“What A Dream!”
A Short Story by William Raymond Hicks
Copyright 2012 William Raymond Hicks & Elizabeth Emily Hicks
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Cover design by William Raymond Hicks
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Prologue
Coney Island
By Joseph Hicks
Was there ever a place as magical as the Coney Island of long ago?
Long before there was a Disneyland, and long before there was a Las Vegas,
there was Coney Island.
"Good Ole Coney Island" it was called.
Although many people preferred to call it "Sodom by the Sea,”
in quite a disdainful manner.
It was the place where all of America, indeed, all the world, came to play.
What in the world is a coney, you ask?
A coney is a rabbit, very prevalent on the island way back when;
way back when it really was an island;
before the river that separated it from the rest of Brooklyn was filled in.
The modern day roller coaster debuted there, back in 1884.
And the hot-dog too! Right around the same time.
Let's not forget the modern day Amusement Park was born there,
with all the joy those places bring.
Was it the majestic Statue of Liberty that immigrants first saw as their
ships brought them into New York Harbor and a new home?
Or Ellis Island or the magnificent New York skyline?
No, it was none of these.
It was the bright, dazzling lights of Coney Island that they first saw,
there at the southernmost end of Brooklyn.
Thousands, if not millions of lights, a virtual fairyland of lights.
And the roar of the roller coaster, the happy sounds of the carousels,
and the joyful screams of the happy visitors were probably the first
sounds they heard as well.
What a wonderful way to be welcomed to your new country!
There was Luna Park, which succeeded Sea Lion Park,
And Steeplechase Park - "Steeplechase, The Happy Place!"
And of course, Dreamland, the grandest and most spectacular of them all.
Dreamland - painted all a bright, gleaming white, and festooned with thousands
upon thousands of lights.
What made Coney Island so magical?
What was the secret of its enormous appeal?
The answer is simple, but nonetheless true:
It was a place to have fun.
Wonderful, unbridled fun.
It was teeming with roller coasters,
and carousels, Shoot the Shoots, Tunnels of Love.
Whips, Scooters, Scenic Railways and Fun Houses.
Scary Dark Rides and Mirror Mazes.
Cotton Candy, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, ice cream and popcorn.
Guess Your Weight concessions, Shooting Galleries, Penny Arcades and
huge Bamboo Slides.
Bumper Cars, Ferris Wheels and the famous Parachute Drop,
and the equally famous "Wonder Wheel.”
And so much more.
Glorious sounds, intoxicating smells,
and lights, everywhere lights.
And a wide sandy beach, and a beautiful boardwalk.
Pure, unadulterated, unapologetic fun.
A place to let yourself go, to be a child again.
A place to throw propriety and decorum to the wind.
Go ahead. Laugh out loud, squeal with delight.