Every year that I've been single on Valentine's Day, which has been every year so far, I go to the Meigma Kingdom Theme Park in my hometown of Atlanta. Every Valentine's Day, when the park closes to children at sunset, the kissing trail opens. A line of kissing booths snakes around the park ending up by the grand castle at the center. Each of the park's mascots man one of the booths.
That might not sound appealing to most, I know. When most people think of mascots they're thinking of the one that jumped around on the sidelines during their high school games. These were anything but that. These were fully independent, fully sentient androids based on the anthro animal hybrids from the book series that gave the park its name.
I stumbled away from the booth near the under construction Jumphim Jungle land with the biggest, dumbest smile on my face. Before I got too far, however, I stumbled into a crowd around the castle. There was no booth here. Again. It seemed the rumors were true. Princess Cyan, a blue furred racoon with the wings of a jay, was officially off the market. She must have settled down with a human lover. That was a shame, her booth was always the most fun. Of all the mascots she was the most playful. The doors to the castle swung open and we all bowed as Queen Pavla came out to greet us.
The grace of this woman could not be understated. After all, she was a horse walking with the tail of a peacock and the pose of a queen. Her royal purple dress and corset, which showed off her massive cleavage, complimented her brown fur which came complete with a small streak of white down her nose.
"I'm afraid the marketing department has been less than honest with you. The Princess will not be attending tonight. I know they have been posting rumors online to suggest otherwise but those were not done in good faith. As an apology you, the first to reach the castle, will be given a kiss from your queen."
Wow, Queen Pavla never attended events like this. It always seemed to be beneath her station. This was a blessing for me. She was my favorite of all the mascots. I would love nothing more than to kiss her.
"Line up in an orderly fashion."
We did as we were told. Behind us park staff redirected the kissing trail to the exit. I felt my heart flutter with each step. By the time I finally reached her my knees were shaking. She puckered her lips. I leaned in, lips waiting. What I got was a quick little peck on the lips. Wait. That was it? No, that couldn't be it.
"Wait, your majesty."
She had been turning to leave but stopped to look at me.
"Yes?"
"Since you had to come down here to clean up marketing's mistakes I thought I would honor my Queen with a gift."
"A gift?"
"The full Kissing Trail experience."