A Day of Fun and Fright
Akriti Nyaupaney
Adelaide, Australia
Tears were streaming down my face, searching for my parents was all I could do. I was absolutely petrified. Now, you may be wondering how I was in this position. It all started at the Adelaide Show. It was a boiling hot day with the sun streaming down on everyone. It was a Sunday so you bet there were hundreds of people there.
“Why did we have to come on a Sunday? It’s so crowded,” said my obviously annoyed older brother, Jay.
“Because your dad didn’t have work today, just try to have some fun,” said my mum.
I was too busy looking at the stimulating rides and seeing peoples’ reactions to them to see that my brother and my mum were even communicating. I could feel the boiling sun beaming on my tan, granola skin and the air flowing through my mocha coloured hair. I was in my favourite daffodil shirt and my obsidian black shorts. But my interest in the rides was soon interrupted by my dad.
“Well, time to get up, we’re going on one of the rides,” my dad said.
“Really?!” I replied getting elevated.
“Yep,” my dad said enthusiastically.
We all got up and started walking to find a ride to go on. We finally found a ride called the “Sonic Swings”. Jay and I gulped at the sight in front of us. There was a bewildering ride with 10 seats that were cerulean coloured. The ride would make the swings go 200 metres into the air and swing back down. It would do this repeatedly for about 15 minutes. We bought the tickets for the ride and Jay and I got on. If I had to be honest, my stomach was doing somersaults. My heart felt like it was doing a marathon that never ended and the ride hadn’t even started yet! After what felt like an eternity, the ride started up.
After an exhilarating and terrifying ride, Jay and I were in a literal daze for 5 minutes.
The day was going great so far, we even bought Potatoes on a Stick!
About 30 minutes later, I saw a haunted house and I was completely drawn to it. It looked so real and intoxicating. I was staring at it for about 10 minutes when I suddenly came to realization that my family was NOWHERE to be seen.
There were people rushing around so busily that they couldn’t see a primary aged girl standing there with a face as white as ghost with no one supporting her. I started to feel the same feeling I felt on the Sonic Swings. I started to feel sick to the core. It’s absolutely fundamental to have your parents with you, and right then, mine weren’t. Now I was crying. It was like a tsunami of tears. I was wandering around everywhere searching and searching just hoping I would find my family.
30 minutes passed and I still hadn’t found them. I was so petrified, anxious and I felt dreadful.
“This place is colossal, I’ll NEVER find them,” I thought to myself.
I gave up. I sat on the floor and sobbed for what felt like years, decades, centuries. I was absolutely hopeless, I was just a girl, with no phone and no way to contact her parents. I just dug my face into my knees and cried. What happened next was remarkable.
A police officer approached me and tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up and as I saw him I wiped away my tears as quickly as possible and he asked me what was wrong.
“I lost my family, I don’t know where they are and I can’t contact them, please help me,” I pleaded.
With a bright smile on his face, the officer handed me a phone to call my parents. At that time I felt so grateful. I knew both my parents’ phone numbers. With the biggest sigh of relief, I told my parents what happened.
After a matter of moments, my family arrived. I had never been so happy to see them in my whole life. I ran to hug my family and my mum planted a kiss on my forehead. I felt so guilty as they looked so worried. I apologized for getting distracted and putting them through so much stress. My mum smiled and hugged me once again. I felt safe in my mum’s arms.
After all of that, we got a bite to eat and headed home. It had been such a long day I fell asleep before I knew it. I had learned a lot today and apart from all the crying, it was really fun.