English Elliot Mattiske 7T

Short Story
Cars and lorries rushed along the Sentosa Gateway between Sentosa Island and the mainland of Singapore. A small blue car sped past us with a Malaysian number plate. On the monorail above, a silver carriage roared back to the station on Orchard Rd. Curved lamp posts streaked by the car, creating a blurred green and white pattern. I pressed my face to the window and stared out over the water. To the right, small black cabins moved slowly along the skyway. As I peered out of the car window a huge red ship parked by the wharf was rising and falling gently with the waves. A red crane loomed in front of the car. The bridge ended and we turned into another road that led down into an underground car park. We drove slowly round the car repository, trying to find a park. Steph parked the car hurriedly and got out. Steph was the wife of one of my Dads colleagues. She had an acute sense of humour and always found the bright side of sombre situations. We walked to the long escalators situated in the middle of the vehicle transit station. As we rode up the escalators, excitement bubbled up inside me; we had arrived in the Universal Studios theme park. Sunlight burst its way into the little building that housed the escalators. The sun shone energetically, bringing me a new happiness that the dark, dank car park could never muster. A decorative fountain stood twenty metres away, spreading a watery fog around it. I passed through the water curtain and stood at the fountains edge, admiring the silver and gold coins sparkling from under the glittering water. Steph and Dad walked over to the large ticket booth standing to the left of the entrance to the colourful theme park. I followed Dad and as I went, swung around a full 360, taking in all the sights and colours. A massive toy dog caught my eye. Its lifeless body hung in the back of a stall, its green eyes staring into me. Ginger fur covered its muzzle, ears and tail, highlighting them against its white body. Dad called to me and we said goodbye to Steph, who walked quickly back to the glass house of the escalators.

We walked underneath the giant, blue banner and written across it in big yellow letters were the words; UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. We walked down the street with our noses shoved in front of the map, decoding all the symbols and trying to figure out where to go first. In the end we went to the Madagascar area. A massive lake sat in the middle of the park and next to it was a drinks stand with a life size statue of the hippo from Madagascar standing cheerfully next to it. I posed and Dad took a photo of the statue and I and sent it to Grandma and Grandpa. The first ride we went to was the Madagascar Boat Adventure. We rode in a big boat with five rows of four seats. The line was long and I had to play Brick Breaker on Dads phone for fifteen minutes. Finally we stood at the front of the line, waiting for the next carriage to come round. A yellow and red boat pulled up onto the ramp in front of us, sloshing water towards our feet. The ride was slow but full of humour about the four animal friends in Madagascar. At one point the monkeys tried to pee on us. White flashes went off every few seconds, bathing the props in a bright light. At the end, a curtain of water parted to let us back out. We walked around for a while, checking out the Shrek section. There was a compact roller coaster with a small, fast dragon carriage that swerved unpredictably. Waltzing music blared through speakers and carved stone dragons leered down at me. We went into the grey, brick castle standing in the middle of the area. Tapestries of Shrek and Princess Fiona hung from the high walls. A red carpet led through the castle to a massive room. The lights went out suddenly. A soothing voice played through the loudspeaker and a mask appeared on the screen, jabbering on about not shouting during the clip. We filed into an amphitheatre full of purple seats. After every one had seated themselves the video started playing on a white screen hanging on the far wall. Apparently the movie was supposed to be 4D. Whatever that means. In one part, Shrek held up a big, hairy, purple spider and air blew momentarily on my ankles. Millions of little imaginary spiders scuttling up my legs brought a cold shiver.

After, we went to the Jurassic Park section. In front of me stood two huge, green dinosaurs, one a T-Rex and the other a long-neck. The T-Rexs beady little eyes told me it was very hungry. I took a photo of Dad standing next to the dinosaurs and sent it to Mum. We went through a tall, brown gate which looked exactly like wood except it was steel. We walked to the Jurassic Rapids Adventure and looked at the waiting period. Once again I played Brick Breaker for half an hour, the little, black ball bouncing around the screen smashing bricks. What fun! A yellow donut with blue netting underneath rolled slowly up the ramp and pulled up in front of us. I stepped on board, gingerly holding the handles. When everyone was settled in, we pushed off into the rapids. The donut raced down the river jerkily, bouncing off the rough, light-blue walls of the river. A dark, greenish-blue T-Rex loomed up in front of the donut spewing water into the rapids. Water splashed onto me from the dinosaurs mouth. I looked up as a dark green and black shadow zoomed into my lap. It was made of rough, leathery crocodile skin and I shoved it into my jacket pocket hurriedly before anybody noticed it. My soaked clothes stuck to me in the sluggish heat. I dragged my aching limbs out of the yellow and blue donut. The ride was very jerky and I had twisted my ankle into a position I thought shouldnt be physically possible. I soon dried off in the searing heat. We dawdled around for a while, looking for a ride to go on. The Ancient Egypt area was full of statues of Anubis (god of embalming) and people dressed as other gods, standing on curved stilts. At the far entrance to the Egyptian area stood Bastet, god of the guards of the underworld. To the left a tall, sand coloured building with another statue of Anubis standing in front of it and hieroglyphics all over the walls sat mysteriously, blocking out the sun. I pulled Dad inside and we followed the marked out path, weaving around pillars in a theatre. Statues of more Egyptian gods stood in caverns in the walls. This attraction must be used to long lines, I thought. The path led into a small dark cavern lit only with torches held by small, golden brackets. We walked for five more minutes until we emerged into a hall that led to some old, rickety stairs. At the top was a track with a roller coaster carriage waiting for some passengers. A man in a blue shirt and black track pants with a greying beard led us to the carriage. I climbed in doubtfully. A young couple

hopped into the carriage and it rolled slowly down the track, turning sharply at a corner. I felt a tightening in my gut and knew I wasnt going to like this but then again I could always roll with the punches. I felt for the wallet to make sure it was still there and gripped its rough hide. The first half of the ride was part of the story line for the movie The Mummy. Id never heard of this movie but then again, I didnt know about a lot of movies. Half-way through the ride the carriage pulled into a massive theatre with walls either side of the track. A projection screen hung half-way down the far wall. On it a face made of sand appeared and spoke in a deep, rumbling voice. You will never succeed. Your souls will be mine forever! Decaying mummies appeared frighteningly close on either side, with mouldy bandages and missing jaws. The heat in the room intensified dramatically as fire was lit along the walls either side of the track. We sped down into a small cabin and stopped suddenly in front of another screen. The wall on the screen cracked with a resounding boom and shiny, black scarab beetles poured out followed by high pitched laughter. The carriage zoomed backwards and downwards, tightening the tensing in my gut. We stopped suddenly in a dark round room. Fire sprouted from the ceiling far above. A skeleton in a long black robe appeared in the corner. The figure laughed, Your souls will be mine! The carriage spun one hundred and eighty degrees and zoomed up a hill, through a dark green mist and into the mouth of a giant green skull. It all went downhill from there. We went on the Mummy Roller Coaster a few more times and then decided it was time for lunch. I checked out a middle-eastern diner full of Indian cuisine. I called Dad and he thought the caf was a good idea so we ate there. After I was full of samosas and potato and pea curry, Dad and I looked through the rest of the areas and Dad told me about Steph and her brothers record on the mummy ride nine times. Dad and I beat that record with eleven times on the roller coaster. The crocodile skin wallet was on my mind as we caught the monorail back to Orchard Rd. The drivers licence in the middle pocket read Mohammad Tilleson. Mohammad lived in Melaka in Malaysia, across the border. I had to return the wallet to its owner.

A man in a black shirt and blue denim jeans put his hand in his back pocket. He had just been on the Jurassic park adventure ride with his two little girls who were giggling with joy. His crocodile skin wallet wasnt in the pocket. He checked his other pockets wondering if he had misplaced it. He swore under his breath. His voice had a sharp edge to it. His wife wasnt going to be very happy. A few days later, early in the morning, the doorbell woke him. He opened the door to a young girl about the age of twelve. Excuse me. Are you Mohammad Tilleson? Yes, why? Do you own a crocodile skin wallet? She pulled a wallet out of her jacket pocket and put it in his hands. The girl walked down the steps of the house and out onto the street. He called after her, Hey! Thanks. She waved and smiled cheerfully. He watched her walk down the street, turn the corner and disappear from view.