A Day At The Park
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"They're coming," Jessie whispered to her partners as she peered through the bushes.
"Ooh," James said softly, "in our places!"
Meowth proceeded to prepare himself to pounce from behind the bushes, ready for his cue. "Here we go again."
The three twerps walked unassumingly down the path. Ash's Pikachu walked at his heels, and Misty carried the egg Pokemon, Togepi, in her arms. Brock was walking just behind.
"3, 2, 1..." Jessie whispered to her companions.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
Jessie and James jumped out from their hiding places and into the path, blocking the three kids. The twerps all rolled their eyes at once.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the—"
Before James could finish his sentence, Ash said, nonchalantly, "Pikachu. Thundershock."
"Piiiiiii-kaaa!!"
In a flash of bluish-white, Jessie and James were shocked by the lightning, the impact hurling them up into the air over the trees.
"...Team Rocket's blasting off again..."
The two landed hard, Jessie on top of James, in the shallows of a lake.
"Ugh!! Get me outta this! Ah, my hair...I can't get it wet!" Jessie groaned, standing up on James' back.
"Here..." said James, managing to get up and hold onto Jessie at the same time. He then proceeded to carry her to shore, setting her back on dry land.
"Uh...I'm a little wet from that splash, but at least my uniform's not stained." She glanced at James, who had mud-prints on his back from Jessie's boots.
"Oh...oh well," Jessie shrugged. "Well, we've failed once again, and we're blasting off faster, too. We were only there for about 20 seconds and those twerps didn't even have the decency to let us finish our motto!" Jessie looked biffed, and folded her arms.
"Yeah, no kidding." James was wringing water out of his uniform. "But hey—I didn't feel like fighting them today anyway. It's getting old—day after day, it's 'Prepare for trouble,' and 'Hand over that Pikachu', or whatever, and it never works."
"Well, at *least* we're persistent," Jessie told him, wiping a hair from her eyes. "But...I don't want to try and find those brats again today. I don't want to end up getting shocked another time and end up landing in a pile of manure or something. Not today."
James smiled. "Not today? How about tomorrow, then? Would that be better?" Jessie sighed at him and shook her head.
"Well, then," James asked, sitting down on the ground, "what should we do today?" He began to dump the lake water out of his boots.
"Well...I dunno."
"Hey, you guys, dere you are! Ya blasted off without me!" It was Meowth.
"Well, I'm sure you feel left out, Meowth, and you sure missed out when that Pikachu managed not to shock you," said James sarcastically as he put his boots back on.
"Hmph." Meowth folded his arms.
"Well, are we just going to sit here all day, or what?" Jessie asked.
"Well, you said we were done working for the day—you know, no more twerps? Let's just...I dunno, go for a walk," James offered.
Jessie's face twisted into an uninterested expression. "Umm...well..."
"Ok, Ok..." James said, rolling his eyes.
"Well," Jessie began, "I guess we could. . .do our hair and nails! Mine could use some polish, and I won't even *start* with my hair..."
"Thank goodness," James muttered to Meowth, who snickered.
"What?!"
"Nothing..."
"Well, you guys, we could always go hang out over there—" Meowth pointed off to a place just up the lake...swirling, spiraling shapes and a huge wheel, among other oddly shaped structures, reached high above the ground.
"Ah...amusement park?" Jessie and James said at once.
"Of course!" Jessie cried out, "Why didn't we see that when we were flying through the air?!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" James asked his companions, "Let's go for it."
"Sure, why not?" Jessie agreed. "We'll go."
The three walked excitedly down the lakeside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Happy Land?" James read from the huge sign above the entrance, "What kind of a name is *that* for an amusement park?"
Jessie shrugged. "Hey, at least the admission is pretty cheap." She patted her sides. "Hey, who has the money?"
James reached into his pocket, taking from it a brown blob—a wallet.
"Uh...the cash is a bit soggy..." he said, handing Jessie some of the wet money.
"Oh well, money's money." She and her companions reached the front of the line, and Jessie paid.
"Ooh, we get a stamp!" James said as they proceeded through the front gate. A lady stamped their hands and they entered the park.
"What's it say?" James asked, squinting at his hand. "The 'Barf Bucket'? Um..."
"It's just a stamp, James," Jessie said. "It's probably the name of a ride. Parks like this do that...probably to advertise their least popular rides."
"I can unda'stand why it's unpopular just from da name," Meowth commented.
Jessie opened a park map that she had picked up at the entrance. "So, what first?" James and Meowth looked over her shoulder.
"Ooh, there!" James cried, pointing on the map.
"The bathroom?" asked Jessie, looking concerned. "Already?!"
"Oh, I mean, right next to it." He pointed again.
"Oh. The restaurant. That's way better, James. We should stuff our faces and then blow chunks everywhere on all the rides we go on." She crammed the map into the fair-sized bag they had brought, clearly annoyed.
"Well, if you're gonna get sick on the rides, you might as well be able to relieve yourself by throwing up," James offered.
Jessie winced at James. "Well, I'm not sitting by *you* when we ride the 'Barf Bucket'."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, what should we go on now?" James asked. He had a puff of cotton candy in one hand and a cup of soda in the other.
"This one looks fun," said Meowth, waving to his right.
James and Jessie looked over. "The 'Spiral Coaster', eh?" asked Jessie. "Hey, sure, why not?"
"You know, wouldn't it be wiser to start off small...you know, go on a less turbulent ride and work our way up from there?" James suggested, a bit urgently.
"Oh, so in other words, you're scared," Jessie declared matter-of-factly.
"No, really—you should get used to having your body hurled around little by little until you're ready for the big roller coasters," James articulated.
"Naw—start off like you're going swimming," Meowth said. "Jump right in da wadda! Sure, it might be cold for a few seconds, but you'll get used 'ta it in no time!"
"Yeah," Jessie said, "let's just do it!"
"Well...Ok," James agreed.
The three companions got into the line.
"And ba'sides," Meowth said, "this ride has a pretty short line compared to some of the newer rides."
James finished off his cotton candy and pop, and threw the remaining trash to the side of the path.
"From food to vomit in 5.2 seconds," Jessie said, pointing to James' stomach. "You really shouldn't have eaten that before going on this ride."
James shrugged. "It wasn't my idea to go on this first. I'd just assume be on a kiddie ride right now."
The line proceeded quite quickly, and soon they were ready to board the roller coaster.
"Two to a row, one to each seat, please do not extend your arms outside your car..." A voice came over the loud speaker.
Jessie and James sat together, Meowth in the row behind them.
They heard a beep, and their car lurched forward. It proceeded slowly up a high slant of track.
"Ya know what?" James asked Jessie, "The most nerve-wracking part of a roller coaster is when you're going up like this , I mean, nothing's happened yet, but you _know_ it's about to, so you get all anxious because you're not quite sure what's gonna happen when you reach the top 'cause it's gotta be a big drop or something but you're not sure *how* big, or *how* scary or *how* sharp the drop and turns will be, and—"
"James..." Jessie interrupted, "I know you're scared. You can stop talking in one big sentence now."
"Oh. Sorr--y!"
The car suddenly shot downward, twisting and turning as the actual ride started.
About 45 seconds later, the car pulled back into the loading area. Jessie, James and Meowth got off, stumbling to the general direction of the exit.
None of them were able to speak, and it was clear that they were all suffering from extreme nausea (especially James, who was obviously trying very hard not to hurl). Jessie groaned.
"J...J...James...I don't want to admit that...you were right about what you said before this ride but...let's go find a nice kiddie ride while we recover from this one."
James forced a smile, as if to say "I told you so."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After a little while of somewhat restful recuperation, Jessie, James and Meowth were again wondering what to do.
"Let's just take the Sky Ride and see what looks good from above," James suggested.
"Works for me," said Jessie. Meowth nodded.
They made their way to where people were being loaded onto the ride.
People in line were snaked round a rather large garden of marigolds as they waited to the ride. Team Rocket cut into the line in front of a group of ditzy teenage girls who were busy chatting to paying attention.
"I thought you were saying earlier that the older rides had shorter lines," James said. "This one could have easily been around for 30 years!"
"I guess everyone has the same brilliant idea as us," Jessie replied, her voice tainted with sarcasm.
"Must be," James said. He sat down on the edge of the garden, but as he did the line began to move.
Eventually, the three reached the head of the line. They walked out to where they would be loaded onto a bench, and they stood there, waiting.
"Uh, excuse me, but only two to a bench." The voice belonged to an angry looking, pimply faced teenage employee. "One of you has to go on a different one."
Jessie, James and Meowth looked at each other.
"Aw, I'll just go on anudda one," Meowth said, "it doesn't really madda." He walked off to the side.
Before they could even say anything about it, James and Jessie were swiftly being loaded onto a bench.
"Hi-welcome-to-the-sky-ride-no-spitting-or-throwing-objects-do-not-rock-the-bench- back-and-forth-enjoy-your-ride." The pimple-faced guy talked quickly as he lowered their safety bar, and they rose up slowly over the marigolds.
James rested his elbows on the bar. "I thought once that it might be fun to work at a place like this, but that guy just changed my mind."
The ride slowly progressed. Other benches passed by Jessie and James', some with single riders, but most were occupied by cheesey couples who were cuddling and hugging sweetly.
James winced. He looked over at Jessie, who also seemed disgusted.
Passing couples shot superior glances at James and Jessie as they went by, their arms around their sweetheart. It was almost like they were showing off, saying "Look at me! I'm better than you!"
"Hmph," James murmured to Jessie, "what do they think they're doing?"
"It can't last like this through the whole ride," Jessie assured him. "Can it?"
But after several more couples passed, James couldn't stand it.
"That's *it*!" he said, annoyed, "They think they're so high and mighty with their corny, lovey-dovey stunts! I'm not gonna just sit here and take it."
Jessie bit her lip.
"Come on," James encouraged, "let's give *them* something to stare at!"
"I don't like where this is going," Jessie said.
"No, no—we'll just pretend to be making out or something. Come _on_-- just imagine the looks on their faces!" He was smiling wildly.
"James, it's not like you to be so...bold," Jessie said, "but when you put it that way...I kinda like the idea. Fine." Jessie submitted.
James leaned over to her, putting his arms around her waist and moving his face right up to hers. They began making kissy noises, and Jessie caressed James' back with both hands as they lay back in the seat.
People passing were now looking extremely disgusted and sickened, and Jessie and James were, in the midst of their mock make-out, busy trying to hide the fit of laughter that was getting the better of them.
"We're *so* pathetic, you know that? This defines the word 'distasteful'," Jessie whispered as she held him tighter.
"Yeah, but it's so much funner this way." James told her, smiling.
The bench began to lower, and James got off of Jessie. They were still giggling when they got off the ride.
As they waited by the turnstyle, Meowth hopped off of his bench and joined his companions.
"So—which ride looked good ta you guys?" Meowth asked.
"Oh." James smiled as Jessie. "I guess we weren't really paying attention."
The two busted up laughing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mmm...frozen lemonade..." James licked his lips as the icy beverage was passed to him over the counter. "Want one, Jess? Meowth?"
"Naw...it'll give me a headache," Jessie said, picking up a plastic spork and examining it.
"Aw, c'mon. I'm buying you one, anyway. Meowth?"
"Sure, I guess."
James bought two more lemonades and handed them to his friends. "Seriously—they're the best." They seated themselves at a shaded table.
"I guess that these things must be more economical to make, ya know, two in one," Jessie mused, the spork still in hand.
"Hence the name," James said in between sips, "spoon plus fork equals spork."
"Yeah. But the thing is, they're pretty useless. It's more than a spoon than a fork, and it's so dull, you can't use it as a weapon. You can barely stab anything with it at all, including food." Jessie dropped the spork on the table, and pressed her finger on the scoop to make it do a flip.
"Drink your $3 lemonade, already," James nudged. "Geez, you'd rather play with a plastic eating utensil than savor frozen-lemony-goodness."
Jessie took a sip. "Mm...this is pretty good."
"Told ya. Hey, Meowth—how's yours?"
The cat winced. "I'd radda have a saucer of milk or somthin',"
"Aw, whatever." James continued to sip.
The Rockets finished their lemonade and began walking again.
"I think these places make more money on food than anything," Jessie said. "I mean, everything here is at least $2 overpriced."
"Anyway, what now?" Meowth asked, "We didn't pay dat admission fee ta go on a couple of rides and drink overpriced lemonade."
"We could go on the 'Barf Bucket'," James suggested. Jessie bopped him on the head.
"What? We seriously could!" James said defensively.
"James, I think that maybe that stamp on your hand is going to your head," Jessie said. "The 'Barf Bucket' isn't worth a second of our time."
"Fine...fine..." James rolled his eyes.
The three Rockets left the eating area and joined the crowd of moving people in the midway.
"Hey, you look like you'd like to play a game of Ring Toss! You could win a huge prize if you just get your ring to land on a red bottle! Step right up!" An employee proceeded to coax them with a giant elephant plush.
"Naw, maybe later," Jessie brushed her off.
"Aw, come on, don't think you have what it takes?" the employee went on, trying to lure her in.
"Oh, yeah, that's it," Jessie replied sarcastically, "I don't have the skills to throw a loop around a bottle."
"Well it would appear to be that way," said the employee casually.
Jessie fumed. "Are you kidding?! You think I can't do it or something? You think I can't win a dumb game like this?"
The employee shrugged. "How should I know? I kinda doubt it, though..."
"Well you *should* know!! James, gimme a dollar!"
"But Jess, it's—"
"Gimme!!!"
James complied, giving her a bill.
Jessie walked up to the stand, payed, and was given two rings by the employee.
Jessie tossed the first one; missed, cursed softly, and threw the next one, again missing.
"Crap! No, really, I'm just warming up! I can do this..." Jessie insisted. "One more dollar!"
James found no point in objecting, so he gave her another dollar.
"Well, *dis* could take a while," Meowth huffed.
"Yeah, and she said the 'Barf Bucket' wasn't worth our time." James folded his arms and prepared to hand Jessie another dollar.
"Aw...dammit! No, really—just *one* more..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With a huge plush in hand (and $20 less in their wallet), Jessie, James and Meowth strolled down the midway in the afternoon sun.
"So, Jess, what should we do with your new 'friend'?" James implored.
"Whaddaya mean?" Jessie asked, hugging the bulky elephant to her side.
"Well, you can't take it on the rides with you," James told her.
"I suppose you have a point. Look over there: lockers."
They stepped over to the wall of lockers and looked over them.
"Dis one doesn't lock...see, it opens and ya don't have ta put money in it!" Meowth opened the locker.
"Hm...it's the biggest size...though it'll still be a tight squeeze," James said.
Jessie kneeled by the locker and shoved the plush inside.
"Hope it closes," she said. She kicked the door, and with a couple of tries, it shut tight.
"Well, with that out of the way and a water park right over there," James said, "we might as well go swimming."
"We'll have to shove more in the locker, but we can manage it, I think," Jessie said thoughtfully. "Sure, let's get changed." She took her swim wear from the bag and headed for the ladies' room.
"Hey, waidda minute! I'm not goin' swimmin'! You guys can count me out," Meowth said.
"Where will you go?" asked James.
"I guess I'll go ta da arcade. Meet me dere."
"Sure...here." James handed Meowth a few dollars and the two split up.
About 4 minute later, James emerged from the men's room in blue swim trunks, and tried to stuff his clothes into the locker with the plush.
By the time he had succeeded, Jessie came out, wearing a purple bikini, and joined James.
"If only there were more broken lockers," Jessie sighed. She jammed her clothes in as well and banged the door shut.
James suddenly seemed to realize something. "You know, just hours ago you were so concerned about getting your hair wet, but now you're ready to go swimming."
"I guess it's the fact that I'm going swimming willingly," Jessie answered, "and plus, I think I have a can of hair spray in that bag."
James smirked.
They entered the water park (aptly named 'Happy Land Bay') and looked around the new area.
"This place is pretty big," Jessie declared, stating the obvious.
"I guess we should just head one direction and go on from there," decided James. "Over there is the kiddie pools, so...let's go to the other side—the slides. If you're up to it, of course."
Jessie smiled. "You sure you don't want to play in the kiddie pools?" she asked playfully.
"I think I'll pass...I can handle something more intense now, I think." James took Jessie by the hand and they walked together over the puddle-covered ground in the direction of the water slides.
"Which one?" asked James when they had reached the water slides.
"Hm, toughie," replied Jessie. "But I can settle the matter in just a couple minutes. Einie, meenie, mienie, moe..."
Several minutes did pass, and Jessie was still deciphering between the slides.
"...and you are not it!" she finished at last. "Ok, I eliminated all but...this one." She pointed to a large slide several yards away that emptied into pools all the way down it.
"Ok," James said, "We'll go on that one first."
They walked up to the stairs where the entrance was, and James surveyed the sign.
"We'll need inner tubes," James told Jessie after looking it over a moment.
Jessie glanced out over the park. "They're selling them over there for $2 each...but...look, over there—someone left some by those lounge chairs." Jessie left James for a minute and retrieved two of the deserted inner tubes.
"Hey, good deal," James commented as he took one.
They made their way up the stairs, in a bit of a hurry.
"Aie!!" Jessie cried out, abruptly slipping on the slick stairs and nearly falling backwards onto her head. James quickly and instinctively reacted by seizing her by the waist and pulling her up again.
"Holy...wow, thanks," she said as breath returned to her. "It was like I saw my life flashing before my eyes..."
"You mean, you saw all of our failures play over in your mind?" James asked teasingly. "Scary."
"Heh heh. Come on, let's get up there before I fall over the edge of the stairs to my death or something."
James still held his hand out behind her waist as they reached the line's end. When Jessie glanced back at him questioningly, he told her, "Just in case you, ya know, *slip* again."
Jessie sighed. "Sure, James. How do I put up with you? Shouldn't I have hit you over the head by now for that kind of thing by now?"
"I don't know...should you have?"
"Well...I guess I'm not in the mood." This made James's face light up just a little.
They waited for about 15 minutes until they reached the very top of the tower.
"Well, here it is, the moment of truth," James said to Jessie as he looked over the slide. "You ready?"
"Only if you are," Jessie replied, also getting a closer look at what they were in for.
"I guess I'm ready enough," he told her.
They grew closer and closer to the head of the line.
"Which of us goes first?" asked Jessie.
"Ah, you can," James told her.
"No...why don't you, come to think of it..." Jessie insisted.
"Well, why don't we just do it at the same time?" James proposed, trying to put the matter to rest.
"Can we?"
"Sure! Aren't they?" James gestured to another couple who were clinging to the handles of each other's inner tubes as they whipped down the slide.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."
James guided Jessie to the slide's loading area, as it was their turn to go down. They both occupied their tubes and held onto the handle of the other's as well as their own.
"Go," directed an employee, and Jessie and James were pushed off onto the slide.
"Wheee!" James cried as they slid, twisting and turning, down the half-tube water slide.
"Don't let go of me!" Jessie shouted out to him.
The slide emptied into a small pool, and it was hard to stay in the inner tubes since the force of the splash nearly sent Jessie and James' tubes capsizing. The impact, however, caused James to lose his grip on Jessie's inner tube, and he went sailing right by her and toward to next extent of slide without her.
"Ahhh! James, save me!" she cried out teasingly.
"Don't worry, Jess—I'll rescue you!" James played along with her facetious behavior, gripping the edge of the slide before he was forced down, and waiting for Jessie to pass by. When she did, he grabbed onto one of the handles on her tube and was lurched ahead with it.
"Oh, my hero," Jessie said as she began to laugh.
When they reached the next pool, James was quite suddenly thrown from his inner tube and into the water, where he spun around under the current until he was oriented enough to find the surface. He clung onto Jessie's tube, but his was nowhere in sight.
"Can we share?!" James sputtered, hanging onto Jessie's tube for dear life.
Jessie rolled her eyes, but still reached to him, and he climbed into her lap.
"I'm kinda liking this," he told her as they whipped down the slide again. They held each other and the handles as they entered the next pool, and, miraculously, neither fell out.
"Maybe we should've started out like this. Then we wouldn't have fallen out at all and had all this trouble," James said. But just as he had spoken, the slide ended and both of them were hurled out of the tube and into a large pool.
James emerged from the water first, coughing and gurgling, and then pulled Jessie up to the surface. She coughed, too, then began to laugh.
"Was that fun or what?!" James asked of her as they splashed over to the exit.
"Well, I'm sure it was funner the way *we* did it," she told him.
He laughed, too, and held onto her as they stepped out of the pool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
"They're coming," Jessie whispered to her partners as she peered through the bushes.
"Ooh," James said softly, "in our places!"
Meowth proceeded to prepare himself to pounce from behind the bushes, ready for his cue. "Here we go again."
The three twerps walked unassumingly down the path. Ash's Pikachu walked at his heels, and Misty carried the egg Pokemon, Togepi, in her arms. Brock was walking just behind.
"3, 2, 1..." Jessie whispered to her companions.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
Jessie and James jumped out from their hiding places and into the path, blocking the three kids. The twerps all rolled their eyes at once.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the—"
Before James could finish his sentence, Ash said, nonchalantly, "Pikachu. Thundershock."
"Piiiiiii-kaaa!!"
In a flash of bluish-white, Jessie and James were shocked by the lightning, the impact hurling them up into the air over the trees.
"...Team Rocket's blasting off again..."
The two landed hard, Jessie on top of James, in the shallows of a lake.
"Ugh!! Get me outta this! Ah, my hair...I can't get it wet!" Jessie groaned, standing up on James' back.
"Here..." said James, managing to get up and hold onto Jessie at the same time. He then proceeded to carry her to shore, setting her back on dry land.
"Uh...I'm a little wet from that splash, but at least my uniform's not stained." She glanced at James, who had mud-prints on his back from Jessie's boots.
"Oh...oh well," Jessie shrugged. "Well, we've failed once again, and we're blasting off faster, too. We were only there for about 20 seconds and those twerps didn't even have the decency to let us finish our motto!" Jessie looked biffed, and folded her arms.
"Yeah, no kidding." James was wringing water out of his uniform. "But hey—I didn't feel like fighting them today anyway. It's getting old—day after day, it's 'Prepare for trouble,' and 'Hand over that Pikachu', or whatever, and it never works."
"Well, at *least* we're persistent," Jessie told him, wiping a hair from her eyes. "But...I don't want to try and find those brats again today. I don't want to end up getting shocked another time and end up landing in a pile of manure or something. Not today."
James smiled. "Not today? How about tomorrow, then? Would that be better?" Jessie sighed at him and shook her head.
"Well, then," James asked, sitting down on the ground, "what should we do today?" He began to dump the lake water out of his boots.
"Well...I dunno."
"Hey, you guys, dere you are! Ya blasted off without me!" It was Meowth.
"Well, I'm sure you feel left out, Meowth, and you sure missed out when that Pikachu managed not to shock you," said James sarcastically as he put his boots back on.
"Hmph." Meowth folded his arms.
"Well, are we just going to sit here all day, or what?" Jessie asked.
"Well, you said we were done working for the day—you know, no more twerps? Let's just...I dunno, go for a walk," James offered.
Jessie's face twisted into an uninterested expression. "Umm...well..."
"Ok, Ok..." James said, rolling his eyes.
"Well," Jessie began, "I guess we could. . .do our hair and nails! Mine could use some polish, and I won't even *start* with my hair..."
"Thank goodness," James muttered to Meowth, who snickered.
"What?!"
"Nothing..."
"Well, you guys, we could always go hang out over there—" Meowth pointed off to a place just up the lake...swirling, spiraling shapes and a huge wheel, among other oddly shaped structures, reached high above the ground.
"Ah...amusement park?" Jessie and James said at once.
"Of course!" Jessie cried out, "Why didn't we see that when we were flying through the air?!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" James asked his companions, "Let's go for it."
"Sure, why not?" Jessie agreed. "We'll go."
The three walked excitedly down the lakeside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Happy Land?" James read from the huge sign above the entrance, "What kind of a name is *that* for an amusement park?"
Jessie shrugged. "Hey, at least the admission is pretty cheap." She patted her sides. "Hey, who has the money?"
James reached into his pocket, taking from it a brown blob—a wallet.
"Uh...the cash is a bit soggy..." he said, handing Jessie some of the wet money.
"Oh well, money's money." She and her companions reached the front of the line, and Jessie paid.
"Ooh, we get a stamp!" James said as they proceeded through the front gate. A lady stamped their hands and they entered the park.
"What's it say?" James asked, squinting at his hand. "The 'Barf Bucket'? Um..."
"It's just a stamp, James," Jessie said. "It's probably the name of a ride. Parks like this do that...probably to advertise their least popular rides."
"I can unda'stand why it's unpopular just from da name," Meowth commented.
Jessie opened a park map that she had picked up at the entrance. "So, what first?" James and Meowth looked over her shoulder.
"Ooh, there!" James cried, pointing on the map.
"The bathroom?" asked Jessie, looking concerned. "Already?!"
"Oh, I mean, right next to it." He pointed again.
"Oh. The restaurant. That's way better, James. We should stuff our faces and then blow chunks everywhere on all the rides we go on." She crammed the map into the fair-sized bag they had brought, clearly annoyed.
"Well, if you're gonna get sick on the rides, you might as well be able to relieve yourself by throwing up," James offered.
Jessie winced at James. "Well, I'm not sitting by *you* when we ride the 'Barf Bucket'."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"So, what should we go on now?" James asked. He had a puff of cotton candy in one hand and a cup of soda in the other.
"This one looks fun," said Meowth, waving to his right.
James and Jessie looked over. "The 'Spiral Coaster', eh?" asked Jessie. "Hey, sure, why not?"
"You know, wouldn't it be wiser to start off small...you know, go on a less turbulent ride and work our way up from there?" James suggested, a bit urgently.
"Oh, so in other words, you're scared," Jessie declared matter-of-factly.
"No, really—you should get used to having your body hurled around little by little until you're ready for the big roller coasters," James articulated.
"Naw—start off like you're going swimming," Meowth said. "Jump right in da wadda! Sure, it might be cold for a few seconds, but you'll get used 'ta it in no time!"
"Yeah," Jessie said, "let's just do it!"
"Well...Ok," James agreed.
The three companions got into the line.
"And ba'sides," Meowth said, "this ride has a pretty short line compared to some of the newer rides."
James finished off his cotton candy and pop, and threw the remaining trash to the side of the path.
"From food to vomit in 5.2 seconds," Jessie said, pointing to James' stomach. "You really shouldn't have eaten that before going on this ride."
James shrugged. "It wasn't my idea to go on this first. I'd just assume be on a kiddie ride right now."
The line proceeded quite quickly, and soon they were ready to board the roller coaster.
"Two to a row, one to each seat, please do not extend your arms outside your car..." A voice came over the loud speaker.
Jessie and James sat together, Meowth in the row behind them.
They heard a beep, and their car lurched forward. It proceeded slowly up a high slant of track.
"Ya know what?" James asked Jessie, "The most nerve-wracking part of a roller coaster is when you're going up like this , I mean, nothing's happened yet, but you _know_ it's about to, so you get all anxious because you're not quite sure what's gonna happen when you reach the top 'cause it's gotta be a big drop or something but you're not sure *how* big, or *how* scary or *how* sharp the drop and turns will be, and—"
"James..." Jessie interrupted, "I know you're scared. You can stop talking in one big sentence now."
"Oh. Sorr--y!"
The car suddenly shot downward, twisting and turning as the actual ride started.
About 45 seconds later, the car pulled back into the loading area. Jessie, James and Meowth got off, stumbling to the general direction of the exit.
None of them were able to speak, and it was clear that they were all suffering from extreme nausea (especially James, who was obviously trying very hard not to hurl). Jessie groaned.
"J...J...James...I don't want to admit that...you were right about what you said before this ride but...let's go find a nice kiddie ride while we recover from this one."
James forced a smile, as if to say "I told you so."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After a little while of somewhat restful recuperation, Jessie, James and Meowth were again wondering what to do.
"Let's just take the Sky Ride and see what looks good from above," James suggested.
"Works for me," said Jessie. Meowth nodded.
They made their way to where people were being loaded onto the ride.
People in line were snaked round a rather large garden of marigolds as they waited to the ride. Team Rocket cut into the line in front of a group of ditzy teenage girls who were busy chatting to paying attention.
"I thought you were saying earlier that the older rides had shorter lines," James said. "This one could have easily been around for 30 years!"
"I guess everyone has the same brilliant idea as us," Jessie replied, her voice tainted with sarcasm.
"Must be," James said. He sat down on the edge of the garden, but as he did the line began to move.
Eventually, the three reached the head of the line. They walked out to where they would be loaded onto a bench, and they stood there, waiting.
"Uh, excuse me, but only two to a bench." The voice belonged to an angry looking, pimply faced teenage employee. "One of you has to go on a different one."
Jessie, James and Meowth looked at each other.
"Aw, I'll just go on anudda one," Meowth said, "it doesn't really madda." He walked off to the side.
Before they could even say anything about it, James and Jessie were swiftly being loaded onto a bench.
"Hi-welcome-to-the-sky-ride-no-spitting-or-throwing-objects-do-not-rock-the-bench- back-and-forth-enjoy-your-ride." The pimple-faced guy talked quickly as he lowered their safety bar, and they rose up slowly over the marigolds.
James rested his elbows on the bar. "I thought once that it might be fun to work at a place like this, but that guy just changed my mind."
The ride slowly progressed. Other benches passed by Jessie and James', some with single riders, but most were occupied by cheesey couples who were cuddling and hugging sweetly.
James winced. He looked over at Jessie, who also seemed disgusted.
Passing couples shot superior glances at James and Jessie as they went by, their arms around their sweetheart. It was almost like they were showing off, saying "Look at me! I'm better than you!"
"Hmph," James murmured to Jessie, "what do they think they're doing?"
"It can't last like this through the whole ride," Jessie assured him. "Can it?"
But after several more couples passed, James couldn't stand it.
"That's *it*!" he said, annoyed, "They think they're so high and mighty with their corny, lovey-dovey stunts! I'm not gonna just sit here and take it."
Jessie bit her lip.
"Come on," James encouraged, "let's give *them* something to stare at!"
"I don't like where this is going," Jessie said.
"No, no—we'll just pretend to be making out or something. Come _on_-- just imagine the looks on their faces!" He was smiling wildly.
"James, it's not like you to be so...bold," Jessie said, "but when you put it that way...I kinda like the idea. Fine." Jessie submitted.
James leaned over to her, putting his arms around her waist and moving his face right up to hers. They began making kissy noises, and Jessie caressed James' back with both hands as they lay back in the seat.
People passing were now looking extremely disgusted and sickened, and Jessie and James were, in the midst of their mock make-out, busy trying to hide the fit of laughter that was getting the better of them.
"We're *so* pathetic, you know that? This defines the word 'distasteful'," Jessie whispered as she held him tighter.
"Yeah, but it's so much funner this way." James told her, smiling.
The bench began to lower, and James got off of Jessie. They were still giggling when they got off the ride.
As they waited by the turnstyle, Meowth hopped off of his bench and joined his companions.
"So—which ride looked good ta you guys?" Meowth asked.
"Oh." James smiled as Jessie. "I guess we weren't really paying attention."
The two busted up laughing.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mmm...frozen lemonade..." James licked his lips as the icy beverage was passed to him over the counter. "Want one, Jess? Meowth?"
"Naw...it'll give me a headache," Jessie said, picking up a plastic spork and examining it.
"Aw, c'mon. I'm buying you one, anyway. Meowth?"
"Sure, I guess."
James bought two more lemonades and handed them to his friends. "Seriously—they're the best." They seated themselves at a shaded table.
"I guess that these things must be more economical to make, ya know, two in one," Jessie mused, the spork still in hand.
"Hence the name," James said in between sips, "spoon plus fork equals spork."
"Yeah. But the thing is, they're pretty useless. It's more than a spoon than a fork, and it's so dull, you can't use it as a weapon. You can barely stab anything with it at all, including food." Jessie dropped the spork on the table, and pressed her finger on the scoop to make it do a flip.
"Drink your $3 lemonade, already," James nudged. "Geez, you'd rather play with a plastic eating utensil than savor frozen-lemony-goodness."
Jessie took a sip. "Mm...this is pretty good."
"Told ya. Hey, Meowth—how's yours?"
The cat winced. "I'd radda have a saucer of milk or somthin',"
"Aw, whatever." James continued to sip.
The Rockets finished their lemonade and began walking again.
"I think these places make more money on food than anything," Jessie said. "I mean, everything here is at least $2 overpriced."
"Anyway, what now?" Meowth asked, "We didn't pay dat admission fee ta go on a couple of rides and drink overpriced lemonade."
"We could go on the 'Barf Bucket'," James suggested. Jessie bopped him on the head.
"What? We seriously could!" James said defensively.
"James, I think that maybe that stamp on your hand is going to your head," Jessie said. "The 'Barf Bucket' isn't worth a second of our time."
"Fine...fine..." James rolled his eyes.
The three Rockets left the eating area and joined the crowd of moving people in the midway.
"Hey, you look like you'd like to play a game of Ring Toss! You could win a huge prize if you just get your ring to land on a red bottle! Step right up!" An employee proceeded to coax them with a giant elephant plush.
"Naw, maybe later," Jessie brushed her off.
"Aw, come on, don't think you have what it takes?" the employee went on, trying to lure her in.
"Oh, yeah, that's it," Jessie replied sarcastically, "I don't have the skills to throw a loop around a bottle."
"Well it would appear to be that way," said the employee casually.
Jessie fumed. "Are you kidding?! You think I can't do it or something? You think I can't win a dumb game like this?"
The employee shrugged. "How should I know? I kinda doubt it, though..."
"Well you *should* know!! James, gimme a dollar!"
"But Jess, it's—"
"Gimme!!!"
James complied, giving her a bill.
Jessie walked up to the stand, payed, and was given two rings by the employee.
Jessie tossed the first one; missed, cursed softly, and threw the next one, again missing.
"Crap! No, really, I'm just warming up! I can do this..." Jessie insisted. "One more dollar!"
James found no point in objecting, so he gave her another dollar.
"Well, *dis* could take a while," Meowth huffed.
"Yeah, and she said the 'Barf Bucket' wasn't worth our time." James folded his arms and prepared to hand Jessie another dollar.
"Aw...dammit! No, really—just *one* more..."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With a huge plush in hand (and $20 less in their wallet), Jessie, James and Meowth strolled down the midway in the afternoon sun.
"So, Jess, what should we do with your new 'friend'?" James implored.
"Whaddaya mean?" Jessie asked, hugging the bulky elephant to her side.
"Well, you can't take it on the rides with you," James told her.
"I suppose you have a point. Look over there: lockers."
They stepped over to the wall of lockers and looked over them.
"Dis one doesn't lock...see, it opens and ya don't have ta put money in it!" Meowth opened the locker.
"Hm...it's the biggest size...though it'll still be a tight squeeze," James said.
Jessie kneeled by the locker and shoved the plush inside.
"Hope it closes," she said. She kicked the door, and with a couple of tries, it shut tight.
"Well, with that out of the way and a water park right over there," James said, "we might as well go swimming."
"We'll have to shove more in the locker, but we can manage it, I think," Jessie said thoughtfully. "Sure, let's get changed." She took her swim wear from the bag and headed for the ladies' room.
"Hey, waidda minute! I'm not goin' swimmin'! You guys can count me out," Meowth said.
"Where will you go?" asked James.
"I guess I'll go ta da arcade. Meet me dere."
"Sure...here." James handed Meowth a few dollars and the two split up.
About 4 minute later, James emerged from the men's room in blue swim trunks, and tried to stuff his clothes into the locker with the plush.
By the time he had succeeded, Jessie came out, wearing a purple bikini, and joined James.
"If only there were more broken lockers," Jessie sighed. She jammed her clothes in as well and banged the door shut.
James suddenly seemed to realize something. "You know, just hours ago you were so concerned about getting your hair wet, but now you're ready to go swimming."
"I guess it's the fact that I'm going swimming willingly," Jessie answered, "and plus, I think I have a can of hair spray in that bag."
James smirked.
They entered the water park (aptly named 'Happy Land Bay') and looked around the new area.
"This place is pretty big," Jessie declared, stating the obvious.
"I guess we should just head one direction and go on from there," decided James. "Over there is the kiddie pools, so...let's go to the other side—the slides. If you're up to it, of course."
Jessie smiled. "You sure you don't want to play in the kiddie pools?" she asked playfully.
"I think I'll pass...I can handle something more intense now, I think." James took Jessie by the hand and they walked together over the puddle-covered ground in the direction of the water slides.
"Which one?" asked James when they had reached the water slides.
"Hm, toughie," replied Jessie. "But I can settle the matter in just a couple minutes. Einie, meenie, mienie, moe..."
Several minutes did pass, and Jessie was still deciphering between the slides.
"...and you are not it!" she finished at last. "Ok, I eliminated all but...this one." She pointed to a large slide several yards away that emptied into pools all the way down it.
"Ok," James said, "We'll go on that one first."
They walked up to the stairs where the entrance was, and James surveyed the sign.
"We'll need inner tubes," James told Jessie after looking it over a moment.
Jessie glanced out over the park. "They're selling them over there for $2 each...but...look, over there—someone left some by those lounge chairs." Jessie left James for a minute and retrieved two of the deserted inner tubes.
"Hey, good deal," James commented as he took one.
They made their way up the stairs, in a bit of a hurry.
"Aie!!" Jessie cried out, abruptly slipping on the slick stairs and nearly falling backwards onto her head. James quickly and instinctively reacted by seizing her by the waist and pulling her up again.
"Holy...wow, thanks," she said as breath returned to her. "It was like I saw my life flashing before my eyes..."
"You mean, you saw all of our failures play over in your mind?" James asked teasingly. "Scary."
"Heh heh. Come on, let's get up there before I fall over the edge of the stairs to my death or something."
James still held his hand out behind her waist as they reached the line's end. When Jessie glanced back at him questioningly, he told her, "Just in case you, ya know, *slip* again."
Jessie sighed. "Sure, James. How do I put up with you? Shouldn't I have hit you over the head by now for that kind of thing by now?"
"I don't know...should you have?"
"Well...I guess I'm not in the mood." This made James's face light up just a little.
They waited for about 15 minutes until they reached the very top of the tower.
"Well, here it is, the moment of truth," James said to Jessie as he looked over the slide. "You ready?"
"Only if you are," Jessie replied, also getting a closer look at what they were in for.
"I guess I'm ready enough," he told her.
They grew closer and closer to the head of the line.
"Which of us goes first?" asked Jessie.
"Ah, you can," James told her.
"No...why don't you, come to think of it..." Jessie insisted.
"Well, why don't we just do it at the same time?" James proposed, trying to put the matter to rest.
"Can we?"
"Sure! Aren't they?" James gestured to another couple who were clinging to the handles of each other's inner tubes as they whipped down the slide.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."
James guided Jessie to the slide's loading area, as it was their turn to go down. They both occupied their tubes and held onto the handle of the other's as well as their own.
"Go," directed an employee, and Jessie and James were pushed off onto the slide.
"Wheee!" James cried as they slid, twisting and turning, down the half-tube water slide.
"Don't let go of me!" Jessie shouted out to him.
The slide emptied into a small pool, and it was hard to stay in the inner tubes since the force of the splash nearly sent Jessie and James' tubes capsizing. The impact, however, caused James to lose his grip on Jessie's inner tube, and he went sailing right by her and toward to next extent of slide without her.
"Ahhh! James, save me!" she cried out teasingly.
"Don't worry, Jess—I'll rescue you!" James played along with her facetious behavior, gripping the edge of the slide before he was forced down, and waiting for Jessie to pass by. When she did, he grabbed onto one of the handles on her tube and was lurched ahead with it.
"Oh, my hero," Jessie said as she began to laugh.
When they reached the next pool, James was quite suddenly thrown from his inner tube and into the water, where he spun around under the current until he was oriented enough to find the surface. He clung onto Jessie's tube, but his was nowhere in sight.
"Can we share?!" James sputtered, hanging onto Jessie's tube for dear life.
Jessie rolled her eyes, but still reached to him, and he climbed into her lap.
"I'm kinda liking this," he told her as they whipped down the slide again. They held each other and the handles as they entered the next pool, and, miraculously, neither fell out.
"Maybe we should've started out like this. Then we wouldn't have fallen out at all and had all this trouble," James said. But just as he had spoken, the slide ended and both of them were hurled out of the tube and into a large pool.
James emerged from the water first, coughing and gurgling, and then pulled Jessie up to the surface. She coughed, too, then began to laugh.
"Was that fun or what?!" James asked of her as they splashed over to the exit.
"Well, I'm sure it was funner the way *we* did it," she told him.
He laughed, too, and held onto her as they stepped out of the pool.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~