“I waited in anticipation all week until Saturday arrived. On that morning, I woke up early, got washed and got dressed. I almost wished that I hadn’t asked her, because my stomach was full of nervous and terrified butterflies. I kept making clumsy mistakes during relatively simple tasks. I spilt my orange juice all over myself and had to change clothes, I nearly fell over in the shower, and I almost sprayed air freshener under my arms instead of deodorant. I buried my head in my hands and thought how absurd it was that I was wishing I hadn’t asked her. Because of my bravery in the heat of the moment, a beautiful, intelligent young woman had agreed to go on a date with me. I had only ever had one other date in my life – while I was at college, one of my friends had set up a date with me and his cousin’s friend in one of the restaurants in the city. We had a very nice three course meal, but I was so crippled with nerves that I accidentally coughed in her face as we were leaving. I never heard from her again. You must remember not to cough, sneeze or be sick anywhere near Ivana. I thought to myself as I left the building to go to the underground tube station. I didn’t own a car, so we had to use public transport to get to the theme park. I found a seat on the tube and tried to let my thoughts settle as we whizzed around beneath the city. I couldn’t stop worrying about the fact that she might not get on at her stop. It would be so devastating and embarrassing to be going there alone. But she did get on at her stop. My heart was beating quickly as I looked at the window behind me, trying to see her at the station. I couldn’t see her, but I caught sight of her as she got onto the train. She was stood, looking for me, peering past people to try and find me. ‘Ivana!’ I called out. She turned and saw me, and her pretty face smiled at me. ‘Koloman!’ She shimmied past several people to sit down beside me. ‘I was afraid that you wouldn’t come.’ I said, shyly. ‘Why wouldn’t I come? I told you I would, didn’t I?’ She smiled. ‘The last time I went to Fireffen Xelm I was a young girl. To be honest, I was so hoping that you would ask me to go somewhere, just so that I could see you again.’ I looked at her in great surprise. ‘Really? But I was so sure you preferred Lolek!’ ‘Of course I didn’t prefer Lolek. He loved himself too much. And there was something about him that I just – didn’t like. Something not very nice.’ I agreed with her here, as I remembered with some trepidation the way he had screamed at me so angrily last night. But I didn’t tell her about it, because I didn’t want to worry her. I had won – I didn’t have to think about him, and neither did she. ‘I feel the same.’ I said, and we shared a smile.
The underground train took us all the way to the end of the line, which was where we got off. Fireffen Xelm (Jungle World) was on the outskirts of the city, because it was very large, about the size of a small town, and therefore needed a lot of land. We left the train and the station, and then surfaced above ground once more after climbing the stairs. We had to be careful not to lose each other in the crowd as people clambered up to the exit. I noticed several old, yellowing posters stuck to the walls of the stairs as we walked up. Most of them seemed to be talking about films that had come out several years ago, or for festivals within the city of a similar age. We had to walk for over fifteen minutes from the train station to get to the gates of the theme park, and we could see the large, orange letters that spelled out ‘FIREFFEN XELM’ – they were large blocks, and they were covered with long vines, and a huge, mechanical snake weaved its way in and out of the letters. It was a most exciting visage. There were some other people hanging around the entrance and handing over their money to the people behind the kiosk desks. We walked up to them, and I gave them 50 lyssos in exchange for two tickets. It was very expensive, especially as children paid the same price as adults, but I paid it nevertheless. The man gave us two tickets in exchange for the money, and Ivana smiled at me. ‘I’m so excited!’ She grinned, ‘I hope you’re not scared, because I love to go on all the big rides.’ ‘Of course I’m not scared,’ I replied with a counter-smile, ‘my favourite ride is the Amir.’ ‘Ooh I like that one!’ We began to talk in much detail about the Amir (the Epic), which was one of the park’s biggest and most famous rides. We had to scan our tickets to get into the park itself, and then we were free to go wherever we wanted within the grounds. The entire park was decorated to mirror a jungle, so some parts were covered in vines and mechanical animals, and one large area was built like a lost city, complete with a giant, gold-coloured temple and statues of gods. It was a very exciting place for anyone to be in, especially children. It was like stumbling into a lost world. There were some excellent, large rides, and plenty of middle-sized and smaller ones for people of all ages and levels of bravery. Part of the temple was a restaurant, part was a gift shop, and one ride went right through the middle of the main section. Another ride bent through most of the park, on a river in which the water was dyed a bright red. There were often large queues to get on the rides, and really there was far too much in the park to get through in just one day, but we decided to go on as much as we could.
The underground train took us all the way to the end of the line, which was where we got off. Fireffen Xelm (Jungle World) was on the outskirts of the city, because it was very large, about the size of a small town, and therefore needed a lot of land. We left the train and the station, and then surfaced above ground once more after climbing the stairs. We had to be careful not to lose each other in the crowd as people clambered up to the exit. I noticed several old, yellowing posters stuck to the walls of the stairs as we walked up. Most of them seemed to be talking about films that had come out several years ago, or for festivals within the city of a similar age. We had to walk for over fifteen minutes from the train station to get to the gates of the theme park, and we could see the large, orange letters that spelled out ‘FIREFFEN XELM’ – they were large blocks, and they were covered with long vines, and a huge, mechanical snake weaved its way in and out of the letters. It was a most exciting visage. There were some other people hanging around the entrance and handing over their money to the people behind the kiosk desks. We walked up to them, and I gave them 50 lyssos in exchange for two tickets. It was very expensive, especially as children paid the same price as adults, but I paid it nevertheless. The man gave us two tickets in exchange for the money, and Ivana smiled at me. ‘I’m so excited!’ She grinned, ‘I hope you’re not scared, because I love to go on all the big rides.’ ‘Of course I’m not scared,’ I replied with a counter-smile, ‘my favourite ride is the Amir.’ ‘Ooh I like that one!’ We began to talk in much detail about the Amir (the Epic), which was one of the park’s biggest and most famous rides. We had to scan our tickets to get into the park itself, and then we were free to go wherever we wanted within the grounds. The entire park was decorated to mirror a jungle, so some parts were covered in vines and mechanical animals, and one large area was built like a lost city, complete with a giant, gold-coloured temple and statues of gods. It was a very exciting place for anyone to be in, especially children. It was like stumbling into a lost world. There were some excellent, large rides, and plenty of middle-sized and smaller ones for people of all ages and levels of bravery. Part of the temple was a restaurant, part was a gift shop, and one ride went right through the middle of the main section. Another ride bent through most of the park, on a river in which the water was dyed a bright red. There were often large queues to get on the rides, and really there was far too much in the park to get through in just one day, but we decided to go on as much as we could.