(no subject)
I woke up a little late the next day. I was comfortable and tired from all the walking I did, and Grandma and I woke up and we ordered some breakfast. I looked at the pamphlets that I'd gotten the night before and looked through them, interested. Ruby Falls seemed interesting, and so did the Incline Railway, but my eyes were drawn to Rock City. I decided that after I ate, I'd go to Rock City.
We had some breakfast, and Grandma told me to take her credit card. So I did, and I got a cab. I only had my phone and wallet with me, since taking my purse with me didn't seem necessary. I waited and finally the cab arrived. I got in and I was a little nervous, but excited. It was my first time alone in a cab, so that was cool.
It took about ten minutes to get there. I was feeling a little guilty that I didn't have enough money to pay with my cash. If I had, I would have, but I didn't.
The road to Rock City was winding and it was hard to see where it would go - trees often blocked the curve from view. The cab driver and I were talking about winters, and how the road was when it was winter in Michigan and Tennessee.
Eventually we got there, and from where we parked it didn't seem like much. I was a little worried, but I was there now.
I got into the line for the tickets, and I paid the cash. I got a map, and I looked at it. It was apparently three fourths of a mile, and had stairs and dips and such. I walked through the little gift shop, and I started on my way.
It was a bright, clear day, and I walked through the Grand Corridor. A path through two large, looming rocks. I was amazed. It was, to be simple, beautiful. And ancient. You could feel the age of the place as you walked through, and I wondered who else had walked through.
The next place on the map was called 'Needle's eye' and it was a narrow, long corridor. I didn't have to turn to my side, I don't think, but it was a tight fit. It was dark and damp and cold.
There were little gnome statues littered about, doing various things. One little area I had to walk through had a small gnome village with the gnomes doing different things. It was pretty cute. There was a little tunnel, short in height and length, called 'gnome's underpass' and I had to bend over a little, I think. Maybe I didn't. I'm not sure.
There was one place called the Rainbow Tunnel, and it was a small tunnel with windows in one side. The windows were different colors, and it cast a rainbow on the other wall. The tunnel ended with a view of a waterfall on the side of a cliff called 'Lover's Leap'. They said that at that one spot, you could see seven states.
It was just... amazing. Mountains and trees. In the distance I saw dark mountains looming, and I wondered a little bit which mountains they were. Appalachian? Rocky? I knew Chattanooga was at the end of the Appalachian mountains.
I paid a quarter and I looked through the telescope to get a better view. I saw a corn maze and houses and cars. I really couldn't believe it. How beautiful it was.
After that there was, I believe, Fat Man's Squeeze. (I am trying to remember how this all happened, but I think I should just write the things that left an impression on me.)
Fat Man's Squeeze is aptly named. I was suddenly glad that I hadn't brought grandma along - the stairs were bad enough, and the rocks were slick and a little slippery. Fat Man's Squeeze was the turning point. Even the people in front of me turned to their sides and walked sideways. I took a deep breath, let it go, and began my way through.
There is a manga, online, called the Mystery of Enigma Fault. I think that's the name. Enigma might not be right, but if you typed it in, it would get you close. The manga hit people hard with claustrophobia and body horror issues. I kept thinking about it as I walked through it, rock inches from my nose and coldness all around me. I felt nervous, and when I got to the other side I was instantly relieved. I stopped and looked at the sun and took a deep breath.
I kept walking. There was the one thousand ton balancing rock, and there was the Hall of the Mountain King. It looked like something old, ancient. In certain spots where the light hit, it would look like there were faces.
In one of the spots, there was a fountain with water. I looked at it and I wasn't sure if it was a wishing fountain, but there were coins there, and it just seemed right.
So I took a coin out of my pocket, a quarter. It seemed like I needed to wish on something with weight, to give me a better shot at it coming true. In that place, it felt like maybe, just maybe, my wish would come true.
I took it.
I wished.
I tossed it into the water.
I continued on.
I reached Fairyland Caverns, which I had seen on the pamphlet. It was outlined by a wooden arch, and when I went inside I was surrounded by coral and glimmering stone. I carefully went down the stairs, and I looked at the statues.
The smaller gnomes were cute. They glowed with blacklights, and I found myself faced with a rather creepy realization.
Glow in the dark paint hadn't existed when these things had been made. These statues must have been painted with radio active paint. I shivered a little bit. I knew, then, that this place would be put into the National Novel Writing Month book I'm going to do. This place will have some importance.
An underground pond. Hansel and Gretel, and it was one of the spookiest ones I've ever seen. I saw the old woman who lived in a shoe, the man who slept for years (I can't think of the name!), Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Cinderella... I shivered a little bit. No. More than a little bit.
Then it came to the giant climax of the fairyland caverns. In a dark auditorium, lit only by the glowing light of the figures and mountain of fairyland, was the crowning achievement. The three little pigs. Miss Muffet. It stood tall, taller than me, and a glowing castle stood atop a hill. There was a little, gray (or teal? Or deep green?) river flowing through it, and it flowed into a small cave with a little green dragon sitting there patiently.
It felt like if I turned away, the statues might move. They might blink or turn to look at me, they might get up from where they were sitting. They didn't even look right, look like they would be alive if that was possible. But still, I thought that if I wasn't careful, if I let my guard down, I would discover that they had tried to follow me out.
There was a little gnome carnival, which, I will admit, did look cute. My thoughts on how remarkably normal it looked, compared to the last place, was wiped away when I saw 'rub a dub dub, three men in a tub.' The man staring out at you, the candlestick maker, had a look of sorrow and fear on his face. The butcher and the baker refused to look at each other, and their eyes were shut tightly. The look of men that had realized too late that what they were doing was a very, very bad idea.
I felt cold, and I left the cave. I looked around in the sunlight, blinking, and realized that I was back outside. I went into the gift shop, got a souvenir, and continued on. The day was cold, and I called up the cab. I got a coffee at the starbucks near there, and then I got into the cab. I got back to the hotel in time, and I was tired. I told Grandma about the trip, about Rock City and how amazing it was. I was exhausted, however, so I ended up sleeping for about an hour.
A lady came into the hotel room (a maid) and I gave a tired half wave. She called me baby and told me to have a nice day.
I got a snack from the little area near the desk, and I had it before we left to the airport. I ate it and then we were off.
The airport was, again, tiny. Grandma was flirting with the guy that was pushing her wheelchair, and the TSA were really polite. We got to our gate and we had to wait a few hours, so I read a little bit. I was enjoying the book.
It turned out that the plane we were leaving on was going to be late. I got a snack and we waited, and it turned out another plane was hit by birds. So that flight was cancelled, people had to stay there another night.
Eventually we got on the plane. It was a small plane, and the ride was a little bumpy. I was a little nervous, okay, a lot nervous. Hearing about another plane hitting birds will do that to you.
And the landing. Oh, god, the landing. I have never had a plane landing shake me that much before.
We went through the airport and we passed by the hotel there. I didn't know that it had a hotel like that before, and now this is going to help my NaNo story. It took us a bit to get through the airport, since it was a long walk, but we got to the spot where Grandma and Uncle Kenny were going to pick us up.
When Uncle Kenny was near his house, we dropped him off, and we all went to have dinner at Nick and Nino's. We talked a lot, and I'm probably going to go to an allergist at last. Maybe it'll help my nose.
We went home, and oh, man. I was tired, but it was a good tired, and I had stories. I had ideas. It was a great vacation.