The Ship Of Dreams

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9WuokwFSGE
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The Ship Of Dreams
By Paul McCann

It was pension day and Henry and Rita were up early as they liked to get their weekly shopping done before it got too busy. As Henry backed out the car from the garage Rita locked up the house . Soon they were on their way to the large super market in huge shopping complex in the Matrix Mall Centre .
They liked to get in to the shops before they opened as it gave them time to park the car in the underground car park and avoid the morning rush of school buses in the daily hustle and bustle of everyday life .
The car park was quieter than expected and as Henry parked the car in a spot beside the lifts he said ,

“ We’re the first one’s here dear .“

Rita replied .

“Hmm yeah , it feels kind of strange to see no cars or people .“

As Henry locked up the car Rita went over to push the lift button .
Henry joined her and the lift doors opened and in they went .
When the lift doors opened they walked out into a carnival ground where men walked on stilts and jugglers tossed balls in the air . Crowds of people stood around the various sideshows and someone dressed in a large rabbit suit grabbed Rita and Henry by the hand and took them over to a large Ferris Wheel ride where an empty carriage for two people was waiting . The rabbit prompted Henry and Rita to climb in . They both looked at each other and could hardly believe it when they saw that they had turned into little children again .

Rita giggled and said to Henry .

“Come on Henry , what are you waiting for . “

Henry looked at the rabbit who handed him a book of tickets .

“You’ll need these Henry , these are your free ride tickets when you get back “

Henry took the tickets and said ,

“Get back from where ?”

“You’ll see , enjoy the ride .“

Said The Rabbit

Henry got in and sat beside Rita in the carriage of the Ferris Wheel .
A safety bar automatically locked Henry and Rita into their seat and then they were whisked away high above in the air . The little carriage came to a rest at the top of the Ferris Wheel and as it did , a rooftop and canopy automatically came over the carriage that came away from the Ferris Wheel and now it had become a small rocket ship that shot through the clouds and into the sky and beyond in outer space . They both looked out the windows of the canopy back at the earth and all around them were stars and strange shaped meteors , As their little spacecraft weaved in and out between satellites and space junk they saw what looked like a huge space station of some sort approach and open up one of the doors where a tracer beam locked on to the little space craft pulling it inside the station .
Once inside the door closed and the little space station docked into one of the ports .

A voice through some speakers broke the silence ,

“Welcome to the ship of dreams fun parlour , Use your tickets for any ride as long as you’re here . Time does not exist here , stay as long as wish “

As the safety bar was released Henry and Rita climbed out of the carriage .
They took look around and saw a rainbow bridge that went to a castle and they both started to run across the rainbow that turned into a giant spiral slide that propelled them down and spun them around and around until they landed on top of a soft mushroom shaped cushion jump-o-lean where they sprang up and down in fits of laughter until they finally got off the jump-p-lean and stood on the ground , As soon as they did a Kangaroo hopped over and asked for a rainbow slide and tram-o-lean ticket . Henry produced the book of from his pocket and the Kangaroo torn out two tickets before handing it back and off he hopped along a road that went to a castle .

Rita said ,
“Look Henry that must be the castle we saw before “

Henry replied ,

“Rita I’m so thirsty after all that jumping .“

“Me too , I have a craving for chocolate .“

She said ,

Suddenly a strange vending machine hovered along the road and came to a stop at their feet . Lights began to flash around the machine and a buzzing sound followed by a whizzing and fizzing was heard inside the machine .
Two cups of soft drink and two blocks of chocolate were delivered from a chute at the front of the machine .

A voice from the machine said ,

“All refreshments are free on the ship of dreams , Three rides to the castle keep are one ticket . Two tickets will get you three rides and one chance to speak to the King of the castle and three tickets will get you three rides to the castle , a chance to speak to the king and two photo post cards with the King.”

Rita looked at Henry and said ,

“ How many tickets did the machine say for a ride to the castle?

Harry looked quizzed and replied .

I think it was three tickets for a ride.

The voice from the vending machine said

“ Wrong ,I said it was three rides for one ticket . “

Then Rita said

“So is the three rides for one person or two ?“

The vending machine said ,

“The three rides are for one ticket and each of your tickets are for two people.”

Henry said ,

“So then its three rides for one ticket for two people , is that correct ?”

The machine answered .

“Why yes , that is correct . ”

Henry replied,

“Ok great , so tell again , is the ticket to meet the King and have a photo two tickets or three ?”

“No , three tickets will get you a chance to meet the King and have photos taken as well as three rides.”

Henry looked at Rita who looked a little puzzled and asked

“Rita , what do you think . Should we use three tickets for three rides and a chance to meet the King and have some photos taken with him ?

“ Ok Henry, that sounds great . Lets go. “

A closed slot at the top of the machine opened and a voice prompted Henry to put three tickets into the slot . Henry tore three tickets from the book and placed them inside .

Suddenly along the road two white horses came galloping from the castle and pulled up beside Henry and Rita .
“I’ve never ridden a horse before .”

Said Henry

One of the horses spoke .

“There’s nothing to it . Its easy as . Just jump up on our backs and we’ll do the rest . Nothing to worry about .”

A little step emerged from the side of the vending machine that enabled Henry and Rita to climb on to the horses back . In a few moments the two horses made their way to the castle with Henry and Rita . Once inside the drawbridge came down m, Henry and Rita were welcomed by two stable hands who took the reins of the horses and helped Rita and Henry dismount . When they were safe on the ground again one of the horses said ,

“The King is in the keep of the Castle so you must wait here for the chance to meet him .”

How long do we have to wait?”

Said Rita and one of the stable hands replied ,

Once the King see’s you offer no threat to him he will leave the Castle keep and speak with you ,. It shouldn’t take too long. “

A court jester approached

“How would keep a King happy ?

Rita said
“I guess a king needs a party and lots of cake . “

Henry added ,
“Well I think every King needs to have a holiday , maybe go fishing on a lake “.

The jester laughed started to sing a song .

“The King needs a break and some parties with a cake.
The King needs to be happy and go fishing in a lake .
Oh ho-de-ho and a happy King we will make “

Suddenly the King came from the Keep and began laughing

“A happy King am I and some photos we will take .
Welcome to the Castle where dreams are wide awake .”

People emerged from all over the castle and the King ordered for his Throne to be carried out and he send a message for royal photographer to make an appearance . The people of the Castle brought the King cake and they started to have a party until the photographer and the throne arrived .
After a few photos with Rita and Henry and the King on the throne he asked for Rita and Henry to come along and spend a little time fishing on the Lake with him .

By the side of a silver lake the three of them got into a boat and rowed off out to the middle of a lake . The fish leaped out of the water and into the boat without having to cast a line . They sat for a time until across the lake a little motor boat scurried .

From a speaker on the motor boat a voice said ,
‘All your tickets are gone and now its time for you to return .“

Henry replied ,

“Wait a minute , I gave three tickets for three rides , a chance to meet the King and some photographs .”

The voice on the boat replied ,

“That’s right , you had a ride on two white horses , a ride in the kings fishing boat , you also have had photographs and you met the King . So that’s it . time for you to leave now .”

Rita said ,
“We still have one ride left . “

‘Your last ride is with me from the Silver lake back to planter earth . You have no more tickets . All good things come to an end and its time now to go “

As the King gave a big hug to each of them he said ,
“You’ve made me so happy . Thank you “

Rita and Henry climbed on board the motor boat.
When they turned around to wave goodbye , the king and the lake had disappeared . The motor boat had been transformed into a rocket ship and now they zoomed across space towards earth . The small spaceship landed back on top of the Ferris wheel and they returned to the ground were that rabbit took them by the hand and led them over to a door and said .

“This is to your lift back to the ground floor where things will be normal again. “

Rita and Henry got into the lift and pushed the button that took them to the ground floor . When the lift door opened they walked out into the were
Inside the huge shopping complex in the Matrix Mall Centre . Henry looked at his watch and not a second had passed since he had parked the car .

Both of them were old again , however inside they really felt as if they were still little children . Suddenly Rita grabbed Henrys arms and said ,

“Henry , we forgot to get the photos of us and the King“

Henry replied ,
“ We will just have to keep in our memory what happened .”

On their way to the supermarket some people were setting up a children’s activity . It was a small jumping castle and there were a few children waiting for a ride . The man who was supervising the jumping castle looked exactly like the King in the Castle of dreams .
Henry and Rita walked over and said hello .
The man smiled and replied ,
“Have a nice day , you two and stay young. You know what , children don’t know how lucky they are to be living a dream . Don’t you agree ?“

Rita and Henry smiled and said ,

“That’s true for sure “

Then they walked away to the supermarket to get their groceries .
After the shopping was done they noticed how busy it was getting with shoppers getting into the mall . As Rita and Henry went back to the lift they were met near the lift door by a man with a camera who quickly dropped an envelope into their shopping trolley .
Henry shouted after then man who was gone in a few seconds the other way.
On the front of the envelope was a written message .
It said ,

“It took me a while to get them processed and even longer to get them here to you . In this envelope are your photos you left behind . The King ordered me to get them to you . I’m sure you’ll be pleased with them . Stay young.”

As they opened up the envelope they looked at four photos of Rita and Henry as old people standing beside the man who ran the jumping castle and two other photos of them as children standing beside the King on the throne inside the castle of dreams .

Rita and Henry laughed and made their way back to their car .
They drove home and unpacked their groceries then sat down and went to sleep .

The End
By Paul McCann