The Slide

A reader has informed me that the place I went to was called Twinlakes Park, Melton Mowbray. Having a look at the website, I can remember the place very well.

This article is a part of three so it will all make sense when you read them all. Anyhow the other day I was speaking to Cassie after she read Tweaked for your Pleasure and asked about why every article seems to be about people who are “big scary meanies” and nothing that shows the world can be fun and all that. She then went on saying I could write one about the time I “last felt like a child” and write about that.

Well, she confused me enough to actually think about what she means. Did she mean when last time I felt scared, helpless, afraid or did she mean the last time I was happy, playful or excited about something?

So I thought about those options and decided at the end none of them actually defines what a child is as adults do the same too. So surely she may have meant the last time I was physically a child.

So finally giving in to my curious thoughts, I contacted her over instant messaging about what she meant. After she tried to blackmail in helping her with her science homework, she went on to tell me a story about how I once supervised her primary school class at a massive playground after they visited a zoo. So I went on to tell her how there was a massive slide with all the children afraid to go down. I then went on to say that I remember how was afraid to go down and finally did.

It was that this point Cassie then asked me if I remember why and I could not remember exactly why. Well as Cassie explained, here is a little story (I have filled in the gaps from my memory after this chat).

So many years ago I was apart of the group supervising children at a small play pen area and apart of the rules stated that someone had to be inside with the children. So having taken the task onto myself, I went into the massive play pen.

So to start I was just watching them play but slowly children started throwing little plastic balls at me and another member of staff with a different group. The other person started moaning and saying why children should not be allowed in there, I decided to pick one of the balls and playfully thrown it back.

So after a while and some children asking for an extra number in their groups, I decided to pop in and play. What amazed me though is how many of the other staff kept calling me childish and should grow up but I still remember to this day, why?

I have still yet to work out why that is childish for. I fail to see why having fun is childish compared to something like drinking in a pub getting drunk is how I was “meant” to have fun. With this in mind I kept playing and the children had a really happy time.

Now we skip two hours of the story. In this play pen there was a massive slide. A slide that was basically was vertical. For a rough idea what it looked like, picture below but imagine tons of plastic balls at the bottom.

So one by one the children went up to have a go at what was called the “demon slide” and none of them was able to go down. So Cassie decided to go up and like the others, looked down and worried and came back down. It was quite disappointing to see them upset over it when Cassie came up with a perfect plan.

“Ask Kyle. He is brave enough to go down!”

So Cassie came running over with smiling eyes with her friends and kept telling me how I should go down it. Seeing how upset they was and how they really wanted to go down it but was afraid. So I figured if I went down once and show them it wasn’t scary, they would go down.

So having finally got up there and looked down I suddenly thought

“Shit”

So there I was standing at the top and just like the children, panic took hold of me and the only thing I wanted to do was step back and go down to the safety of the plastic balls. The only difference between me and the children that could not go down was simply our physical sizes.

So having standing there for a few minutes I decided that the slide must be safe and then started to work out the physics which ended up as I would simply curve up half way and slide down safely. With everything I have done, everything I have done without a second thought I was suddenly frozen with fear (having visited the Oblivion and yawning all the way down on it, having held blades, martial arts combat, physical combat and others). After deciding the physics was fine and I would not get hurt, I decided to just step forward and “just let it be”.

So after sliding down to the bottom, all the children was clapping and started running up to the top and slowly started to slide down one by one. However Cassie walked over with tears and told me that she still could not go down and asked.

“Will you slide down with me?”

At this point I figured why not. So having going up with Cassie, we both went down the slide and she ended up very happy and cheerful that she did it (and went down it a few times afterwards).

After we all got back onto the bus, Cassie sat next to me and said.

“So anything fear can be broken by all walking forward?”

Well to this day I never answered her question. As I know she reads Tweaked for your Pleasure and her friends also do, this is your answer.

“Yes”

All you got to do is try to just do it. If you fail, then you just fail.

Well, Cassie’s question still bothers me up to writing this. When was I last a child?

Well if I was to answer that, it is this. It does not matter. I have always done what I have enjoyed and will always do so. If people enjoy drinking in pubs with friends then so be it. If you fancy playing with plastic balls and demon slides then go ahead.

So what do you think she meant about last being a child as honestly, I can not really work out what she means.