Blackpool (Part 2)
Lee and Lucy spent the best part of the morning at the Pleasure Beach, finding plenty of rides they were both happy to go on, including teacups, water chutes, dodgems and a sort of racing version of a carousel. They even ventured into Nickelodeon Land and went on some of the rides that were really aimed at children, ignoring the funny looks from some of the adults.
They approached a closed in ride where there were a few people queuing.
"Ooh look Lee, the Tunnel of Love, lets go on this, it might be romantic".
"Okay, but what sort of a name for a ride is the 'Tunnel of Love'? Isn't 'Tunnel of Love' a euphemism for a certain part if the female anatomy?"
"No".
"Well it should be".
Lee looked at Lee slightly curiously.
"Why do I get the distinct feeling you're going to call that part of my anatomy the Tunnel of Love from now on?"
"Why not? I can think of worse names for for it. Anyway, you already use the name of a Pleasure Beach ride to refer to my private parts".
"Do I?".
"Yes, the 'Big One'".
"Very funny, I fell right into that didn't I?".
"Actually, all this gives me another idea for a T-shirt slogan. 'I'll enter your Tunnel of Love if you'll ride my Big One'".
"You really do have an innuendo for every situation don't you? If I had the ability to look into that head of yours I swear I'd see a perpetual Carry On film playing in there".
"Or, maybe everything I say is completely innocent and you just have a filthy mind. Have you ever considered that?"
Lee raised his eyebrow suggestively, then smiled as he leaned in to kiss Lucy, sweeping her hair off her cheek and cupping her face with his hands. She stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around him to steady herself as they deepened the kiss. After a few seconds they heard someone tutting in disapproval.
"Excuse me, the queue's moving. Excuse me", an annoyed sounding man repeated, making Lee and Lucy break their embrace .
"Sorry", Lucy said quietly, then quickly walked ahead to catch up with the people queuing in front of them, pulling Lee with her.
A few minutes later, they reached the front of the queue and took their seats in the little boat on the manmade river. As soon as they had disappeared into the caves, Lucy felt Lee's mouth on her neck, teasing her, making her shiver.
"What are you doing?", she breathed, her voice shaky.
"Kissing you", Lee whispered as he moved his lips slowly over her jawline.
"Here? Shouldn't we..."
Lucy never finished her sentence, as Lee reached her mouth, covering her lips with his own.
They didn't break apart until the ride came to a halt several minutes later. Opening their eyes they realised they were back in daylight and they'd missed the entire ride. Rather than getting off they decided to stay on and go round again.
"Excuse me, you have to get off now", the man checking tickets said firmly.
"Can't we stay on and go round again?".
"No, it's one ride at a time only"
"Oh come on...be nice, we were kissing in there so we didn't see anything".
"Lee, don't tell him that!", Lucy scolded, tapping Lee on the arm, albeit playfully.
"It's not my fault you can't keep your hands off each other. Please get off and rejoin the queue".
Lucy felt pretty embarrassed now and wanted to get up and walk away but she couldn't get off the boat without climbing over Lee, who still hadn't moved.
"Think about it, this whole ride conjures up sexual subliminal messages right? Vessels going in and out of tunnels and caves. It's even called the tunnel of love, we couldn't help but end up kissing in there. That's why we should get another go".
Lucy was bright red, and had her head in her hands now.
"You can have another go, as long as you queue up first. And the ride isn't actually called the Tunnel of Love. It's called the river caves".
"Well, it says 'Tunnel of Love' over the entrance".
"That sign was just a prop on a TV show and we kept it there".
Lee was determined to have his way, and addressed the ticket man again,
"There's about five people waiting, they'll all fit on this time anyway".
"That's not the point. You have to get off and queue again".
"I wouldn't even call that a queue, what's the point of getting off just to get straight back on again".
"That's the rule, now pease disembark or I'll have to call security".
"Lee, leave it, we'll go on something else".
"But..."
"Get up or you'll be sleeping on the sofa tonight".
Lee reluctantly did as Lucy said, and she pulled him away before he said anything else.
"Why do you always have to make a scene in public?"
"I don't. Are you mad with me?"
"A bit...I suppose not really...I just wish you'd think before you speak sometimes".
"Sorry, but that smug little man was on such a power trip, I couldn't help but bite".
"He was a bit of a jobsworth wasn't he? Forget about him anyway, are there any more rides worth going on or shall we go to the pier or somewhere else now?"
"I'd like to go on the Ghost Train before we leave, do you fancy that?"
"Yeah, I love a Ghost Train. They scare me though so you'll have to put up with my screaming".
"You know I love to hear you scream".
Lucy blushed.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm talking about a very different sort of screaming. I'm quite jumpy, so I'm talking about full on squealing. Think Tim when he sees a spider".
"Ah, I'd better get the ear plugs out then".
...
A few minutes later, as the Ghost train 'car' started up and moved towards the darkness, Lee said,
"You know this Ghost Train is said to be haunted?"
"What?"
"There's supposed to be a ghost of a man who used to look after the ride, a mate of mine at school said his uncle worked on maintenance here and they used to hear footsteps in the night and stuff"
"You could have told me that before we got on. I might have changed my mind...arrghhh!".
Lucy shrieked as several skeletons appeared in front of them and false cobwebs brushed over their heads. Barely thirty seconds after the train started moving she buried her head in Lee's shoulder, and kept it there for most of the rest of the ride.
Lee thought this was very amusing, and kept pretending to jump out of his skin even though he wasn't really scared. With his free hand he touched the top of Lucy's head with his fingertips, and she screamed.
"What the hell was that?"
"What?"
"I felt something touch the top of my head".
"I don't know, I didn't see anything".
"It felt like a hand. Was it you?"
"No. Maybe it was the ghostly hand of Cloggy. The man that haunts the ride".
"Shut up Lee. It was you wasn't it?"
"No".
"Right that's it, I want to get off".
"We can't get off while the ride's moving. It'll be over any second. I thought you said you liked Ghost Trains".
"I do, but this one has a weird atmosphere. I don't like it".
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as the ride finished. She got up and walked away as quickly as she could.
"Sorry about that Lee, for being such a wimp. There was just something about that ride. Either they've just done a really good job of making it scary or there's really something evil in there".
"I think they've just done a really good job at making it scary. I don't believe in ghosts".
"I didn't think I did either. Now I'm not so sure. My heart's still pounding after that".
"It was me who touched your head earlier by the way".
"You git. I knew you were finding this funny".
"Well, it was a bit, sorry. If it makes you feel any better, you might have acted terrified in there but your reaction still doesn't top Tim's that time when we were nineteen and went on the Ghost Train at Thorpe Park. He still maintains that he spilt his drink but I'm convinced he wet himself".
"Poor Tim, you'll never let him forget that day will you?".
"Nope".
Lucy shook her head.
"Right, where shall we head now?", she asked.
"There's a few options, though I know what we should definitely avoid".
"What's that?
"The Horror Maze. It's where you walk around and people dressed as monsters come out and scare you and go after you and stuff".
"Yeah, that's avoid that, we don't want anyone wetting themselves do we. How about we go and get Fish and Chips?".
"Sound good, let's go".