Saturday 13th August

This morning, I woke up totally unaware that something really exciting was going to take place. Me and my siblings were sitting at the breakfast table eating when there was a flap from the living room and it sounded like the mail slot. Iggy got up and brought the pile of mail into the room and dumped it on the table.

"All the rest are junk, but you can open this one, Larry." he said, holding up an oblong-shaped letter. I took it from him, tore it open carefully and unfolded the piece of paper inside.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. "It's from Blue Oasis waterparks!" I looked up at Iggy, smiling, but it seemed like it wasn't much of a surprise to him.

"Yep. I booked four places for me, you, Ludwig and Louisa."

(Louisa was my other good friend who lived on the other side of town). "Thanks Iggy, you're the best!" I cried.

Lemmy gave me a look of jealousy and I laughed. "Don't worry, Lems, you're the best too. You're all the best actually."

Sometimes, I didn't really think so, but I was happy so I decided to make my siblings happy by giving them compliments. The next thing Iggy said was that I had to call Ludwig and Louisa and tell them to pack the following: swimming costumes/trunks, a large towel and a small towel to dry hair. I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed my phone, ran upstairs to my room and called Ludwig on Snapchat. I waited for a while and eventually, he picked up.

"Hi, mate!" he said. "What's up?"

"Lutz, this is an emergency. We're going to Blue Oasis today!" I replied.

"What do you mean 'we'?"

"You, me, Iggy and Louisa. You didn't have other plans, did you?"

"Nah." Ludwig said. "I'm just lying on my bed with a fan blowing in my face, but I guess anything beats being lazy and scorching hot all day, so I'm in."

"Get in!" I shouted. "Oh, Iggy said I had to tell you what to pack, and you need your trunks, a large towel and a small towel. I think we need to add something else to Louisa's list because what if something happens to her?"

Ludwig burst out laughing. "Larry!"

"What? It could happen, you just never know."

"I think I've got everything. When are we going?"

"About one o'clock." I replied. "Also, can you pass this whole message onto Louisa? I've got other things to do."

"Okay, sure. See you at one, bye!"

"Bye!"

Now I was more excited than ever. I quickly packed my bag and after that, I could not think about what else to do, I was so excited. I have no idea how, but I managed to eat half a tub of ice cream and I made the excuse that it was absolutely boiling outside and I felt like I was going to pass out. For lunch, I didn't have much, only two Dairylea Dunkers and a banana milkshake. It was about ten minutes later, when I was sitting on my bed and thinking about all the fun we were going to have. A good thing is that Iggy has finally got the car fixed and thankfully, we wouldn't have to stop anywhere because it had broken down. I don't really see the point in buying that sort of car because within about a couple hundred miles, it would break down, but who cares about all that?

I gasped with excitement when I heard a knock on the door and when I opened it, Ludwig and Louisa were standing there smiling with bags on their backs. It was finally time to go. Iggy came outside with his backpack and we all bundled into the car chatting. I asked them both if they had ever been to Blue Oasis. Louisa said she had never been there before and a few months ago, me and Ludwig went together, and that was both our second time going. For the whole hour's journey, we sang along to songs on the USB drive and that made us all hyped up.

Louisa asked me if any of the slides were scary, but I said I didn't know because I still haven't been down Baron's Revenge, The Screamer or Velocity. Infinity is my favourite because it's basically a space bowl that has lots of LED lights flashing under it and you drop into a two metre deep pool and you have to swim out. I went on it twice last time I went to Blue Oasis and both times, I fell upside down. The water went up my nose, but it was really fun. When I could finally see the Blue Oasis symbol on the side of a tall building, that was when my heart beat grew more rapid. All of us just couldn't help walking fast to the entrance of the building and at once, a huge blast of chlorine blew into our faces.

I couldn't help noticing that Iggy was smiling broadly just like the rest of us. I guess he never really got the chance to do this sort of thing as a kid and I felt quite bad, so I tried to go on every slide he went on, but I still really wanted to go on the Mississippi Drifter and Infinity, so I said to him, "We're going to go on some other slides, you can go on some other ones on your own if you want. Don't worry, we're not going to follow you around the whole time."

"That's okay. You go and enjoy yourselves." he said. "This trip is just for you anyway."

"Okay, thanks!"

I ran away to join my friends in the queue for the Drifter and then we had to grab a ring and run upstairs to the start. We placed our rings into the water, hopped on and slid down the first few slopes. On the next part, we had to pull bits of rope to swing ourselves forward and then we ended up in a huge, red trough. There was a curvy slope, which we slid down and then we were surrounded by black and white walls. The next part was my favourite part, The Grand Canyon. We slid down the slope and splashed into the foaming water outside in the sun. The funny thing was that when Ludwig hit the water, he was thrown right off his ring.

Me and Louisa laughed and even though he rose from the surface coughing, Ludwig thought it was funny. Next, we paddled our way into a black hole, where near the end, there was falling water and we fell back into the river again. There were ropes hanging off the top of a rectangular arch and we pulled ourselves forward down the last slope and back into the building, then we had to get off our rings and give them back to the lifeguard.

After that, we voted on which slide we should go on in the tower of us had been on The Screamer or Velocity, but I remember me and Ludwig going on the green twin slides. We all voted Velocity because it looked less scary than The Screamer. I asked Iggy if he wanted to come on Velocity with us and he said he didn't mind. We ran out of the doors and up the tarmac path to the tower.

I saw one red slide poking out from one side of the tower and it had a huge diagonal drop before a straight line at the very end and I thought, woah, that's Velocity. There was hardly a queue at all, so we climbed the stairs to the top. It was boiling hot outside and fortunately, the metal stairs were cold and wet, so it kind of cooled us down. The inside of Velocity looked quite pretty because it was all red and yellow and it looked like fire. Iggy went down first and as soon as the light went green, he swung himself down and I heard him exclaim, "Woah!"

That meant that that diagonal part was severe and I felt a little bit of adrenaline. I was next in the line and when my friends pointed behind me, the light had already turned green, so I sat down, leaned back and slid. I felt myself falling at one point and then I shot out of the other end and it was then when I realised that if I had been dumb enough to sit up at any point during that process, then I would've had a serious injury. When I rubbed the water out of my eyes, I saw Iggy standing at the end of the trough. We both waited for Ludwig and Louisa to come out of the slide, and then we all agreed to go on Infinity together.

I wasn't really expecting it, but Ludwig and Louisa let me go on first because it was my favourite. I swung myself into the pitch black tube and then there came the near vertical drop. The next thing I knew, I was shot into a space bowl with lots of multicoloured lights flashing and I couldn't help shouting, "Woah!"

Then I ended up falling into the water head first and as I was under the surface, I found out something. I could see underwater and I finally had the courage to keep my eyes open. It was beautiful, but I knew I couldn't hang around in this massive pool for much longer because my friends were waiting. I swam to the stairs and stumbled out of the pool, then I stood there watching through the little glass window, which was underwater. Then, I saw Louisa fall into the pooland as she did so, I felt some water splash over the top and onto my head. When she got out, she said, "That wasn't too bad. Hey, Larry, you're dripping wet."

"When you fell into that water, it went up over the edge and got me." I explained.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Don't worry." I said. "You kind of enjoyed it. That's what matters, right?"

Just then, we both felt water fall onto our heads, and then we knew that Ludwig had just fallen through the hole.

"You got us!" I shouted over to him.

When we were all together again, we decided that we should all go on the easy slides, and my word, it was fun. On Colorado Coaster, Louisa said she didn't mind if she went last and we promised that there were no scary parts and it was just a normal, easy slide that chilled you out. Me and Ludwig waited behind the metal bars surrounding the pool, watching the end closely. Louisa must have gone through the entrance pretty quickly because she shot out of the other end really fast and it took her a while to scramble out of the pool.

I noticed that her feet were looking a bit red and as we walked off to go on Red River Roller, I asked her what the matter was and she said she stubbed her toe when she shot out of Colorado Coaster. I also said to Louisa that Red River Roller was an easy slide, and you got bumped around a bit, but you ended up in a trough. It wasn't scary but it was fun, so we screamed as we hit bumpy parts of it, kind of because it was so exciting. I talked to my friends and said that time flies when you're having fun and what if we got to the top of a slide and found out that our wristbands didn't work anymore because we'd run out of time, and then we would have to go all the way back down again and get changed?

So, we decided to find Iggy and ask him how long we had left. Fortunately, he was a couple metres away, sitting on a bench and wrapped in a towel.

"How much time have we got left?" I asked.

"It's half past four and we need to be out by five and it takes about fifteen minutes to get changed, so you have fifteen minutes. Why don't you guys go on the Drifter for the last time?"

"We'd love to, but what about you?" Ludwig asked him.

"Oh, I'm finished, you guys go and enjoy your last quarter of an hour."

It was still hot outside, but the sky was going all light and the sun shone. I felt really chilled out being on the Drifter when it was practically evening. Once we had fallen off the last slope and given back our rings, it was time for us to wash the chlorine off and get changed. As the water from the shower rained on me, I suddenly panicked because I didn't bring any shampoo with me, but luckily, Ludwig had brought a bottle and he lent me some. All of us washed our hair and selves and got changed back into our normal clothes, we returned our wristbands and stepped outside.

Iggy was leaning against the wall waiting for us and we had a surprise, McDonald's for our dinner! I was very excited, but I couldn't help noticing that Iggy had looked uncomfortable the entire time we had been out and I wanted to talk to him about how he was feeling, but I felt like now wasn't the right time. After all, I don't think anyone can have important talks on an empty stomach and all that swimming had made me hungry. I was kind of relieved because there were hardly any customers in there, despite the fact that it was five o'clock and everyone was supposed to be eating dinner, but I guess times have changed and families have dinner at least an hour or thirty minutes later than they should. McDonald's was my favourite fast food place and their drinks were ones to cool you down after a hot day.

I could smell french fries cooking from inside and I hoped that we would eat soon because I was starving. Before long, the food was ordered and we were sitting at our table. I was having a double cheeseburger with ketchup, a medium pack of fries and a large Coke. I immediately began eating the moment my food was set down in front of me because I was so eager to taste the taste of McDonald's; I hadn't been there for ages. The burger was delicious with a little bit of ketchup and the fries were delectable and crispy and I ate every single bit of my meal. I also didn't want to drink too much of my Coke because I would probably go to the bathroom before we went home, and halfway through the journey, I would want to go again, so I only took a few sips.

Iggy didn't really seem that bothered with his meal, which kind of worried me because he had barely eaten anything. I wanted to take him by the hand into the bathroom and ask if he was feeling stressed about something, but what if there would be someone else in there while we were talking and he would feel even more stressed? I felt like he had been through a lot today, what with driving all that way, being alone half of the time, and this part of Dorset was massive. I was very much aware that Iggy had Anxiety in places like this because there were so many people walking about at one time and when it was just me and him together, I would hold his hand and tell him that I was right here.

I decided to wait until we got home to ask if he was alright. Iggy was kind of quiet on our way home, quiet in a way that I had never known him to act before, but I still tried to engage with my friends. Louisa was dropped off at her house and then Ludwig was dropped off. Luckily, he lived a few doors down from me, so we dropped him off at his doorstep and we both had a surprise. Iggy suggested that I should sleep round Ludwig's and have a really cool sleepover. We both jumped up and down with excitement and I said, "Oh my god, I'd love to! This day just got better!"

I said a quick goodbye to Ludwig and me and Iggy walked back home because I had to pack all my bed things together and I discreetly stuffed snacks into my bag. As I walked downstairs, I was just going to put my shoes on when Iggy said to me, "Larry, can I talk to you for a second before you go?"

"Sure." I said, walking back and sitting on the couch beside him. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Iggy sighed before asking, "Have you had a bad day today?"

"No, of course not. Why would you think that?"

"Well, it's 'cause I feel like I've ruined this trip for you. I haven't said much, I've barely engaged and…I'm surprised you're still smiling after everything I've done."

I held Iggy's hand gently. "You haven't done anything." I said. "I suppose you didn't really get the chance to do stuff like that when you were a kid and I guess it was something to do with your Anxiety as well."

Iggy's face suddenly dropped and I saw that his eyes were becoming all watery.

"Are you okay?" I asked as he hid his face from mine.

"No, I'm good, it's just-"

"Come on, bro, what is it? I'm not leaving the house until you tell me what's wrong. I can't leave you like this."

Iggy sighed. "Okay. See, I was just as excited as you to go out today, but I tried not to get too excited because I thought that I might ruin it for you, but instead, I just kept quiet, didn't really engage and I guess my Anxiety did stop me from having fun and also, I never…did fun stuff as a kid."

I understood why he was feeling this way because Iggy may have been a young adult, but I knew he was a child at heart.

"It's all Mom's fault, really." he said. "Because I wouldn't be feeling this way right now if I was brought up like any other kid."

My heart then melted like ice because I saw tears welling up in his eyes.

"I just find myself thinking about her and feeling angry inside because…I feel like I grew up too fast and the truth is…I just wanted Mom to look after all of you and I would just be there for you as a brother."

I was shocked to hear that he had been keeping this inside him for so long.

"But…don't think that I don't care for you as if you're my own children, because over the years, I've grown to love this job and most of all, I love making you happy."

All of this made sense now. Iggy wasn't feeling uncomfortable, well he was with Anxiety, but he was just trying to make me happy, but I guess he didn't know how to show it.

"That's really sweet." I said, "But I'm going to say what's best for you. I think you've got to stop trying so hard because we're all happy whether you positively affect us or not and besides, you've done a lot today, driving all that way, buying McDonald's for all of us, doing all that swimming, and forcing yourself to express how you're feeling, so while I'm gone, I think you should put your feet up and rest."

"Yeah." Iggy cleared his throat, he sniffed and pulled himself together. "That would be nice."

I gave him a big hug and as I was rocked back and forth, I closed my eyes and sighed. "I'll miss you." I said.

"Me too."

I made my way towards the door and slipped on my sneakers and pulled the handle. As I looked back, I said, "See you in the morning, bro."

Iggy waved and I stepped out onto the pebbles leading to the house and shut the door. I excitedly made my way along the road to Ludwig's with a spring in my step and finally, I reached number 29. When Ludwig opened the door after I had knocked, we both hugged each other and I stepped inside. Immediately, I settled into this comfortable home and unpacked all my things. Firstly, we started off with watching a try not to laugh challenge video and I burst out laughing when I saw some seals bouncing on their tummies to 8-bit music in the background. Also, we saw a little kids' song that played for about ten seconds, then it went into an earrape and blended into a meme of a car flying off a cliff and this time, we both laughed.

When the sun started to go down, Ludwig got out a chessboard and we played a couple of games of Chess in his front yard. I did not know how he beat me twice in a row, but I guess he was pretty clever. Soon, it got quite cold, so we went inside, changed into our bed clothes and ate our snacks. I was really enjoying the evening so far because I felt relaxed and quite tired from all that swimming all afternoon. The TV was on, but it was quiet gradually, my exhausted head sunk in the pillows of Ludwig's bed and I fell fast asleep.

After a while, I didn't know if I was dreaming or not, but it seemed so real. I felt Ludwig gently shaking me and whispering my name.

"What?" I croaked.

Hearing my own voice out loud, I knew this wasn't a dream. I gasped and opened my eyes.

"Oh, sorry." I heard Ludwig say. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The soothing room lights and the TV were still on and I was really confused. What was going on? Obviously, I knew where I was, but everything seemed the same before I had fallen asleep.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Ludwig looked at his phone. "10:29 pm," he replied.

Oh my gosh. The last time I looked at my phone, it was 10:23 pm, and within a minute, I had fallen asleep. That meant that I had only been asleep for five minutes. Somehow, even after getting a little bit of sleep, I didn't feel very tired, so I sat up and ate some more of my snacks. After about an hour, I heard heavy breathing beside me. Ludwig was asleep now, so I decided to put the snacks on the floor, put the lights out and go back to sleep. I didn't even know how I managed to do all of that without waking him up. I eventually started to have dreams. Bad dreams.

Mom had come to visit us and we thought that she was finally being nice to us, but little did we know that she was preparing for a fight. It was when we were eating lunch in the living room when she suddenly flipped out and she grabbed me and Wendy by the arms. She gripped us tight, marched us through the dining room and out into the backyard. We screamed for Iggy to help us, but there was nothing he could do. Mom was strong. Next, she smacked Lemmy on the arm and shoved him outside as well and she locked the door. I watched as Iggy and Mom held onto each other, as both of them yelled.

I couldn't stand it. If only there was a way of unlocking the door and stopping the fight. I couldn't even bear to look when I saw Mom beating Iggy up like he was nothing.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I heard him shout.

The next thing I heard was Lemmy and Wendy screaming in terror and I couldn't help but open my eyes. Mom had pulled out a Glock that she had brought over from America and she was about to shoot Iggy with it! A split second before the bang…I woke up in a cold sweat.

AN: Oh. My. Gosh. This has seriously got to be the longest chapter I have ever written in any of my fanfictions so far. Ahhhh! I'm so proud of myself! However, sorry if that last bit reminded you of Painful Revelations, which is weird because this was originally written before that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter :))