Life After Disney

Part 7: Surprises

I stared out at the limitless terrain, taking in every new detail. How the metallic sphere gleamed in the early morning sun, the way the dew makes each moss patch shine. It's beautiful in the worst way. I was in complete shock, my face full of awe. The guards began to move, their eyes continued to be fixated on Spaceship Earth. I reluctantly followed, slowly walking behind them. I looked around at the phenomenon of me simply being here. Waves lapped against the railing surrounding the small lake. Everything seemed so serene, that was until I saw the feet peeking out of the bushes. There it is, the vacation ruining terror. My stomach swirled in millions of directions. We continued on, moving as one toward the Imagination Pavilion. We walked into a building marked Journey into Imagination with Figment. The guards pushed open the swinging doors, revealing a sadistic excuse for an attraction. I looked at the side wall where a message was emblazoned on the wall. Disney, time is up. What does that mean? We continued walking down the twisted hallway, passing a few machines spewing sparks. The guards planted themselves in the final car, leaving me in the front. Wow, alone AND utterly petrified That's a first. I looked at the screen in front of me. A British man introduced himself as some sort of professor and a small dragon called Figment. Innocent enough. The ride took a jerky start, my neck flinging backwards. We were brought through some weird hallway where machines were supposed to be whirring. Due to the whole abandonedness nature, that didn't happen. Instead, we continued into what this wacky man called the Sound Lab. A series of tones were played, little beeps that melded into the background noise. The room looked like it had been ransacked by a bear. Blood stained the once white tiles, dust had accumulated everywhere.

"No wonder the janitor is dead. He can't clean!" The cockiest of the guards shouted, ruining the eerie stillness. The entire crew of idiots began howling and clutching their stomachs, I faced forward, brewing with anger. A small, purple dragon abruptly popped straight out of my nightmare. It's eyes were pits of darkness, void of any life. The mouth was contorted in a sinister smirk. It began to tell us to listen with our imagination.

"What am I, 5?" These guards were utterly obnoxious. We were plunged into darkness and the sound of a train rocked the cars. Now, the dinky creature began to sing a macabre tune. Soon it would be the soundtrack to my nightmare, The car jerkily brought us to the sight lab. We were asked to look at a cracked telescreen projecting an eye chart. Soon enough, the miniature demon made his way across the screen, rearranging the letters to spell his name. It continued to sing that little melody. Imagination? I wish this was just my imagination.

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The rest of the ride went by in one terrifying blur. Figment screwed up everything else causing more nightmares for me. The guards had led me towards the country pavilions. They told me to go off and do whatever I wanted. I set out, making my way around the dead people that once enjoyed Epcot. I walked past Canada, straight through England, around France, and I ended up in Germany. This pavilion had the least amount of corpses. I made my way through the small shops, no matter how disguisted I was. I looked around me, taking a snapshot of Epcot. There was a small wishing well near the smallest shop. I reached into my pocket for some spare change to toss in. When I arrived at the fountain, there was something horrible beyond all imagination. The late Snow White was sprawled across the stones. Her costume hung loose around the decaying flesh, the yellow skirt splattered with blood. Why is all of this happening? I threw my dime into the fountain closing my eyes. I wish I was anywhere but here. I ran as fast as I could toward the center lake. I tripped on a carcass and faceplanted onto the cement. I flipped over, clutching my aching side only to come face to face with Riley's mother, wasting away in Epcot.