well, slide tower and tipping bucket play structure.’
Nancy stared at him, her mouth gaping.
‘It takes 1.2 million gallons to fill initially with a daily top off of 3871 gallons giving it a consumption ratio of 0.32 per cent.’ He looked up at Nancy. ‘How cool does that sound?’ His little face was beaming, he was in his element. Statistics, information and structures – he loved it.
‘Wow, Jack, you’re like a fountain of information about the waterpark.’ Harriet laughed and poured some wine.
‘Mum, it says here that the water park is open approximately 100 days per season with an average attendance of 1650 per day – that’s a lot of people.’
‘It is a lot of people,’ she agreed, unsure of how to play this conversation.
‘But actually, if it is 63,000 square metres, it might not be very crowded. People might not bump into me.’ He was talking to himself more than anyone else. He then gasped. ‘Mum, look.’ He showed her the tablet and it was a picture of the waterpark as a whole. It looked incredible. Splashes of vibrant colours snaked over the screen as the slides and water chutes intertwined. Some high, some low. Rainbow tunnels, various shaped pools, log flume and a beach scene. It looked like a child’s dream. She looked at Jack.
‘Wow, sweetie, isn’t it great?’ she tested.
‘Mum, look at the shape that one makes. It’s got right angles and obtuse. That one there looks about 110 degrees.’ He looked up. ‘I want to go.’
‘Really?’ She almost gasped the word.
‘Yeah, but I don’t want to go in the water, I just want to see the shapes.’
‘That’s fine sweetheart.’ Nancy looked to Harriet and raised her eyebrows as Jack resumed his research. She was starting to realise that with Jack, it was all about how you approached things.
The waterpark was a hub of noise, colour and water everywhere. All the things Jack usually hated. Instantly Nancy regretted bringing him here as he hung off her arm, hands grasping onto her as a safety blanket. But she hadn’t forced him; he had told her he wanted to come, she reassured herself. She had tried her best this morning to prepare him for the type of establishment this was. But there was only so much she could say because she didn’t want to frighten him unnecessarily or make him feel worried. They had looked through his Calm Cards, at the building ones and he had spoken about what shapes and styles of structure he might see here today – but nothing could prepare him for the real thing.
‘Mum, too noisy,’ he squeaked. She could see he was trying really hard, but it was a little too much for his ears.
She pulled the headphones out of her bag and placed them over his ears. ‘Better?’ She gave him a thumbs up as she asked and he nodded.
‘Best purchase you’ve ever made, those, hey?’ Harriet asked, nodding at the green headphones.
Last night Harriet had apologised for being snappy with Nancy and the pair had agreed to let it go over a few pina coladas. Nancy still wanted to approach the work issue with Hari but only when things were relaxed again, she wasn’t pushing it. They still had a few more days to get through yet so she didn’t want to cause any friction. ‘Tell me about it. These ones are great; they’re like those ear defenders. I think he likes the feel of the pressure on his ears.’
‘Absolute godsend. Bless him. Isla! Careful honey, we aren’t ready to go in yet. Let’s find somewhere to put our stuff first.’
Nancy scanned the vicinity, looking for somewhere for her and Jack to sit whilst the others explored the waterpark. The sunshine was beating down brightly over the pool and today was incredibly hot. Nancy loved the heat, but she knew Jack wasn’t happy when he got too hot so she had to make sure she had lots of ideas in place to keep him cool. Firstly, she needed to find somewhere with some shade so he wasn’t in direct sunlight. As she looked, she came across an area which had a group of loungers and a small pool just for paddling. ‘Hari look, perfect! Jack can dangle his legs in there.’
‘Quick, grab it before someone else does.’
‘I’m not running,’ Nancy said, but it was too late, Harriet had bounced off, sprinting towards the loungers, her long legs stretching as her bright red kimono flapped around her hips.
A whistle sounded and Nancy glanced at the lifeguard who was staring at Harriet who had also turned round. He didn’t look happy and was standing up, pointing at Harriet. ‘No running!’ he called at her and Nancy burst out laughing.
‘Haha, Mummy just got told off by the lifeguard’, Nancy said to Isla who was staring wide-eyed at her. ‘It’s OK, she’s not in trouble,’ she added, as she saw the worry in her eyes.
‘Sorry!’ Harriet shouted as she raised a hand and then casually – but quickly – walked to the spot she was trying to save.
When Nancy reached her friend, she laughed. ‘Did someone get their wrists slapped?’ She put down her bag and grabbed a lounger, kicking off her flip flops so she could feel the cold tiles beneath her toes.
‘Still got the seats though, didn’t I?’ Harriet retorted, adjusting her floppy cream hat which would look stupid on Nancy, but Harriet totally pulled off.
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