MAGIC CITY
All the lights went out at once. From my tenth floor office. I saw flashlights flare, candles, matches light to make sparkling stars beneath my feet. I did not run. Where would I go? 'Self, don't be a fool. Wait. The situation will be resolved soon.' From above the Empire State Building I could see the full moon still shining its loveliest glow. Tiny moonbeams comforted me. Sounds of running feet, the hall emergency doors opening, closing, made me doubt my choice of staying put. Hesitantly feeling my way, touching my desk, the filing cabinets, I made it to the leather sofa without banging my knees. I sat down, tossed the decorative pillows under my head and made myself as comfortable as possible.
An unexpected brilliant flash of lightning made me shiver, rub my eyes and blink, then blink again. When I focused, I didn't understand where I was. Total blackness surrounded me. Not a moonbeam lit the city. The Empire State Building had been gobbled up into a void. There were no more flashlights, flares. The footsteps outside of my door had ceased.
A stupendous clap of thunder shook me off the sofa. Lightning followed. In the momentary glare stood Disney's Magic Mountain. Giant balloons of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto floated outside my tenth story office. In my fear, astonishment, I could not hold back a smile, a giggle. I did what old ladies say to do, I pinched myself to be sure I was awake. I was. All that happened was I pinched too hard and must have bruised my arm.
Music reached my ears. Children's squeaky voices sang 'It's a Small World.' Visions of taking my daughter on the long ride to see the happy dolls dressed in frills of soft pastel colors took away my chills. I thought again how Peggy Sue begged me to buy her one. I bought her a ten inch high doll from the Disney shop next door. It wore a pale yellow dress with an orange wide silk belt and a matching summer hat. Peggy Sue's kisses lingered on my cheek. I laid very still, remembering again the simplicity, honesty of those kisses.
Lightning, lots of lightning turned out to be fireworks. They exploded and burst into falling stars. I was twelve years old again. A huge red, white and blue flag rippled in the wind. The U.S. Marine Band marched down America Avenue. My arm rose easily as I saluted the vision. Dumbo thumped, clumped behind the Marine Band. Children sat in a large howdah on his back while one child, held securely in his trunk, waved wildly to the other children waiting for their turns.
Jingles tingled in my ears. An unmanned ice cream truck floated near my window. A rubber arm came and tapped on the glass, didn't wait for me to answer and came thru it without the glass shattering. It laid a chocolate fudgcicle and a red striped lollipop on my desk. I could not resist the temptation and walked over to enjoy myself. I licked the popsicle until nothing was left but the stick.
That was the moment the lights came back on. There was no Empire State Building. There was no Broadway, no Fifth Ave., no Central Park.
Those places didn't matter to me. I stayed in the new world I had miraculously found and am living happily ever after.
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