The Wonderground

19 - Bouncy Land

Warm sunlight sliced into the carriage as the curtains parted. Charlie shielded his eyes and looked out at the Bouncy Land platform. The station was above ground and the platform opened out into a wide square plaza. There were people everywhere, standing and shuffling in lines that criss-crossed through the open space. The crowd were bobbing up and down slowly in undulating waves as they waited patiently. Each one held their shoes, boots and sandals hugged tightly against their chests. Entrance to Bouncy Land was through a three-storey structure fronted with an enormous chalk-white painted face of a clown. Its 'mouth' yawned open, and the front of the queue disappeared between the lips and beneath a set of discoloured, jagged teeth as if it were being eaten. The clown 'gulped' noisily every time the line of people moved forwards.

The carriage doors opened but the brass steps remained folded. The platform surface extended in wide, arching ridges and was decorated with green and yellow diagonal stripes. It seemed they were expected to jump.

"Great choice, McIlroy," commented Jack as he shook off his white trainers without undoing the laces and jumped from the carriage edge onto the platform. He landed with a soft 'plop' and was catapulted forward by the spongy platform. He ended up flat on his face and wobbled to his feet, giggling.

"This day gets weirder and weirder," remarked Rose with a smile of anticipation as she slipped her feet from her Converse and tied them around her neck. She spun the peak of her Nationals cap and jumped. As she bounced next to Jack, he lost his balance again and fell at her feet. He grabbed her left ankle and pulled her to the ground. They lay on their backs laughing.

Jack and Rose's bodies jerked as the others dropped from the train, causing the platform to heave and swell underneath them. They stumbled and staggered across the rippling surface in the direction of the queue. It was exhausting trying to make progress across the surging stripey landscape. By the time they reached the back of the line they were breathing heavily, and their calves were on fire.

"We don't even know what we're queueing for!" pointed out Elliot exasperatedly.

"How very British," smirked Rose.

Directly in front of them in the queue was a bald man reading out loud from a well-thumbed Bouncy Land guidebook to his seven children, all girls, all bored and ignoring their father. The dad was explaining how the entire theme park was inflatable. "The shoe storage facility alone is a site to behold!" he gushed. "New for this year are the 'Expanding Forest', 'Cushion Castle' and the 'Blow-up Barnyard'".

After ten minutes of waiting patiently, the clown swallowed loudly as the family of eight vanished. They were now at the front of the queue and standing beneath the clown's buck teeth. Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they spied a small glass ticket booth the size of a toilet cubicle. The glass was condensated. A woman was jammed inside the tiny space. She wore a rainbow-striped curly wig with a chin strap, a dented squashy orange nose and a thunderous scowl. Her red and yellow striped bellboy uniform was creased and grubby. Two large sweat patches were spreading outwards from her armpits. A large syrupy brown stain, possibly barbecue sauce or Marmite, partly obscured her name badge which read: 'DURGA – HERE.....HEL...'

"Next!" she bellowed in a deep, booming voice in their general direction without looking up. She was reading a small tatty book, titled 'Arrows from the Dark', and was munching on a baguette the size of a cricket bat.

Isla pushed Charlie towards the booth. He cleared his throat. The woman did not look up. Charlie coughed again.

"Good morning, madam," he said politely.

"It is the afternoon," she corrected him, spitting crumbs of bread that stuck to the glass and slithered down the inside of the booth like doughy raindrops. She waggled the baguette at a clock mounted behind her head.