I was a safe distance away. He didn’t follow me, thankfully. I slowed down to a walk gradually, staring around my new location. I had absolutely no idea where I was now. I stumbled over to a bench and sat down, finally defeated. What if I never saw Mom again? A tear trickled down my cheek, and I made no effort to stop it as another one followed. Was I doomed to wander Disneyland forever? I pictured myself: the ghost of the lost child, roaming through the park at night, and haunting the visitors. It was a grim prospect. I buried my head in my hands, utterly exhausted.
“There you are!”
Was I dreaming? Was I hearing things? I glanced up as my mother stood in front of me, looking absolutely furious. She pulled me into a fierce hug. “Don’t you ever do that again!” she whispered to me, holding me at arms length. “We’re going home.” She marched me towards the park exit, and despite the lecture she was giving me, I had never been happier to hear my mom’s voice.
