The Great Escape Part 4

I decided to at least try to finish this memoir. I'll be alternating between the two, don't get too confused.

Part 4: Splashed and Sprayed
My uncle and I made our way to the entrance of Splashwater Kingdom, the water park section of The Great Escape. Just outside the entrance were lockers we could rent to store our things. To rent one, you went to a little kiosk, paid your fee and received a key. There are also lockers inside the Splashwater kingdom.. Uncle Russell rented us a little locker just outside the entrance and we met up with my aunts, cousins and sister inside the Splashwater Kingdom. Then we briefly split up in order to change.

My bathing suit was an aqua and yellow plaid one piece, which I had liked very much for it's colors and comfort. It was prettier than the other swimsuits I owned that year, including a hot pink glittery number, and a ruffled floral abortion. These two had been given to me by the mother of a friend.. I pulled my suit on, then let my aunt coat me in sunscreen.
At the age of ten, I had already started puberty, and when I wore my bathing suit there was no denying it's presence. My hips had begun to widen and my breasts had budded. I was physically maturing, the next year I would get my first period.

While my body was maturing, my emotions still had some catching up to do. Like I mentioned earlier, I was an immature 10 year old, and because of this I found myself in Noah's Sprayground.
Noah's Sprayground is a a water play ground with a Noah's Ark theme. It's got the ark, animal themed water slides, sprinklers and even some monkey shaped swings, all set in a foot of water or less. It's generally for babies, toddlers and small kids, but I went in anyway, eager to get wet. My presence was ignored by other bathers, though I was yelled at by a lifeguard for some minor discretion. I've only visited this attraction twice. This time, and in the summer of 2000. The last time I went in, some little brat kicked me in the shins, and declared that I was too big to be there, which I found to be a testament to his parents' disciplinary skills. Whoever, and wherever this brat is today, I hope he has AIDS; ill-mannered children are the bane of our society.

Eventually I wandered away from the aquatic playland, and grabbed a hot pink inner tube from a pile, not sure where to go. It seems I had forgotten about my family. It was then, that my sister retrieved me and told me to come with her.
We were going to ride Captain Hook's River Adventure. It's one of those lazy river rides where you lay in an inner tube and float down a chlorinated man-made river. Every so often you're drenched with sprays and torrents of water, coming from fountains and anywhere else a pipe can be placed. It's one of my favorites at the Great Escape, possibly because I went on it the first time I visited the park.

The water in the 'river' was about two or feet deep, which was a relief to me, seeing as I have always had a fear of drowning. But even though the water was shallow, I still had an irrational fear that I was somehow going to slip through the inner tube and drown anyway. I also felt uneasy trying to get into the inner tube, as I always do. Those things slip and slide out from under me, when ever I try to get in one. I'm sure there's a trick to getting in them, but I haven't figured it out. Because I was having so much trouble, my aunt held the inner tube steady while I climbed on. It was a bright blue and yellow ring of vinyl joy, slick with water droplets. Once I was securely on the tube, my aunt let go.

I bobbed down the river gently, gripping the handles of the inner tube, rocked by little waves. I began to drift underneath a bridge, on which park guests walked from attraction to attraction. It was dark under there, and from the bridge, a waterfall poured. I hoped that I would get sprayed, but I did not. My disappointment did not last long, because eventually, I would end up under a giant pipe spouting water, which poured what felt like gallons of water. Getting splashed and sprayed didn't turn out to be very fun. Even to this day, I always find myself hunched over and screaming when I end up under one of the fountains.
We went around the aquatic course twice. During the second trip through my Aunt slipped through the inner tube (just as I had feared doing) and grievously hurt her shoulder. We had to leave Splashwater Kingdom so my she could go to the park's infirmary. My foray into the water park was over. Where would I go next?