"A Dark Day in Disneyworld"
I watched in horror as hundreds of four-year-old girls just like me came out of the dark abyss, sobbing, with terrified looks plastered on their young faces. I was exhausted after my long journey here and I longed for the nice comfort of my hotel room bed; yet, my parents pressured me into coming here, to this cavern. At my first glimpse of the dark door, my mind was flooded with questions. How could I possibly be convinced to walk into the unknown? Why in a place of happiness were there shrines of such beasts? Why in the world did my parents want me to enter into such a terrifying dwelling?
After a long fight with my parents, I gave in. I reached above my head and opened the great doors. A cool sweep of air hit my face almost immediately. I looked back once more, sure, that this was the last time I would ever see sunlight again. I took my first step inside the darkness, clutching to my mother's legs. I felt my eyes swell twice their size, and my jaw seized. There I was staring face to face with a tribe of lions. “Go on sweetie,” my mother said, “it’s ok I’m right here.”
Realistically, she had nowhere to go, I now had a half nelson on her kneecap. We walked together my father close behind with that silly grin on his face. "Why is he smiling?" I wondered. Here we were surrounded by creatures that could at any time eat our faces off, and my dad was there smiling. It was illogical. We continued on, the lions moved gradually, never making a sudden move and neither did I.
As we walked, I saw before my eyes a lion transform from a small cub to a massive beast with rambling songs playing in the background. “Hakuna Matata,” a small rodent said to his audience. I never understood this; they repeated it over and over again as if these strange words were to mean something. My parents laughed and started to shake my arms in the air. My eyes grew bigger, "What is this?", I thought, "We can’t dance! No sudden movements the big lion is eyeing me". I quickly drew my arms into my pockets, and in the midst of all of the confusion, I grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt and drew it over my head. "Maybe if I can’t see them they’ll go away", but the idea came to a quick end when suddenly a ferocious lion came and attacked the others.
This lion had a history of violence, before we saw him drop another off a cliff. The small lion cried as he saw the beast fall flat to the ground in a paralyzed slump. I should have left then, now this lion with the grotesque scar lining his face was murdering his own kin. Lightning stuck a branch behind them and flames engulfed the two fighting lions. I saw the flames as my cue to make my escape. I pulled my mom’s pant hem desperately trying to make her look down in my direction. "Look at me mom! This place is going to burn to the ground we need to leave!" What I received in reply was a good shushing and a hopeless wave. Next, I tried Dad I did everything. I pointed, screamed, and even did the potty pose.
“Shana,” my dad said turning to my mom, “She has to pee.”
“She can make it five more minutes I can see the end.”
I looked forward, a bright rectangle revealed an exit. I bolted. Making my way through the other helpless families, leaving my own behind I ran towards the door.
“Alex! Alex! Come here sweetie, it’s fine! Alex! Come back!”
I kept my pace, running, until I finally reached the portal. I stepped back into the light, adjusting my eyes to the brightness. I was shocked to see that in front of me was another lion. I turned left and there they were, to the right were hundreds of them. I was surrounded. “Gottcha,” I felt a tap on my shoulder. Startled, I screamed and ran out of the lair, out into sunlight.
Then, I realized this place was truly disturbed. Coming straight towards me was the mouse in a suit, and a tall lanky creature that looked like a dog. However, none was more terrifying than the duck. It had no pants. They grabbed me; their smiles caked onto their caricatured faces. I heard giggles as the flashes of 1990s disposable cameras went off around me. I tried desperately to squirm out of their grip, but the mouse’s gloved hands were like cuffs. "Now I know how my mom’s leg feels like."
I gave up. I thought of what I knew about the world in my four years of existence: the smell of spring flowers, rain, and hamburgers, the mysterious worlds in books, how rainbows seem to make a cloudy depressing day better, and the nonsense lullabies my mom sung to me after a nightmare. I expected to never sense those beautiful things now that I have become a captive of the Giant Animal Gang.
Then a smiling woman came from the crowd. She lifted me into her arms and held me close. “Thanks, Mickey.” She said. I didn’t look up as she carried me off in her arms. "Is she the one who takes the cute little girls into their fortress and put them in cages? Should I expect to be their slave forever or is this just a temporary agreement?"
“You scared us there, Alex,” said the woman in a familiar voice. “don’t do that ever again. Good thing you went to Mickey.” She was tired I could tell.
She put me down for a second and walked me over with her to one of the ice cream venders. She ordered three “Mickey Pops” and then set me down on a bench. My parents and I sat there for an hour eating our ice cream as I contemplated my revenge on the giant animals, and I knew that eventually I would get it.
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