The Zoo Boo

Chapter 2

My second memory comes a little later in life, after I moved to Wyckoff. It all began on a nice October night. With Halloween approaching, everyone was preparing and there was a sense of fear in the air.
Our dodge caravan pulled into the packed lot and stopped. I could see the sun starting to set, making it barely visible behind the baring trees at Van Saun Park. I jumped out of the car and stood there vibrating in place while waiting for my parents and two sisters to get out. I could barely conceal my excitement. I am going to the Zoo Boo! Mom is finally letting me go on the scary train!
“Come on guys! Hurry up! We need to get there before Zachary!” I took off at full speed towards the entrance, determined to beat my cousin there.
“Allyssa! Wait! Come back! Well, I guess you doesn’t want any candy,” my mom taunted. I whipped around and ran back to my mom to get my candy bag. I knew I was going to need it since I was going to get a whole bunch of candy. I mean, come one! I was the scariest person at the park! I was Dracula! My paper white face and blood red lips were spectacular and the fake blood running from the corners of my mouth acted as the icing on the cake. No one will ever recognize me in this amazing costume! I put in my blood-soaked fangs and tied the strings holding my black cape around my neck in one more knot, just to make sure it would stay on. I am ready! We started to make our way towards the park as the sun was finally retired by the darkness, leaving its job available to the moon. We walked for what seemed like forever until we finally arrived at the entrance to the park. My cousin wasn’t there yet, but everyone else was! While we waited for Zachary, I spotted the strangest costume I had ever seen. A gigantic, black gorilla was walking towards us holding a small, metal cage. And inside the cage was a person! Woah! That’s odd! Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
“Can you please get me out of this cage?” The man’s face was contorted with fear and anguish. I looked at the huge gorilla, then back at the man and stammered,
“Ummm.... ummmm.....,”
“Hey guys!” I turned around, relieved, and saw that my Aunt Ginger was walking towards us with a person that looked to have come out of an old Star Wars movie. Oh good! They’re here. Look at Zachary! His costume is almost as good as mine!
“Hey Zachary! Cool costume!”
“You too!” he replied. We all walked through the crowded entrance, where we came to an abrupt stopped. Two lines had formed, and both had about a million people on them. We went to the line that had the sign saying “Zoo Boo” and stood there. We didn’t move. I waited and waited, and then waited some more. But we just stood there, in the same spot as more and more people got on the line behind us. I started to fidget and panic.  
“Why aren’t we moving!?” I asked, frustrated.
“There are a lot of people trying to get on the train Allyssa. You have to be patient!” said my mom. But my patience was starting to run out. We waited for a billion more hours before finally getting to the front. As soon as the conductor opened the gate, I sprinted towards the front seat right behind the conductor, but someone was already there. I took a seat next to Zachary, who was towards the middle of the train instead. My leg was shaking with anticipation. I felt the train vibrate and heard it rumble to life. The sound of the whistle sliced through the air and we took off. The train was approaching a dark tunnel and my heart began to race. The sunlight was now completely gone and the full moon created an eerie feeling like one form a scary movie. I didn’t want to be on the train anymore. It was already too scary. I had to jump off, run away, something to get me off that train! Why did I do this this year? Why couldn’t I have waited until I was an older, bigger 9 year old? The little light there was started to fade and darkness swallowed the train. We came out the other end and the world was bright again, but my heart still skipped a beat. On both sides of the train there were about 50 foot-tall kids, glowing red, attacking each other. Some were pretending to do surgery and cutting others open. Some were running around with knifes and swords, and a few were even hanging themselves  and each other. But the scariest scene was the one of a life sized person hanging upside down, strapped to a brown table, with the same red, glowing creatures cutting her open right in front of us. Her screams pierced my ears. What if that was me? I shut my eyes real tight and sunk down in my seat until I no longer heard the blood curdling screams or evil laughter of the glowing kids. When I opened them again, everything was gone and I could see that the only thing that separated me from the end was a left turn around a the green fence. Thank goodness! It’s finally over. All the sudden, the train made an awful groaning sound and slowly came to a halt.
“It seems the train has run out of fuel. The only way to get it started again is with HUMAN BLOOD!” the speaker rang. I let out a huge scream.
“WHAT!?” A dozen Grim Reapers, dressed in long black gowns suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started stalking up and down the sides of the train. Two of them slowly walked by Zachary and I and stopped. I froze with fear as they turned to face us and nodded.
“You!” they both exclaimed. One of them poked me with their spear-things and I let out a another scream.
“Come on! You’re coming with us!” Just as they were about to take me away to be sacrificed, another scream burst from the back of the train. I looked back and saw two other Grim Reapers dragging a teenage girl into the dark shadows from where they had come. All the other Reapers immediately retreated into the darkness also, and the train roared to life again. It drove around the corner and to the start where everyone was waiting. I jumped off the train and ran to my mom.
“It is okay! It was all fake! Not real.” she said.We all walked back down the path we had taken to get to the zoo, and I clung to my mom the entire way. It was now pitch black except for the dim light of a street light. In the dark shadows I saw a little red figure run from behind one tree to another. I gripped my mom’s hand hard and hugged her.
“I am never going on that train again!” I promised and gripped her even harder.
In retrospect, I realize that all the glowing people were fake and that the whole thing was just meant to scare me. That day has affected me a lot though. I held onto my promise and I have never gone on a scary train again. But even though the scary train ride did not go as I had expected it to, it taught me a lot about myself. It helped me realize what my limitations are and that even when things don’t go as planned, something good can still come out of it. That day taught me that sometimes your fears can be your own worst enemy and that what you think is going to happen can affect you more than the actual scary thing.