The next day, we’d head home; back to our regular lives. If anything, our bonds would be stronger now for everything we’d experienced and shared. We’d done the impossible. Could you blame us for feeling unbreakable?
Then we got on the train.
Mike tried to sit next to Emily, but she clung to Jack. Cassie hung on to me, but she got shoved aside by Allison. We tried to recombine again — Emily with Jack and Mike with Cassie — but Jack crossed to the other side of the car and pointedly sat by himself. Instead of coupling together, we ricocheted apart.
Our group, to this point, had fit together like we were shaped that way. But abruptly we found ourselves jumbled. Like pieces from six separate puzzles all trying to fit together and form a picture that couldn’t exist.
I assumed it was a momentary set back. A strange, awkward eddy in an otherwise easy flow. But when we got to the Magic Kingdom, it only got worse.
The morning energy should have felt infectious. Despite the fact that we’d been in that very place only a few hours before for the Halloween party, the park felt fresh and new. Crowds streamed through the gates, mostly families with small kids. Happy, oompah music welcomed us inside. The sweet, salty smell of fresh popcorn and baked goods filled the air. So why did everything seem so sour?
As we went down Main Street, the six of us engaged in something that looked more like a shoving match than a morning stroll. Cutting each other off, grumbling and grousing. We were as rambunctious as a group of middle school-aged boys.
“Can you walk normally, please?” Allison asked after Cassie nudged the tall blonde off the sidewalk.
“Can you?!” Cassie snapped back.
I noticed that Mike and Jack were similarly jostling, although in a much quieter way. Well, Mike was pushing for Emily, but my wife was homing in on Jack. Kind of different, though much the same.
But if being together was hard, separating was almost impossible. Once we got to the front of Cinderella Castle, that iconic spot, we bickered endlessly about where we were going to go first.
“We should head to Pirates,” Allison said, confidently, “That part of the park is always emptiest in the morning.”
“You go do that,” Cassie said, “I want to go do Peter Pan with Paul. We didn’t get the chance to do that one last night.”
“I was hoping to do Space Mountain,” Mike said, “I’d love to go on that with you, Em.”
“You know I can’t handle rollercoasters,” Emily said.
“Well, what about Buzz Lightyear,” Mike said, unfazed, “You’d love it, it’s like a video game.”
“I just want a coffee,” Jack said.
“I’d like to get one too,” Emily said.
“OK, so do we have a plan?” Cassie asked.
“NO!” Everyone yelled. Jack buried his head in his hand, like existence, itself, was too painful to bear.
At least our scramble on the train had been quiet. Now that we were outright shouting in public, it was really embarrassing. I felt like everyone who walked by was staring. The heat of their glares burned worse than the Florida sun.
All this time, so much had happened. Yet, we’d managed to mostly avoid arguing. It felt new, and not at all in the fun way everything else was so far. And it kept escalating.
Mike would suggest something to Emily, but my wife would look to Jack who would simply shrug. So, Mike would ask Cassie, instead, but she was too busy fighting with Allison. And so round and round we went.
That’s when Allison made her pronouncement. “This is a disaster,” she said, “Seriously, I just want to have a nice day in Disney.” She shifted towards me, making her meaning clear.
“We all do,” Cassie said, moving next to me on the other side. The two blondes glared, like they couldn’t believe the other had the audacity to agree. “So, Paul and I can have our day and the rest of you can do whatever.”
“You’re not his wife,” Allison said with a snarl.
“Neither are you!” Cassie retorted.
You might think it would be fun to have two gorgeous women fighting over me. To be the center of so much attractive attention. It was not. This was mortifying, and I wanted it to end.
“Enough!” I roared.
All five of them stopped and turned to look at me, like frightened puppies. I’m pretty sure a few people around us stared, as well. Everyone, even Jack, seemed startled by my shout. Their eyes wide in shock and worry. Clearly, if I was ready to be loud, then it was time to listen. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a follow-up.
“This needs to stop,” I said. I heard my father’s voice pass through my lips. Like we were naughty kids on a road trip.
“Paul’s right,” Cassie said. She reached out, but instead of taking my hand, she grabbed Allison’s. With her free hand, Cassie took Emily’s, as well. She started pulling them back down Main Street, the way we’d come. Mike, Jack, and I followed, like we were leashed to them. Though we didn’t hold hands.
“Where are we going?” Emily asked. Her voice, small.
“Home,” Cassie said, with a frightening finality.