Dream Date

I take a deep breath in, and let a long one out. It was time to go to sleep. It’s always hard for me to get to sleep. The sound of rain plays in my ears. I shift myself in my bed, feeling my soft pillow underneath me. A light pressure on my body as my weighted blanket holds me down.

My alarm is set for a few hours from now, though I’m sure it’ll only feel like a couple of minutes. Sleep never comes easy to me. I’ve tried everything. From warm milk, to reading before bed, to even trying to keep myself up until I pass out. None of it seems to work. The best I can come up with is playing relaxing sounds on my phone to try and lull myself to sleep.

And yet, I lay here awake. The sound of rain plays through my earbuds, barely loud enough for me to hear, but not to distract me from sleeping. I stare up at my ceiling. My room is too dark to make out much of anything. I turn my head to the side to see my digital clock lighting up the time in neon green. Only two minutes have passed.

I feel the empty spot next to me on my bed. The bed is always so cold when I try to sleep, but so warm when I wake up. It would be better if I had someone sleeping next to me. Then it would always feel warm. I’m sure they would cuddle up next to me. We could stroke each other’s hair as we lull ourselves off to sleep.

I often find myself thinking about these things. Not that I’m unhappy or lonely. But the idea of having someone right next to me just sounds so soothing. So comforting. So warm.

The rain sounds stop. My video must be buffering. I let out a deep sigh. My thoughts wander. What would I do if I had someone else in my life? What would that even look like?

I stare up at my ceiling. I can see it now. I want to go to an amusement park. It sounds cheesy, but I would love an amusement park date. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy. The sound of kids cheering in the distance and coasters rushing along. People happy and smiling, holding hands and hanging out in groups. The weather would be so warm with the sun shining down on us, and the sky staying a bright blue.

Yes. I can see it now.

A few groups of people chat as they walk by my girlfriend and I. We took a small tour of the park to look at all our options. Now, we sit on a bench. We aren’t looking for something to do or somewhere to go. We’re just enjoying each other’s company.

I turn to her. She smiles at me. Her long blonde hair keeps blowing in her face. She ends up putting in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. A tank top and blue jean shorts, complimenting her slender physique.

She turns to me and smiles. “What?”

I shake my head and shrug. “I can’t look at my girlfriend?”

She plays with me. “No. You have to ask for permission.”

I chuckle. “May I look at my adorable girlfriend?”

She looks right at me with soft eyes and a bright smile that shows her defined cheekbones. “I love it when you do.”

Eventually, we get up. Hand in hand, we stroll through the park. I gently guide closer to a drop tower that catches my eye. Kids run around us, eager to get to the next ride. We see a small group playing a water gun game at a different stall.

“You gonna win me a teddy bear?” She asks me.

I look at the stall she’s looking at. A big, brown, stuffed bear is hanging from the overhang of the stall. It’s a ring toss game. I’m not very good at ring toss.

I turn back to her. “He’d be a little hard to hold onto during the drop.”

She looks a little confused. “The drop?”

I motion to a ride ahead of us. A giant tower looms in front of us. People are strapped into seats and taken super high into the air. After a moment or two, the ride plunges straight down. We watch as people scream all the way down. The ride comes to a screeching halt in the air, before slowly lowering back down to the platform.

My girlfriend backs away a little. “Oh no. There’s no way you’re expecting me to ride that, are you?”

“Come on,” I encourage her. “It’s one of my favorite rides!”

“No no no no no. I would die if you put me on one of those.”

“Oh, you’re not gonna die.”

“Look at how high it goes!”

“Honey,” I pull her close to me and we look into each other’s eyes. “I’ll be right next to you, holding your hand. You’re going to be fine.”

She looks over at the ride, then back to me.

“If you ride this, I’ll win you that teddy bear.” I tease.

She lets out a nervous breath, which turns into a laugh.

She looks up to me with a sly smile. “Promise?”

I give her a tight squeeze, which she returns with her own. “Promise.”

Hand in hand, I guide her over to the drop tower. The worker holds the ride just for us. We find seats right next to each other. We strap in. A worker comes and makes sure we’re strapped in tight. With a small jolt, we go up.

I look out and around us. The world below me gets smaller and smaller. I see the entire park now. All the roller coasters zooming around. The groups of people walking around with each other. Kids point up at us as we go up. I feel a smile grow on my face as my heart speeds up.

I look over to my girlfriend. She’s breathing heavily. Her eyes are wide. She throws her head back, only to fling it forward to look at the ground moving farther and farther away. She lets out a small yelp.

I grab onto her hand.

She turns to me.

I give her a reassuring nod. “We got this.”

Her breathing slows down. She gives a shy smile and a nod back.

The ride stops at the top. I can even see the parking lot from here. Everything seems so far. So quiet. Then, we drop.

The ride zooms straight down to the bottom. My girlfriend screams. Other people on the ride yell and cheer. I can’t help but let out a yell of my own.

The ride quickly slows down, giving a slow jolt. We’re lowered back down to the platform. We’re let out of our harnesses and are freed from the clutches of the drop tower. My girlfriend stumbles out of the ride. I smile and laugh.

“Oh, man, what a ride!” I say.

My girlfriend nervously grabs my hand. “Please, never make me do that again.”

I get serious. “Did you hate it that much?”

She looks up at me. I can’t understand the expression on her face. A cross of fear and anger. But it quickly contorts back into a shy smile.

“Well,” She says looking down. “I didn’t hate it.”

I let out a laugh. “So, you’re down to ride it again?”

She hugs onto my arm. “How about you win me that teddy bear first?”

I nod. “One oversized teddy bear, coming right up.”

We speed walk our way over to the ring toss stall. Bottles lined up on tables in front. Small stuffed animals are lined up on shelves behind the tables. And the higher you look, the bigger the animals get. Course, I already had my sights on the giant teddy bear my girlfriend pointed out earlier.

The worker greets us with a bushy moustache and a toothy grin. “Hello, hello! Are these two more contestants I see coming up to my stand?”

“Just one.” I proudly say, putting down money to play.

“Alright, alright.” The worker takes my money and gives me a small stack of rings. “Rules are simple. Toss as many rings as you can onto the bottles. How many bottles you put a ring on, decides your prize.”

I steady myself and start tossing. Most of my rings bounce off the bottles and fly somewhere else. One spins around a bottle, and falls in between. My girlfriend cheers me on. The final ring lands on one. At least it wasn’t a complete loss.

I let out a defeated sigh. “This is hard.”

“Aw, that was just a warmup.” My girlfriend encourages me. “I believe in you.”

I smile and nod. I slap some more money down and give it a go. I take my time and toss my rings. One spins around and slides off. Another lands right on a bottle. One bounces along a few, falling right off. Another one lands on a bottle. Another spins down a bottle’s neck. My girlfriend gives another cheer. I throw my last ring and it falls right between the bottles.

“Ooh!” The worker lets out. “You won a small prize, but one more would’ve gotten you the big prize.”

“Augh.” I let out. “Sorry, hun. I almost had it. Maybe if I-”

I reach into my pocket again.

She grabs my hand and stops me. “Hey, don’t worry about it.”

I look at her. She points at one of the smaller bears. The worker confirms which one she’s pointing at. A small white bear with a red bow tie. She nods and he grabs it off the shelf.

She gives me a reassuring smile. “This one’s pretty cute too.”

She takes the bear from the worker.

“Besides,” She latches onto my arm. “It’s easier to hug you while I carry this one.”

I let out a shy laugh of my own.

The worker tries calling over more contestants as we leave.

We mosey our way through the amusement park. The sun is going down. The blue sky has turned into a cascade of orange and yellow. Purple clouds travel through the air. The crowd is pretty much gone. A few nighttime lights come on.

I see the Ferris wheel in front of us quickly turn on all of its lights. I can make out a few people riding in the cabs of the wheel. Some passersby turn and look as the wheel lights up. My girlfriend and I stop and stare for a moment. A giant wheel lighting up the coming of the night sky.

“Oh! Oh!” My girlfriend jumps. “We should ride it!”

I look at her. “You want to?”

She gives another cheeky grin. “Yes please.”

Her and I make our way over. A small group gets in a cab in front of us. Her and I wait for a small cycle. A cab stops in front of us and the worker holds the door open. I sit down and my girlfriend takes a seat opposite of me. She smiles and gently holds her stuffed bear. The worker shuts the door and makes sure it won’t open, then sends us off.

My girlfriend and I watch as the cab moves up. The park lights up with its nighttime lights. We make out the different game stalls. We can still see a few people walking around in small groups. Another guy and girl are walking, hand in hand. Another couple is sitting on a bench, taking in the sights.

I look over to my girlfriend. She notices. She gives a shy smile and looks back out the window of the cab.

“It’s so pretty.” She comments.

I smile. “Not as pretty as you.”

She lets out a laugh and lightly kicks me. “You’re so cheesy.”

I laugh. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Her and I sit in silence. The wheel spins us up to the top. We can see the whole park from here. I can even make out the parking lot. The poles out there are lighting up too. We’ll probably have to leave after this.

“So,” My girlfriend brings my attention back to her. “Have a good time?”

I smile and nod. “It’s almost perfect.”

She chuckles and hugs her bear. “Almost?”

“Yeah.” I sheepishly look away. “There was just one more thing I was hoping to do.”

My girlfriend leans forward. “What? What is it? Maybe we shouldn’t have rode the ferris wheel.”

I smile and turn back to her. “No, I think it was a good idea.”

I lean forward. I reach out to her face. She’s a little hesitant, but lets me caress her. I gently brush my thumb along her cheek. It’s smooth and soft. I can smell the coconut and vanilla perfume on her. I can see her longingly look into my eyes.

I pull her in a little. “It’s more private in here.”

I open my mouth a little and lean in. She does the same. Our faces get closer and closer. Our eyes keep darting from our mouths to our eyes. Finally, she closes her eyes. I close mine too and lean in. I feel her breath against me as our lips start to meet.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I look around. What is that noise? Where is it coming from? Did the ride break? Is my phone going off?

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I blink a few times. The amusement park disappears. My girlfriend fades into nothingness. What is happening!?

I blink a few more times. My vision finally adjusts to the sun streaming through my window. I let out a sigh and look up. My blank ceiling stares back at me. I’m back in my room.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I feel my weighted blanket holding me. I shift myself in bed. I feel my pillow underneath me. The sound of my alarm is going off. I stretch an arm over to it and slam it off. Waking up is always hard, but it was time to go to work. I take a deep breath in, and let a long one out.