This is his first time at Disney. He’s almost 23 years old and he’d never been until now. She’s a pro – Disney is her home almost eight times out of the year.
She’s been waiting for this day for over a year. She saved $600 for this trip and planned to blow it all. She bought him the pass, the bands, the pins, the hats, the clothes, everything just so he could have the perfect trip. He’s a marine scientist, so she made reservations for dinner in the aquarium. That was her big surprise; she was going to make him close his eyes as they got close, so when he opened up those wonderfully deep hazel eyes of his, he’d smile and hopefully make one of his excited, bouncing squeaks that she loves so much.
Their trip was less than perfect. The morning began two hours behind schedule. She forgot her medicine, neither of them had cash for tolls, his family, out of spite, canceled his credit cards. They spent 45 minutes in line for a replacement card that would have expired the next month to go to the gates and be told they have to go back to the line to activate his ticket. They spent the whole day running in circles and fighting wave, after wave, after wave of people to ride two rides. She was so scared he wasn’t having a good time.
When dinner rolled around, she couldn't give up hope. She followed through with her plan, making him place a hand over his eyes so he wouldn’t peek. She guided him slowly through the masses with only her fingertips a few steps in front of him. He could tell she was nervous; she was rubbing her thumb on his fingers the way she always does when she's anxious.
“Ok, you can open your eyes now,” she said.
He gazed in confusion at the big blue building before him. It wasn’t particularly glamorous, just a shade of faded baby-blue with aged pillars to support it. If he’d looked a little closer, he would have seen the seahorse handles on the entry doors.
“Do you know where we are?” She said, giggling softly.
And when it dawned on him, her whole world went silent. The hundreds of children running with their double-layered balloons suddenly froze in mid-air and the monorail flew straight off of its tracks. The only sound she could hear was the bashful way he looked at his toes, scratching his head with one hand and squeezing hers with the other.
