*Chapters 51 & 52

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The Book of Zen

Chapter 51: The Wendigo

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When Zenzeroni comes to, he is on the ground at the entrance of the ride much like he had been on the ride previous. Ally, Zenzeroni’s fellow hider, was nowhere to be seen and just as Zenzeroni gets his bearings an announcement comes on over the park speakers, “Attention all Fro Yo Hide and Seekers, Another one of your fellow hiders has been found. There are four hiders remaining. Good luck and don’t get caught! Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha.”

Zenzeroni wonders to himself if Ally had been the one to get caught but puts his focus back on his own hiding for the time being. Zenzeroni had no idea how he had gotten to the ride entrance as there was no one around him assisting him in any capacity. But that didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was he needed to get out of this cursed ride and this section of the park which proved to be just as bad as the last.

Continuing his circuit around the park Zenzeroni continued through the wooded Black Forest passing the high flying Golden Eagle rollercoaster as well as the rough and tumble Lindworm wooden coaster that weaved and snaked through the Black Forest. Zenzeroni’s focus however was not on those rides but on the exit of this section of the park and the entrance of the next section. In his way stood a witch stirring some kind of potion in a cauldron that signified Zenzeroni was now entering the New England section of the park.

It was at this moment that Zenzeroni remembered he was supposed to be here not to play hide and seek but to try all of the foods the park had to offer. Taking one glance around Zenzeroni didn’t see Fro Yo’s costume cup strolling around and decided now was a good time to take a breather from all of the chaos he had endured thus far and sit back and enjoy some nice sweet treats. And boy did he enjoy those sweet treats. Getting one of each item from the former general food shack turned spooky treat stall Zenzeroni munched down on Salem Witch Cookies, Maple Sugar Ghost Candies, Mystic Fog Pudding, and New Hampshire Apple Bites. Why Zenzeroni hadn’t thought of doing this sooner he wasn’t sure because the food was amazing and he didn’t have to worry too much about the scare actors bugging him in the eating area of the park.

No sooner had he thought about what a great idea it was to have done this than the Fro Yo costume cup emerged from the Black Forest section entrance putting Zenzeroni’s senses back on high alert. Zenzeroni subtly but quickly begins walking further into the New England section of the park passing the bumpy and obnoxious Grand Express coaster along with various New England themed shops and food stalls. Then, in the distance Zenzeroni hears “I see youuuuuuuuuuu” and that is Zenzeroni’s cue to take off running.

Zenzeroni ducks and dodges up and around scare actors, families, and anything else in his way blindly running without knowing the layout of the park until eventually, he runs into a dead end. Well, it isn’t a dead end per se but the only direction besides going back the way he came was to enter the line for one of the most infamous rides at the park which was incredibly popular this time of year; “The Wendigo”. Zenzeroni turns around to go back the way he came when he sees Fro Yo confidently strutting his way toward Zenzeroni with a big smile on his face. With no other option, Zenzeorni joins the line for the ride and luckily people begin filing in behind him obscuring him from view and preventing Fro Yo from getting to him.

After a tense 5 minutes Zenzeroni sees a fleeting glance of Fro Yo walking away in frustration and breathes a sigh of relief before trying to get out of line and head back to the main street of the New England section of the park.

“Woah, woah, woah where do you think you’re going?” One of the people behind Zenzeorni asks.

“Oh I’m just getting out of line. You can go ahead and go in front of me. I don’t mind.”

“No way pal. We saved your ass from getting caught you have to ride with us now.”

“How did you know I was hiding?”

“Look, we did you a favor and now you have to do us a favor. It will be fun. Trust me I’ve been on this ride 3 times already today.”

“I really don’t–”

“NEXT!” One of the ride operators yells pushing Zenzeorni along and onto the ride.

Zenzeroni, out of options, reluctantly gets on the ride and is seated next to the person who had forced him onto the ride.

“Happy?” Zenzeroni asks him.

“Yes. And you will be too in about 30 seconds.”

30 seconds later and without warning the coaster slowly begins moving and begins the climb going up and up and up and up in the pitch dark without any lights around to illuminate the ride only adding to the fear factor. Sitting in the third row Zenzeorni finds a little comfort until at the top of the climb, Zenzeroni looks out his side of the car and sees a starved and garrish Rebel reaching out to him in desperation “Rebel is that y–” Zenzeroni can’t finish his sentence because before he gets the chance to do so the ride begins its decent reaching speeds Zenzeroni didn’t think were possible but as the ride speeds out of control in the pitch black he begins seeing things. Out of nowhere Smoky’s mangled and decrepit body stands in the middle of the tracks as they plow through him like he wasn’t even there. Then as the coaster goes underneath the steel workings of the coaster above the car Drumstick’s chicken bone thin arms swipe at Zenzeorni as the car speeds by. By the end of the ride, the terrifying images of the corpses and zombie like features of his former crew mates haunt Zenzeorni as he sits shell shocked in his seat.

“Hey uh, you good? Rides over. Time to get off” Zenzeroni’s carmate taps Zenzeroni on the shoulder. Zenzeorni continues to sit and stare forward and the guy slaps him across the face. “I know it was fun but not that fun. Snap out of it!” Zenzeroni blinks a few times and silently walks away without looking back at him.

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Chapter 52: Trick or Treat

The various sounds of the amusement park around Zenzeroni become a distant hum as he walks through the New England section of Janewood. No scare actor approaches Zenzeroni because he has practically turned into a scare actor in the way his state mindlessly looks straight ahead unblinking and steps methodically one after the other. It was only after Zenzeroni passed the New England threshold into the Southern California Section of the park that the world around him began to focus back in. It just so happened that at that very instant an announcement over the speakers echoed throughout the park once more, “Yo, yo, yo its yo boy Fro Yo, and another hider bites the dust. 3 remain who will be eliminated next and who will win the 1 million dollar prize?! Fro Yo out yo.”

So Zenzeroni had made it to the top 3 by walking aimlessly around the park and doing practically no hiding. He wasn’t complaining…well he was complaining but not about being in the top three rather that he had been subject to the cruelty that was Janewood. Whether it was his mind playing tricks on him, reality fusing timelines, or something else the Janewood Park was driving Zenzeroni crazy and he didn’t know how much more he could take. With only three people left in the game though that million dollars had never been closer to becoming a reality and Zenzeroni’s greedy dollar sign eyes had made quitting a non-discussion.

Another thing going for Zenzeroni was that he was now in the Southern California family section of the park where scare actors and other fear factor rides were set aside for a more family oriented vacation to the amusement park. Within the Southern California Section of the park was a trick or treat trail that allowed the youngsters to go around collecting candy and take pictures with their favorite Janewood characters.

Zenzeroni breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down and put his head in his hands or more appropriately his noodle arms. Zenzeroni sat there for a few minutes until finally removing his noodle arms from his head and looked up across the table to see a man sitting next to him. A man with a cowboy hat looking out on the crowd with a soft smile on his face.

“No.” Zenzeroni says getting up.

The man in the cowboy hat turns his attention to Zenzeroni after hearing him speak “Oh hey Zenzeroni! I didn’t see you there! How’s it going?” Space Cowboy asks.

“You aren’t real,” Zenzeroni says as his voice begins to shake in fear, confusion, and anger.

“I certainly would hope that I indeed AM real. If I’m not then I’ve certainly got some bigger issues ahead of me. Don’t you think?”

“You. Aren’t. Real.” Zenzeroni says with more authority in his voice.

“Oh and I think Violet should be somewhere around here too. I think she’s doing the trick or treat circuit just for fun right now. Free candy is free candy am I right?”

“This is just a figment of my imagination. None of this is real. I’m talking to myself. Zenzeroni snap out of it.” Zenzeroni says to himself walking away from the table and Space Cowboy who is still lackadaisically leaning against the table from his spot on the bench.

“If you see Violet say hi for me!” Space Cowboy calls out to Zenzeroni.

Zenzeroni doesn’t respond and decides to take it upon himself to ride one of the coasters to get whatever is going on in his head, out of his head. Zenzeroni decides Pineapple Express is the perfect ride to do just that. Not scary at all but is quite long and smooth and sure to calm Zenzeroni down. Since the ride isn’t that scary and it is now primetime for Halloween Horror Nights the line for the ride is very short and Zenzeroni doesn’t have to wait long before he is whisked away and through the gorgeous SoCal scenery. Everywhere Zenzeroni looks is beautifully lit up by the artificial moonlight the park has set up throughout the park. The ride navigates between mountains, over trees, and beside slow meandering streams all at a pace that isn’t too intense for Zenzeroni. In fact, Zenzeroni enjoys it so much that a smile begins to creep onto his face.

After getting off the ride Zenzeroni looks at the other coasters in the area to see if any of the others are as mild as Pineapple Express and while Steel Scorcher was definitely not an option considering the wild inversions and huge drops Sunshine Aviators was very much his cup of tea. The coaster according to Zenzeroni’s crumpled up map was the mildest of the coasters and was right up his alley.

Zenzeroni, now with a hop in his step, makes his way toward the ride which is definitely targeted at a younger audience and is very much a family ride. None of this matters to Zenzeroni who hops into his suspended seat getting the row to himself as the ride begins to, much like Pineapple Express, make its way through the artificial SoCal wilderness. Even slower than Pineapple Express Zenzeroni’s feet dangle below the ride as he feels like his feet nearly hit the trees below and zooms gently into a gorgeous ravine with a waterfall before flying out of it and back to the exit.

Feeling a lot better Zenzeroni unstraps and goes to get out when he finds someone standing in his row with their back toward Zenzeroni waiting to get off the ride as people filter out in a stream in front of them.

“Um, excuse me you are free to go now,” Zenzeroni says after the person still doesn’t move despite a gap in the stream of people.

“Oh, my apologies. I didn’t realize anyone else was behind me” The person says turning around to tell Zenzeroni and revealing the face of Violet.

Zenzeroni’s eyes go as wide as saucers and he stutters as Violet gets off the ride and disappears into the stream of people leaving the ride through the exit. Zenzeroni shakily gets off the ride and brushes past people much to their chagrin as he hunts down Violet who’s head he is still able to see through the crowd.

“WHAT KIND OF TRICKS ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL?!” Zenzeroni yells spinning Violet around. But when he turns Violet around it isn’t Violet but a random girl that Zenzeroni had mistaken due to a similar hairstyle to Violet.

“Get the fuck off me creep” The girl brushes him off and begins whispering to her friend looking at Zenzeroni in disgust.

Zenzeroni walks over to the table that he had been at last time buying a treat for himself, a delicious funnel cake so that he could eat his sorrows away as he tries to make sense of the nightmare this night has turned into.