Lights, Camera, Action

I see crowds of people as we get to the top of the escalators. They are queuing up to buy tickets and Mom tells me to hold her hand so I don’t get lost. I hear people talking about the movies they are going to watch and I can feel the excitement welling up inside of me. A mouth-watering smell creeps into my nostrils, and all of a sudden, the only thing I want to eat is popcorn.

I look over to the counter where people are buying snacks and drinks. I can see a lady scooping large amounts of popcorn into a tall rectangular box. At that moment there was really nothing I wanted more in the world.

We eventually got to the front of the queue and Mom pays for our tickets. She gives them to me to hold and tells me not to lose them. I clutch on to the tickets as if my life depends on it and follow Mom to the snacks counter.

There are so many choices that I take too long to make up my mind about what I want, so Mom buys me a combo: A Slush Puppy (I did manage to choose my favourite flavour Strawberry), a box of popcorn and a bright yellow packet of Jelly Tots. I thought I had hit the jackpot.

A very tall friendly man takes the crumpled (and slightly wet) tickets from my hand, tears off a section and gives the tickets back to me. He tells us to go to Cinema 5, Row E10-11. I look confused, so Mom explains that the tickets tell us where we are going to sit inside.

As we walk into the cinema, I see lots of seats sloping down towards an enormous white screen. Mom leads me down the carpeted steps to Row E and we have to squeeze past a couple that is already sitting down.

We take our seats and as I sit down, I can barely see over the seat in front of me. Mom laughs and tells me she’ll be right back. I wait anxiously for her to come back as the couple next to me smiles and assures me everything will be just fine.

Mom comes back with a blue block of something. She tells me to hop off the seat and she puts the block on top of my seat and lifts me up to sit on top of the block. I am surprised that the block is in fact quite soft and now I can see the screen.

As Mom settles down in her seat, the lights switch off and I get such a fright that I let out a tiny scream. Although I don’t like to admit it, I am still a little afraid of the dark. I hear people around me laugh and Mom puts her arm around me and tells me it just means the movie is about to start.

I hear loud music and a picture comes up on the screen. It looks so big and the colours are so bright. It actually seems too loud and at first I cover my ears. After a while I get used to the loudness and put my hands down. I recognise an advert for Cadbury’s chocolate and another for Wimpy (their burgers are my favourite).

Then I see a singing mouse come up on screen and it seems like the movie is starting. I tap Mom on the shoulder and tell her I think we are in the wrong place as we had booked tickets for the Care Bears movie. She tells me that what I am watching is a trailer, a short advert for a new movie that is still coming out.

Satisfied with my Mom’s excellent explanation, I sit back and decide that the next movie I need to watch is “An American Tail”. It goes to show you that trailers work.

The Care Bears movie starts, by which time I have opened my Jelly Tots and thrown them into my popcorn. I am really enjoying the salty-sweet combination. My Slush Puppy is so sweet and I can barely suck the crushed ice through my straw, so I leave it for a while.

I watch the movie and it is better than I could ever have hoped for. I am forever a fan of True Heart Bear who saves the day. The crushed ice has completely melted in my Slush Puppy. I was having such fun that I forgot all about my drink. I still managed to finish my popcorn and Jelly Tots; personally I think it is reflex action when your hand reaches in to your popcorn box to refill your mouth.

That day was the beautiful birth of a movie buff, who to this day loves going to the movies, especially armed with a huge box of popcorn.

Context: A client had to make a choice between me and another writer. They gave us a random topic to write about so they could gauge our writing styles. The topic was going to the movies for the first time. I got the job 🙂