A Vision

Follow me on this one. Play this piece of music when it loads. Then read below…

Picture this:

Twenty or thirty bouncy-castles lie in a field, out of sight, deflated. All shapes and sizes, some that look like forts, some like clowns, some like mansions. All different types, all without air, splats of rubber and plastic laid out in the field, as if melted in the sun.

A few bus-loads of children pull up to this beautiful field of long green grass. They all get out and mill around. They know something is about to happen, just not exactly what, so they’re quite quiet. After the bus turns off its engine, the only sound they can hear is the rustling of a light breeze through the grasses. It’s a beautiful day, blue skies dotted with a few clouds, not too warm, not too cold. A good day for t-shirts and fun things to do.

The grass waves gently in the wind, rippling like an ocean tide. It’s peaceful out here. Some of the kids sit down, enjoying the sunshine, some look up at the sky, some pull strands of grass out and play with the seeds. Expectation fills the air.

Suddenly, the quiet is broken, as the rhythmic whirring of the pumps that power the bouncy castles kick in. Gradually, the horizon in front of the children is filled with a mini city of these inflatable structures, rising up out of the ground, their forms awkward and surreal as the walls and sides fill with air. Soon they are full, silhouetted against the sunshine, beckoning. It’s all for them, the kids, for them to play on, until exhausted. Maybe there would be tables with cake, ice-cream, jelly, sandwiches, soda of all different kinds. All for them. To allow them to be children, young, joyful, for a little while longer.

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Thats my little daydream. I hope I described it adequately to get across what I saw in my head. If I ever get enough money, I’m going to do that. As long as I get to play too, of course.

The song is ‘Helpless’ by ‘Needle’.