4

I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to read the billboard in front of the mechanical monster. In huge red letters it said: WELCOME TO HORRORLAND WHERE NIGHTMARES COME TO LIFE!

There was a dark red arrow in the upper left-hand corner, with the words: ONE MILE.

"Can we go there?" Luke demanded eagerly. He leaned forward and grabbed the back of Dad's seat with both hands. "Can we, Dad? How about it?"

"It looks kind of scary," Clay said softly.

Dad slammed the glove compartment shut with a sigh. He was giving up on the map idea. "Luke, stop pulling my seat," he snapped. "Sit back."

"Can we go to HorrorLand?" Luke demanded.

"HorrorLand? What's HorrorLand?" Mom demanded.

"Never heard of it," Dad muttered.

"It's only a mile from here," Luke pleaded. "It looks great!"

The monster lowered its head over the car, staring in through the sunroof. Then it raised its head again.

"I don't think so," Mom said, staring out at the huge billboard. "Zoo Gardens is such a wonderful park. HorrorLand doesn't look very nice."

"It looks great!" Luke insisted, pulling at Dad's seat back again. "It looks really excellent!"

"Luke, sit back," Dad pleaded.

"Let's go," I urged. "We're never going to find Zoo Gardens."

Mom hesitated, chewing her lower lip. "I don't know," she said fretfully. "Some of these places aren't safe."

"It'll be safe!" Luke declared. "It'll be very safe!"

"Luke — sit back!" Dad growled.

"Can we go?" Luke demanded, ignoring Dad's request. "Can we?"

"It could be fun," Clay said quietly.

"Let's give it a try," I urged them. "If we hate it, we can always leave."

Dad rubbed his chin. He sighed. "Well, I guess it would be better than sitting here in the middle of nowhere arguing all day."

"YAAAAAY!" Luke screamed.

Luke and I reached over Clay to slap each other a high five. HorrorLand sounded like a pretty cool place to me, too. I love scary rides.

"If the rides are as scary as that monster," I said, pointing at the billboard, "this park will be awesome!"

"You don't think it's too scary — do you?" Clay asked. I saw that he had his hands clasped tightly in his lap. And he had that frightened owl look on his face again.

"No, it won't be too scary," I told him.

Oh, wow — was I wrong!

"I can't believe someone would build a big theme park out in the wilderness," Dad declared.

We were driving through what seemed like an endless forest. Tall, old trees leaned over the two-lane road, nearly blocking out the late morning sun.

"Maybe they haven't built the park yet," Mom suggested. "Maybe they're going to clear out these trees and build the park here."

All three of us in the back seat were hoping Mom was wrong. And she was.

The road curved sharply. And as we came out of the curve, we saw the tall gates to the park straight up ahead.

Behind a tall, purple fence, HorrorLand seemed to stretch for miles. Leaning forward in my seat, I could see the tops of rides and strange, colorful buildings. As we drove across the enormous parking lot, eerie chords of organ music invaded the car.

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