Park of Gaia

A young couple walked through and had their mandatory photo taken by a series of green drones covered in living vines and flowers which were designed in the shape of bees and other pollen harvesting insects.

‘Nishi, we need to go again. I want to go again!’ said the young woman.

She was in her early twenties but looked far younger and was thin with short-cut black hair and light brown eyes.

The young man stopped his posing for a moment and put his arm around the young woman pulling her in tight for a final photo as the insect-style drone swarm pulled together into the image of a smiling face.

‘Uh...Cosette. We waited for a long time in the queue to even come here. I don’t think it’s a good idea that we take more than our allocated opportunity. I mean, we can just order the photos as soon as we actually enter the park. Besides, we literally just went through the entrance. We haven’t even seen anything yet. Or are you just looking for more credit from your professors for business opportunity loopholes involving a bunch of bee drones who take selfies for you?’ said Nishi.

‘I don’t like those costumes, they’re too real. Did you hear the rumours about how they have to sleep and even go to the bathroom in them?’

The young man was holding on tight to the arm of the girl next to him as they passed through the front gates of the Park of Gaia.

A staff employee appeared walking up to them in the form of a cute looking giant cactus complete with bright pink flowers.

‘Heya! Welcome to the Park of Gaia!’

‘Look! Let’s take a photo with Cathy Cactus. She’s so cute!’ said Cosette.

The amusement park employee whose face and body aside from legs was completely hidden beneath the giant bright pink cactus simply moved towards them and stood in a posing posture ready for photos.

As the young couple moved forward for a further photo opportunity as a nearby cute insect style drone hovered above their heads when the pink cactus shifted slightly and one of the spikes poked the hand of the young man drawing a drop of blood.

He reeled back slightly and raised his voice.

‘That hurt! Why did you just poke me?’ said Nishi.

‘What? Quit making such a fuss, look the spines may look all pointy and sharp but Cathy Cactus is all fun and safe. Check it out.’

She reached out her hand as the young man shuddered slightly but his face soon dropped in mild surprise as she grabbed a handful of the spines and clutched them in a closed hand. They bounced and released as she opened her palm and pushed against them a few times.

‘Sorry Cathy, my boyfriend worries too much about spiky things. Can we please touch your spines? You are so cute! So, so, cute!’

The pink cactus dressed employee simply nodded forward and then jumped into another pose for a photo. If the young man had excellent hearing and vision, he would have noticed the tiny slurping noise that the spine that had drawn a drop of his blood had made and how a patch of Cathy Cactus pink costume deepened in colour slightly.

The young couple took the photo with the pink park employee before they decided to move on with their trip at the park.

‘See you, Cathy! Thanks for the chance for a photo!’

The park employee Cathy Cactus simply nodded her form in a friendly manner before moving onto the next batch of park tourists who were entering the gate of the Park of Gaia.

The young woman nudged her boyfriend who was scratching at his hand.

‘You got bit by a mosquito or something? Quit scratching. I grabbed Cathy’s spines and they were all bouncy.’ said Cosette.

Nishi simply nodded his head, backpack shaking behind him.

‘Yeah, I got kinda worked up about nothing. Say, what ride do you want to go on first?’

‘Oooh, how about the Yggdrasil? If we get there early enough the queues won’t be too long. I heard that it reached the clouds and you drop all the way down to the ground. You can even see it from space!’‘Yeah, that’s got to be a myth. I mean the Park of Gaia is big and all but still. Kinda sounds like the one where the founders of this place are all buried under the rides.'

’Uh, ew. This is meant to be a fun date, not one of your creepy stories. I’m not your audience for your stories right now. You want to work on them you can go home right now and take your own time.'

Nishi hesitated for a moment before he reached out, took both of Cosette's hands in his own and gave her a kiss on her cheek

.‘I’m sorry. We’re here together right now. Hey, can you see that the show is beginning? I am not missing the opening. No way. Let’s go!’He grabbed the young woman's hands before rushing forwards to a massive square surrounded by four different biome types where a crowd was beginning to gather in anticipation.