Nostalgia

Films & Food & Adventures that Have to End

I drummed my fingers against my lap, occasionally getting up and walking around, only to sit back down and wait again. Usually, I wasn't just waiting for Mom to get home. I mean, I was always excited to see her after her shift was over, but today we had something planned for when she got off work. Tonight, we were going to the movie in the park. 

So what, movie in the park is kind of a lame thing where all the little kids went and got their hands sticky with cotton candy, maybe. But tonight, I would take any adventures I could get. Besides, who knew what was going to happen? 

Finally, Mom was home, carrying Arby's fast food with her. I could practically taste the mozzarella sticks melting in my mouth. I slung my messenger bag over my shoulder, stuffing my Voss water bottle in on the way, and picked up the three blankets we were bringing to the movie. 

Once we were out the door, we started walking up to the park, which was only just up the road. I pulled up the skirt of my dress so I wouldn't trip on it (as I had done so early, nearly resulting in my dying, or so I thought) and held the blankets in my other arm. 

The large, blow up screen was placed on the baseball field. My mom and I laid out our blanket on the edge of the dirt, then threw our other things on the grass next to it. I tossed my mom her blanket and put mine on the ground underneath me, then sat down with Mom following. 

She handed me the bag from Arby's. "I got us, like, three orders of mozzarella sticks." 

"Yum," I told her, taking them out and peeling the top off of the marinara sauce. 

I dipped the stick into the sauce and bit part of it off, stretching the cheese which did, as I had hoped, melt in my mouth. It was absolutely delicious. Then I popped off the top of my cream soda and took a chug, loving the fizzy feeling that filled my stomach. 

Before I could stop it - although, I don't think I would if I could have - a burp bubbled up and went straight out my mouth, making one of the weirdest noises I had ever heard. Mom laughed and I smiled. The air was warm and this seemed to be a rather good night already. 

"Get your cotton candy! Three dollars! Come get it!" A little girl was going around with a stick taller than her, holding many bags of multicolored cotton candy on it. 

Me and Mom looked to each other at the same time, grinning. We both shared the complete and utter love for cotton candy. I was pretty sure that we would never pass up the opportunity to get it, even if it was three dollars just for a bag. 

She went up and got some, then tossed a bag of purple cotton candy into my lap. "Thanks," I told her, already opening the bag and wafting the sweet smell up into my nose. I knew a person who didn't like cotton candy; how could one not like something so soft and wonderful? 

The baseball field lights went off, leaving only the light of the projector on the white screen. Big Hero 6 was beginning. I'd seen the film hundreds of times, but I don't think I would ever tire of it. It was just too good of a movie, too cute not to love. 

I switched positions the entire movie, sometimes laying on my back, sometimes on my stomach, others on my side, always continually wrapping myself up in my Doctor Who blanket to stay warm, even though it wasn't that cold. By the half-way point of the movie, my cotton candy was no longer cotton candy as much as a bag that smelled like the sugary stuff. My mozzarella sticks were all eaten, contentedly sitting in my stomach, and my creme soda bottle was empty. Now, I was just sipping on my water.

It was nice. 

All too soon, the movie ended. It wasn't so much the fact that I loved the film so entirely that I never wanted it to end, it was that I was happy in this moment. So happy and content that I didn't stress about anything else, didn't even think about stressing about anything else, and I was perfectly fine to just stay where I was. It sort of reminded me of when I was in the shower, how if I could just be there without a care in the world forever, I would do it. 

And there was also the fact that I didn't want to lug our blankets back to our house. I had forgotten that walking to the park also meant walking back. How annoying that was. When would all those smart scientists invent teleports? Or, Apparating from Harry Potter? Honestly, we were just too behind. 

I stuffed my Voss and my phone back into my bag and put it back on, then picked up my Doctor Who blanket. Mom took the larger blanket we had been sitting on and the one she had used to keep warm, as well as our Arby's bag which now served as a trash bag. 

We started walking down the street and made a mad dash across - ironically only about twenty feet from the cross walk - to the other side. When we got to the other side, we were laughing.

"I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Mom said, still laughing. 

"Yeah, well, I do that at least once a week, so..." 

She laughed and we went home. We had a fun little adventure, but now it was time to end it.