روزی در سرزمین وحشت فصل 17

One Day at Horrorland - Chapter 17

I screamed.

Then I realized I wasn’t being tossed into the water.

The hands were holding on to my shoulders.

I spun around. “Dad!” I cried.

“Lizzy!” he exclaimed, still holding on to me. “Where have you guys been?” “We’ve searched this entire park twelve times!” Mom declared. She was standing behind us on the grass, hands pressed tensely on her waist.

“We were looking for you!” I cried.

“They told us you left!” Luke said.

“We were kind of scared,” Clay added.

We all started talking at once. I was so happy to see them. And I could see that Luke and Clay were really happy, too.

I had imagined all sorts of terrible things happening to Mom and Dad. It wasn’t like me to let my imagination run away like that.

But HorrorLand was such a scary place. It was impossible not to have scary thoughts here.

“I want to go home,” I said.

“Did you find a phone?” Clay asked. “Did you find a car?”

Dad shook his head. “No. No phones. The guy in the monster costume didn’t lie. There are no phones in the park.” “But the Horrors were very nice to us,” Mom broke in. “They told us not to worry about a thing.” “They said to just come to the ticket booth when we were ready to leave,” Dad reported.

Mom ran a hand tenderly through Luke’s hair. “Did you go on any rides or anything?” “We did a lot of scary stuff,” Luke told her.

“Very scary,” Clay added.

“I’m really hungry,” Luke said.

Dad glanced at his watch. “It’s way past lunchtime. I think we’re all hungry.” “The restaurants and foodstands are all on the other side of the park,” Mom said.

“Can we just eat lunch and then leave?” I asked eagerly. I still had a bad feeling about the place. I wanted to get away from HorrorLand, far away.

“Your mom and I have spent all our time searching for you,” Dad said, wiping sweat off his sunburned forehead with one hand. “We haven’t had any fun at all.” “We should all at least go on one ride together before we leave,” Mom said.

“I just want to go,” I urged. “I really do.”

“Lizzy, that’s not like you,” Mom scolded.

“She’s scared,” Luke told them. “She’s a chicken.”

“Maybe there’s a ride that will take us to the front of the park,” Dad suggested. “We could all take it, then have some lunch and leave.” “That sounds good,” Mom said. She stared at me. “Okay with you?”

“I guess,” I told her, sighing. “It’s just that the rides here are all too scary. They aren’t any fun.” Luke laughed. “They’re too scary for Lizzy—but not for Clay and me,” he said. “Right, Clay?” “I was a little scared in the Bat Barn,” Clay confessed.

We headed away from the Alligator Pond, across the grassy shore to the paved walkway. A couple of costumed Horrors walked past, chattering in low voices.

A girl’s high-pitched shrieks of terror floated in the air from somewhere in the distance. The same frightening cry repeated over and over.

Wolf howls rose up in front of us. And from a speaker hidden somewhere in the trees, I heard evil laughter, a hideous cackle that repeated over and over.

“It’s like being in a horror movie,” Mom commented.

“Very clever,” Dad added, walking with a hand on my shoulder. “It’s strange that we never heard of this park.” “They should put some ads on TV,” Mom said. “Then they’d get more people to come here.” We passed by a tall, narrow green building with a sign in front that read: FREE FALL, THE ONLY BUNGEE JUMP WITHOUT A CORD.

“Want to try that?” Dad asked, squeezing my shoulder and grinning at me.

“I don’t think so,” I quickly replied.

Luke was way ahead of us. He turned around and walked backward, waiting for us to catch up. “Mom and Dad should try the Doom Slide,” he said, grinning. “It’s awesome!” Had he really forgotten how terrified he was?

“I don’t think they’d like it,” I said quietly.

“Maybe we could find something that’s just a little scary,” Clay suggested.

Dad laughed. “Are you having a good time, Clay?”

Clay hesitated. “A little,” he replied finally.

“I’m having a great time!” Luke declared.

The path curved along a narrow brown river. Millions of tiny white insects flitted over the surface of the water. Catching the bright sunlight, they looked like little sparkling diamonds.

A small brown boathouse came into view. Behind it, I could see slender canoes bobbing beneath a wooden dock.

A sign beside the boathouse read: COFFIN CRUISE.

A RELAXING FLOAT TO THE GRAVE.

“This might be fun,” Mom said, her eyes on the small boats.

“I think the river flows toward the front of the park,” Dad said. “Let’s take it!” Luke cheered and went running to the dock.

I lingered behind the others. When I finally stepped out onto the dock, it took me a while to realize that the objects bobbing in the brown water weren’t canoes—they were coffins!

They were made of black polished wood. The lids were pulled back, revealing red satin interiors. Each coffin was big enough for one person.

I felt a cold chill run down my back. “We’re really going to climb into coffins?” I asked.

“They look comfy,” Mom said, smiling at me. “The water is flat and gentle, Lizzy. It won’t be a scary ride.” “Me first!” Luke cried, running to the end of the wooden dock.

Two costumed Horrors appeared to help us into the coffins. “Lie back. Enjoy the ride,” one of them said.

“It will be your last,” the other Horror added with a low chuckle.

When we were all inside coffins, the Horrors untied them and gave us a hard push away from the dock.

Here I am, I thought, lying in my coffin.

Here we all are, my entire family, on our backs in our coffins.

The coffin floated gently, bobbing in the water. I stared up at the bright blue sky. Trees shimmered on both banks as I floated past.

It was so pretty, so relaxing.

Why did I think something terrible was about to happen?