Many years ago, I took Her Majesty to Fright Fest in October. Not because I like rides or being
frightened. But she really wanted to go,
so I agreed. We got some friends to go
with us; and since one of them was pregnant I got to baby-sit her since she
couldn’t go on any of the rides.
Eventually we got to Ghost Town where the Cyclone
was. Most in our group wanted to go on
it, so Brindel and I sat on a bench.
There were weird noises coming from the building we were leaning
against. Looking around the corner; we
saw a line of people. A sign read
“Zambora!” “What’s that?” we wondered. Another friend came up and read from the
program: “Zambora: watch a woman transform herself into a gorilla!”
Who wouldn’t want to see that? We eagerly lined up!
Finally we were at the door, getting the spiel: “What
you are about to see is very frightening.
If you have any heart conditions, fainting problems, then turn
back. Once the door closes, there is no
escape until the show is over.” Now I
wasn’t sure if I wanted to see Zambora or not, but it was too late…
Stepping into a jungle-decorated area: drums were
beating, lights were pulsing. In front
was a cage cut into a wall, surrounded by a rope barricade. We were joking around, but I thought: what if the cage in front is to lull you into
a false sense of security, and Zambora rushes us from behind?
Announcer:
“What you are about to see will truly astound you! While visiting deep, dark Africa ,
scientists made an amazing discovery: a woman who could transform herself into
a gorilla!” The lights went on in the
cage revealing a loincloth-wearing woman chained to the wall, pounding the
walls and moaning as she thrashed from side to side.
“The cage bars
are reinforced tungsten steel; hopefully enough to thwart an escape.” I looked around: all that bare space behind us, plenty of room
for Zambora to grab us because what if it’s an illusion in the cage, and the
real Zambora is ready to strike?
“Science can’t explain it, we can’t contain it. Keep
your eyes on the cage!”
I was completely sucked in. Drums are pounding, the woman is screaming,
lights are flashing: I clutch Kitty with one hand and my friend Mel with the other, my eyes swiveling from the cage
to the space behind us. Cage, space,
cage, space… Finally there’s a bloodcurdling scream! I jump out of my skin and we’re plunged into
darkness—
Unfortunately,
not before we saw the man in the gorilla costume open a door in the cage,
peeking out. Can you believe it? I was TOTALLY freaked out and they RUINED it
by that guy’s lousy timing! When the
lights came back up and we saw him banging around in the cage, it was just a
minimum wage employee making a buck. Seriously: that was going to be the last time I got caught up in the hype!!
~*~
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