روزی در سرزمین وحشت فصل 28

One Day at Horrorland - Chapter 28

Her mouth opened wide, and she let out a startled gasp.

She tried to pull her arm away. But I held on and pinched harder. “The Mad Pincher strikes again!” I shouted, remembering Luke’s annoying cry.

Her yellow eyes rolled around crazily. “No!” she pleaded.

Harder. Harder.

And then I was the one to cry out as her mouth opened wide, and, with a loud whoosh, a rush of air escaped her lips.

I leaped back.

As the air rushed from her mouth, she appeared to deflate, just like a balloon.

I gaped in amazement as she folded helplessly to the ground.

An angry cry rose up from the crowd of Horrors. “Inflate her!” one of them yelled. “Inflate her immediately!” They began moving in on us, growling and grumbling menacingly.

“Pinch them!” I shouted to my family. “Pinch them! The ‘No Pinching’ signs that we thought were so stupid—they were serious! The Horrors deflate if they’re pinched!” A Horror stepped up, arms outstretched to push me into the pond. I pinched his arm hard, and a few seconds later, he deflated.

I heard the whoosh of air escaping to my right and saw that Luke had deflated one, too.

Whoosh! Another one deflated and folded to the pavement.

That’s all it took.

The plaza filled with frightened cries and gasps of horror.

The alarmed Horrors turned and ran. Stampeded is a better word. They scattered through the park, screaming as they ran.

Taking a long, deep breath, I happily watched them flee. “See? I always come through in a pinch!” I said, amazing myself by making a joke.

I don’t think anyone else in my family heard me. They were shouting for joy, hugging each other, jumping up and down.

“Let’s get out of here!” I shouted. I started running toward the front gate. The others followed close behind.

The gate was open now. I guess the Horrors had opened it, figuring the only place we were heading was to the bottom of the purple pond.

Without looking back, we ran out into the empty parking lot.

And stopped.

“No car,” I murmured.

In all the excitement, I had forgotten that our car had been blown up.

I let out a weary sigh. I felt as if I were deflating, just like the Horrors. “Now what?” I asked, staring across the enormous flat parking lot.

“It’s too far to walk!” Luke wailed. “How do we get out of here?”

“The buses!” Mom cried, pointing. I turned my eyes to the row of purple-and-green buses parked on the side of the lot. They glowed under the bright afternoon sun.

“Yeah!” Dad cried excitedly. “Maybe we can start one up and get away from here!” We started jogging over the pavement to the buses. “Cross your fingers,” Dad called, leading the way. “Maybe they leave the keys in them. It’s our only chance!” “Hurry!” Luke shouted suddenly. “They’re coming!”

My heart leaped in my chest. I turned back toward the gate.

Sure enough, the Horrors were pouring out of the park, chasing after us. “Give up! You cannot escape!” one of them screamed.

“No one ever escapes!” another Horror shouted.

“Hurry!” Luke cried. “Hurry! They’re going to catch us!”