In this memory, I am four years old. One day, I hear about a Sailor Moon movie coming to the theatres in my hometown. I do not know what a movie is, but I want to go because it is about my favourite anime series Sailor Moon. I cannot miss it.
My father agrees to take me to the movie theatre. After dinner, while my mother and baby brother stay at home, my father and I catch a bus to the city centre. Then we walk through the shopping arcade for some time before we come in front of an elevator.
“Are we there?” I ask impatiently.
“Almost,” my father replies. “It’s upstairs.”
When the elevator door opens, my heart skips a beat. Who could have imagined that this elevator leads to a most gorgeous room with a red carpet and a chandelier?
Forgetting to breathe, I follow my father onto the thick red carpeted floor. We are running a little late. Somebody tells us that the movie has just started. My father and I run into the theatre and sit right in front of the screen since that was the first seating we have found near the door.
I do not get to admire the huge screen before I am quickly absorbed in the story shown on it. Unlike in the usual weekly episode, in this movie, the enemy is stronger, and Sailor Moon and others struggle to locate the enemy while many children are being taken from their town including Sailor Moon’s little sister.
Holding the edge of my seating tightly, I follow the story anxiously. It is far from a relaxing experience. This is thrilling.
Eventually, however, Sailor Moon and her team beat the enemy and the story comes to a happy ending. Lights come back to the theatre, announcing the intermission before the next story begins.
My father and I stroll out to the lobby. My head is still throbbing from the thrill of the adventure that I have just watched. I sit on one of the red cushioned armchairs along the wall while my father leaves for the washroom.
I am recalling each scene in detail, as my pulse finally slows down, when I hear my father call my name.
“Sweetie!” I look up and find my father’s beaming smile. He is carrying something in his hand. “Let’s have popcorns!”
It is a huge cup of popcorns. Larger than any package of snack that I have ever seen. I cannot imagine my mother buying such a huge package of snack for me.
“Do you think Mommy will like this popcorn?” A concern escapes my mouth. But my father is not worried at all.
“Mommy isn’t here,” he grins. “She wouldn’t understand the fun of this! We’ll eat this, and she won’t know about it!”
I grin back, and thus we spend the rest of the intermission and the next part of the show munching popcorns from the huge paper cup. What a luxury. A smile spreads across my face. I cannot tell which I have enjoyed more – the movie or this huge cup of secret popcorns.