Alice
looked at the Dreamworld Holidays website then back at her bank balance. There
was plenty in the current account and her savings had grown steadily. Since
Grandma had left her the money, she had hardly touched it. During the crisis it
had been difficult to spend anything.
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| Archaos Cirque Revolutionnaire 1988 |
For nearly
two years she’d bought almost no clothes. That had been a big saving. When you
were on Zoom all day it really didn’t matter if you wore old leggings and flip
flops. You could change the tops around and make them look different with a
piece of jewellery or a scarf. Scarves were easier to come by than clothes that
fitted. Once they’d closed all the shops you couldn’t try anything on, so it
was best to get “one size fits all” and alter it when it was delivered.
Then
back to work for one day every other week - mainly to be checked by the medics
and psychologists. After a while, you learned not to say much and not make too
much of anything. If you drew attention to yourself you could end up being
redeployed on vegetable or fruit picking. But anyway, it was quite good to see
the others from work even if you had to wave across from the other side of the
room. The biggest surprise was finding out who dyed their hair and what colour
it would have been originally.
Getting
your hair done was almost impossible. The official appointments were every few
months and you had to make sure you didn’t miss one otherwise you had to wait for
ages. Of course, if you saw someone with styled hair you knew they’d earned
extra vouchers. Either that, or they had some job as an announcer on the
Information Channel.
Then
they announced holidays were allowed. Everyone got excited and Twitter went
wild with old photos of Marbella and Ibiza. But then they said no holidays
outside your own region. For Alice that meant the North-East and that meant you
could really only go to different coastal towns - the cities were out of bounds.
You were
allowed to go twice a year and for a while Alice really enjoyed herself. You
didn’t have to pay too much and the holiday was completely organised for you –
every detail. The coach would pick you up to take you there and of course you
never had to sit next to anyone. You weren’t allowed to bring any luggage - it
was all provided when you got to the hotel. One of the best things was that you
got to know a new set of people – the wall screens came on when your meal was
served and you could talk to the others on the same holiday.
The
best trip was Scarborough although the guided tour round the amusement arcade
was a disappointment. You couldn’t put the money in the slot yourself and you
had to give it to your holiday assistant. Alice’s favourite was the machine
where you tried to grab the soft toy by lowering the little crane. Roger,
Alice’s helper, was quite good at it although he didn’t always act quickly
enough when she said “up”, “down”, “left” or “right”. Anyway, after several
tries, she did win a pink and white toy elephant which they brought to her at
the hotel after it had been disinfected.
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| Archaos Cirque Revolutionnaire 1988 |
The
worst trip was to Robin Hoods Bay. Alice had hoped to go to Whitby – the
Dracula Special. She’d heard that you could book a visit to Dracula’s lair to
see his coffin open up and then take part in a prize draw to win a genuine jet-stone
bracelet. But Whitby was fully booked and they could only give her the Smuggler
Experience in Robin Hoods Bay. When it turned out that the highlight was a boat
trip along the coast to look at caves with an actor dressed in a tricorne hat –
she wished she was at home with a takeaway and TV.
But
now they had announced that provided you had the funds to pay, you could book a
holiday abroad. It was more expensive than anything she’d been on before and
there was lots of small print to read through before you were allowed to book.
Most of it was to make sure you didn’t take out a court case against the
holiday company if you weren’t satisfied afterwards.
Then
there was an online questionnaire to fill in. They asked you questions about
your age, height and weight; then the usual health questions - the number of
vaccinations you’d had, how many times you’d had the virus and how much time
you had spent in hospital. If you got below a certain number of points you were
in.
The
choice of holiday destination was quite small though and they were all in
Europe. There was Paris, Budapest, Lisbon, Berlin and Vienna. Budapest, Lisbon
and Berlin all sounded a bit too foreign but Paris and Vienna sounded good. In Paris
you could visit a fashion house and choose an outfit then later go to the
Moulin Rouge.
But
Vienna had everything. As soon as you arrived you were given coffee with
chocolates, then there was trip down the Danube, followed by a meal of Wiener
Schnitzel and apple strudel with cream to finish. Best of all, whatever time of
year you went, they would put on the New Year’s Day concert at the State Opera
House for you. Alice couldn’t wait – she particularly wanted to watch the performing
horses of the Spanish Riding School.
Alice pressed
the button for “Book Now” and “Premium Package” then after a few seconds the
message on the screen said “Your holiday has been confirmed for Thursday 4th June.
Departure time 11 am. Your journey prep package will be delivered 4 days
beforehand. Check in at our Milton Keynes travel bureau by 9am. Enjoy your
trip!”
A
courier delivered the prep package early on 31st May. Inside was a wristband and large
box. After Alice had strapped on the wristband and activated it, the box
clicked and opened. Inside were the prep tablets with instructions, the sound
player and headphones and the departure lounge footwear and clothing. For the
next four days Alice took the tablets each night, turned on the sound player
and put on the headphones before going to sleep.
Well
before 9am on the 4th June Alice walked into the travel bureau in
Milton Keynes. She was given boarding pass number 38, directed to one of the
cubicles and changed into her plastic crocs and light blue departure gown. When
she went to her allotted place in the departure lounge, she looked around in
excitement. Although they were quite a distance from her, the other 50 or so
people looked quite good fun.
When
the staff called your number for boarding, you stood in front of an automatic
door made of frosted glass and held up your wristband. Then the door opened
there were two people there to greet you. They then led you to your own pod.
There you had to strip naked so that they could fit the body suit and the head
set before you lay down in the module. As soon as the lid was put down, the
journey began.
A week
later Alice was home. She let herself back into her flat, turned on the lights
and her computer. It had been a brilliant holiday with no hitches except for
the last couple of hours delay at the airport coming back. By that time Alice
and her new gang of friends were so pleased to spend the extra time together
that they hardly noticed. After all it gave them extra time to shop in the Duty
Free. Alice had got chocolates for her mum, and a baseball cap for her little
brother with “Vienna Rocks” written on it.
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| Archaos Cirque Revolutionnaire 1988 |
Alice
opened up her page on Face Book. According to the notifications she had 22 new
friend requests, 10 new messages and 45 updates. Two of the messages were from
her mum and little brother. Their presents had obviously arrived already. She
started going through the updates – most of them were “Likes” or “Loves” people
had put on her new photos from the holiday. The picture of her stroking the horse’s
neck was the most popular. The video of the boat trip down the Danube at night
got plenty of “likes”. Then later that night the shot of her lying down along
the laps of four of the lads had a comment from one of her oldest friends “greedy
girl” with a shock-face emoji.
Alice
sat back. Yes, it had been a brilliant holiday. Everything she would have
expected. Maybe she would go to Paris
next year if she could afford it.
