It was late night when Anna escaped from her house climbing out the window. Anna first reached the village square and later she went to the edge of the forest.
There, a large stage coach was waiting, literally packed to the brim with girls ranging from ages 7-14. There appeared to be a dozen donkeys hitched to the coach to pull it, though it was hard to tell in the dark. The Coachman checked his pocket watch and was clearly impatient as Anna casually strolled up.
“Hurry up, Anna!” shouted the old Coachman. “It’s near midnight, we were about to leave without the likes of you!Come aboard the box, there is room for one more up here…”
Anna leapt cleanly up onto the stage coach bench up front.
“Alright little ladies, away we go!” exclaimed the Coachman. He cracked his whip and the donkeys took off.
As Anna settled back in her seat, a girl one year younger than Anna spoke to her.
“My name’s Laura, what’s yours?”
“Anna, nice to meet you.”
Anna and Laura’s conversation drowned out and merged with all the excited conversations from the other girls.
The Coachman was sat there cracking his whip, a sly and slightly sinister smirk on his face as the ruckus went on around him. As the coach traveled through the darkened countryside, the donkeys solemnly brayed, very low and quiet at first. As they neared the ocean’s shore, the brays became louder and louder.
The girls piled off the stagecoach onto an awaiting ferry. The Coachman pulled the stagecoach up onto the ferry and dismounted the box. Meanwhile, the donkeys’ brays now sounded almost as if they’re calling out a warning of DON’T GO! DON’T GO!
The girls were too excited to notice. The Coachman went to the front of the line of donkeys and stroked the donkeys’ heads in what looks like a gentle fashion, but there was a menace in his eyes. He took on his smooth gentleman’s tone.
“SHUT UP, STUPID JENNIES! One more bray out of any of you, and I’ll tear off your skin and make boots with it, got it?
The donkeys became silent and lowered their heads in dejection.
“Alright little ladies! Onward, we’re moments away from Pleasure Island!”, the Coachman yelled.
The ferry sailed through a foggy ocean to a dark, rocky island, pulling up to a dock and large wooden gate. The girls were in awed silence for a very brief moment, then noisily pile off the ferry and impatiently pushed their way towards the gates.
The Coachman grinned widely and the gates opened, revealing a sprawling girls’ wonderland. A carnival was the centerpiece of the island, surrounded by larger than life statues, vendor booths, toy shops, and lavish houses.
The girls immediately scattered and began their girlish anarchy. They ran amok, shouting at each other for no reason. They gobbled down towering mounds of cotton candy and other junk food, rough house with each other, etc.
Anna and Laura were in the midst of this, their eyes and mouths were wide open in innocent amazement.
“Where do we start?”, asked Laura.
“What difference does it make? We can do whatever we want, whenever we want! Let’s go get some food first! Come on!” Anna ran over to a vendor, Laura scrambled to keep up.
The two girls received lots of candies and treats which they ate until they were completely full. They had never eaten so much sugar in their lives.
Later, Anna and Laura went to the carnival where they played some games like the "Cross Bow Shoot", the "Milk Bottle" game, the “Water Gun” game, the “Whack-A-Mole” game or the "Balloon and Dart" game. They won many toys and other prizes from the carnival games.
The more time passed, all the girls became more revelers, they wreaked havoc throughout the island… the island got out of control. Anna and Laura could not be the exception to the rule, they dropped things off the top of the Ferris wheel onto the other girls, broke and burned books from a "library" that was there, and scared younger girls in the maze of mirrors of the funhouse.
Even Anna and Laura participated in a food hurling where they ended up covered in meringue, chocolate and popcorn. Anna was enjoying all of this very much.
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At the morning, the room where Anna and Laura were staying was trashed and abandoned from last night’s party, save for the two friends, who were sprawled out on the wooden bleachers, woozily coming out of an exhausted sleep. Anna yawned as light comes in through the tent’s slit while Laura was bright eyed.
“Wow, what a night!”, exclaimed Anna.
“You said it Anna! What do you think we’ll do today?” asked Laura.
“Ah, let’s take a look around and see what else they got ‘round here.” Anna came out of the tent. “Wow, it must be at least noon! And I didn’t even have to worry about anybody nagging at me to get up! This is the life, huh?”
“Sure is, Anna!” Laura said coming out of the tent too.
“Hey look!” Anna pointed something that she was looking.
A row of statues had come alive, chucking cigars to the girls like candies. The girls greedily grabbed them and ran off. Nearby was a wooden booth where a mechanical bar tender served mugs of beer down a long wooden counter to the hands of impatient girls.
Anna grabbed Laura, elbowing her way through the crowd of girls.
“C’mon Laura! You gotta try this stuff, it’s great!” Anna said, fascinated.
Later, Anna and Laura stumbled around, singing off-key and shouting random things at the other girls, laughing loudly. Anna stumbled over to a large clown’s head structure. Laura swayed back and forth on wobbly legs.
“Say Anna, why’s the island keep spinning around, and arouuuunnnd, and a…”. Laura collapsed in a noisy clatter and passes out. Anna laughed until she tripped over her own feet, and passed out herself once she hit the ground.
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Late afternoon, Anna opened her eyes. There is a BUZZING and POUNDING sound, and her vision was blurred. Anna realized she was lying on the dirty street.
Anna sat up, Laura was doing the same.
“My head hurts. Doesn’t yours?” asked Laura.
“Sure, a little bit, but what a fun night, huh?” grinned Anna.
“Oh yes! I wonder if my mom knows about all the fun I’m having…”
“Mom?! Jeez, I wonder about you sometimes. The beer wasn’t that strong!” Anna interrupted. “C’mon, let’s go see what all the hullabaloo is today!”
They walked down the road, which was dusty with litter and broken glass. Their shoes made that stick-squish noise from all the spilled drinks and sugary treats the girls had dropped. Anna saw a good sized charcoal rock and grabbed it mischievously, then she went over to a statue and drew on it.
As they wandered around the island, it was clear that some of the other girls had the same idea. Amongst the childish graffiti, on the ground was scrawled “DESTROY ME”, with an arrow pointing to one of the large houses. Many girls were already in the process of doing so. Anna and Laura didn’t hesitate to join in the riot that day.
The riot slowly spread to the shops and vendor booths. The cigars and beer were still flowing free.
Anna and Laura tuckered out in one of the trashed houses. Laura was stretched out on a broken, cushioned arm chair. Anna lay on a pile of cushions. Laura tossed a wooden chair leg onto the fire. Anna started to drift off as Laura furtively sobbed into her arm. Anna heard her and sighed.
“Is that you, Laura? What's wrong?”
“I-I guess I miss my mom.” Laura said, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her dress.
“Really?” asked Anna reluctantly
“Y-Yes. Don’t you miss your parents, Anna?”
What an uncomfortable question Laura had asked her. Anna's parents had her working day and night making donkey cheeses, how could she miss them? However, Anna also remembered the good times she had with them, especially those of her childhood when her parents played with her and told her stories.
“Well…maybe a little”, hesitated Anna. “But, what’s anyone need a father or mother for anyway? Always yellin’ and tellin’ you what to do. This is the good life here.”
“You think so?”, asked Laura.
“I know so. You only live once, so why not live it to the fullest?”
The girls lay there as they drifted off to sleep, the faint sounds of destruction still playing behind them.