A day in the life...
I was awake early one morning and if I hurried I could make breakfast before Michelle and I left for work. Quickly but quietly I hopped into the shower. I didn’t want to wake her, she needed her rest, she was four months pregnant and she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep if I woke her.
“Hot, hot, hot.” I whispered, cringing as I adjusted the water Temperature. I scrubbed, I washed and I rinsed before stumbling out of the shower and blindly snagging a towel.
While brushing my teeth I noticed that Michelle was no longer in bed.
“I must have woken her.” I thought.
I decided to continue getting ready putting my work costume on; which consisted of Denim Overalls, a red flannel long sleeved shirt and a train engineers hat. I’d also grab my leather glove that I’ve had since the day I was found in the park as a boy all those years ago, it would be silly to wear it so I would keep it in my back pocket.
It was a weird glove, it even had a weird symbol on it. The symbol kind of looked like a boomerang. I remember it fitting me all those years ago when I was a child, but for some reason it still fit all these years later. I’ve always found it extremely odd that it still fit especially because now I’m much bigger... six foot two to be exact. I remember thinking to myself “Maybe I stretched it out.” But it still looked as it did twenty-four years ago, only larger. I always kept that glove with me, it was the only thing I had left from my past, and I had a deep inner hunch that it would be the key to unlocking memories from all those years ago.
I didn’t want to lose that glove and it would probably be more fitting to keep it locked away, but I figured it might help trigger a memory from my past, so I took wherever I went anyway.
It was now the end of September, supposedly a storm today, so I grabbed my jacket out of the closet. It had been awhile since I had worn it. I had gained a few pounds but it still fit nice. Like every other morning I took a step back from the mirror to critique my costume. Decent enough I thought, my dark brown reflection peering back at me. The only thing that bothered me as of late was all the grey hair I was beginning to acquire.
“thirty” I thought to myself. “I’m getting old.”
Suddenly a kiss on my cheek. “We’re getting old.” Michelle Playfully replied.
“Yup.” I laughed.
“Don’t take too long.” Said Michelle. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
“That’s my wife." I thought.
I wanted to make her breakfast this morning, but no matter what, she would always find a way to be one step ahead of me. Always taking care of me.
Once breakfast was made we sat together. She made me eggs over easy and scrambled for herself, both with bacon and a large glass of orange juice. I drank mine immediately and before long my glass was empty. Michelle offered me another glass. I insisted on getting it myself, but sweetly she grabbed my glass making her way to the fridge. She always wanted to do things herself, quite stubborn at times, but I understood this because I was just as stubborn and then some, so I would let her try to do most things while she was pregnant at least once and wait until she got frustrated enough to ask me for help, but most of the time she’d try two or three times before sweetly handing over any task.
We talked for a while that morning before she got ready for work. We always did. We enjoyed each other’s company and conversations. Soon it was time for us to head to work. We grabbed our things and headed for the door. Before we left she straightened the Engineers hat on my head. She gave me a kiss telling me she loved me, and I her.
We made it to work with time to spare. Through the employee entrance we parted and went to our separate jobs in different parts of the theme park.
I was about to hop aboard the Locomotive when Dave, one of the mechanics, stopped me.
“Here you go Michael.” Said Dave putting his hand out. Behold in the center of his palm rested a fresh Boysenberry.
“Where did you get this?” I asked in amazed.
“I found it.” He said as he handed it over.
“But where? I thought all the Boysenberry were long gone?”
“They were; I haven’t seen one in the twenty years I’ve been here!”
“Then where did you get it???”
“Come with me.” He said as we walked around the side of the locomotive shop.
There in the most hidden of places grew a tiny vine, creeping its way up the outer side of the shop wall. It was in bloom and had a few small berries growing from it.
“These must be the only Boysenberries left in the park.” Said Dave. “The rest are long gone… Do you know what happened to all the Boysenberries?”
“I’ve heard stories.” I replied. “But they’re all different.”
“Well, a long time ago Mr. Knott had whole vines of boysenberries growing all over the park. But one day they all began die. He had a whole team of landscapers try to save them, but no matter what they did, the berries would wither away. For the longest time, no boysenberry has grown on this property... until now.”
“Why do you think they’ve come back?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Replied Dave. “But I’ve heard stories that they are very special. That this entire theme park never would have existed without them in the first place.”
“Really?” I replied.
“Yes, and there are other rumors too!”
“What kind of rumors?” I asked now intrigued. I loved hearing about Knott’s Berry Farm. Some of the stories go back over ninety years!
“I’ve heard that these berries are some kind of magic.” Dave continued. “A very strange and powerful magic.”
“Magic?” I asked.
“Yes, I remember hearing something about them being linked to another world.”
“Well that’s kind of farfetched.” I replied. “Are you sure you’re not just remembering the story of Jack and the Bean stalk?”
“I’m sure!” Dave snapped. “I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.”
“...I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Yes...” I laughed. “I believe you heard a story and were gullible enough to buy into it.”
“Okay, okay. Maybe I am gullible, but can you explain why the boysenberry vine grows
here all these years later after they had completely vanished from the park?”
“No sir, I can’t, maybe it ‘is’ more magical than we two could imagine?”
“Maybe.” Dave agreed. “And maybe this is just the beginning, maybe the boysenberry will make their way to the rest of the park, just like years ago.”
Dave was a little odd, but he was one of the best Mechanics I knew. He had been working at Knott’s Berry Farm for over twenty years! He had even met the creator of Knott’s Berry Farm, Mr. Walter Knott himself!
I tried to hand the berry back to Dave but he wouldn’t take it saying. “I’m more of a strawberry kind of guy... you keep it.”
I didn’t want to be rude so I kept the berry. I figured I’d save it for later. I wrapped it in a handkerchief that was part of my costume and placed it in my pocket.
The day went by like normal. An announcement went off signaling the opening of the park.
Thousands of people rushed in headed towards their favorite rides.
Me and my fireman Aaron worked the locomotive around the park, the fireman is the other Engineer who keeps the steam boiler on the locomotive hot, so the locomotive has lots of steam pressure to make it move.
Guests loved riding the train, it was western themed and very scenic. Sometimes the guests were lucky enough to get robbed by train bandits. On rare occasions there was even a shootout in Ghost town as the train would arrive back to the Depot, the bandits always put on a good show as they were confronted by the town Marshal after “robbing” the train.
Many people would come asking questions about the train, how old it was and how fast it could go. Young children would come up to the train dressed like train Engineers, telling us they wanted to drive trains someday too. We would always encourage them, trying to make their day, handing out railroad stickers. The job wasn’t easy but it was well worth it when you were able to make some-one’s day.
Soon enough after many trips around the park, the sun began to set. The day had ended and an announcement signaled the end of another fun filled day.
Aaron and I parked the locomotive shutting it down for the night. We began to check the coaches and as we did Aaron found a child’s doll left behind on one of the seats. He had started earlier than I did today, so I volunteered to take it to lost and found at the entrance of the park. I had to pass through ghost town, one of the parks oldest themed areas to get there. There were a few different themed areas other than Ghost Town. There was the boardwalk, wild wilderness, Indian Trails, and fiesta village, but Ghost Town one was by far my favorite because it was “The old west.” I loved the various shops along the way, the calico saloon, a leather shop, the blacksmith. It felt very authentic because most of the buildings in the park were in fact real buildings taken from actual ghost towns.
Once I arrived at lost and found there was a little girl waiting with her dad on a bench. Once she saw me she jumped up.
“There it is!” She said grabbing the doll right out of my hands and hugging it as tight as she could.
It kind of reminded me of myself waiting there for my family all those years ago, but what she was waiting for came back to her.
“Lucky her” I thought to myself shrugging and putting my hands in my pockets as I headed back through ghost town.
As my hands shuffled around in my pockets I noticed the handkerchief that I had placed in there earlier that morning. I figured the Boysenberry inside must be destroyed by now, but once revealed it was in perfect condition. I decided to eat it there and then. It was delicious, couldn’t wait until the vine grew more, Maybe I’d take some for Michelle.