Scream

Inspiration for this post: I just felt like screaming after reading so much for my exam. My head is just too crammed. And when I thought of "Scream", this was the first thing that came to my head so I'm jotting it down!!!

Thats what it was called!!

After I completed my 11th standard final exams in school, I went for a fortnight to Germany with Dad... A vacation of sorts before the madness and pressure set in for 12th (ah... I dont think I will EVER forget that time of my life... So much pressure to perform well!). Anyways, during this vacation, my dad thought, "what the heck... Holland is right next door! Why don't I take my daughter to Amsterdam for a tour!". And so we went. And it was amazing! Amsterdam is one of the best tourists spots I have visited! (it was even better than Paris, in my opinion... Paris was just too big and too... well.. "tourist-y" :P) I enjoyed every bit of the trip. Especially when we went to a cheese factory on the outskirts of the city and sampled different types of cheese!!! (yummy! I wouldnt mind going there again just for the cheese *sigh*).

Anyhow, if I was to start describing why my trip to Amsterdam was so awesome, I'll probably end up with a long 2-part post. So let me get down to the topic of this post! Scream!

Nobody comes back from Amsterdam without visiting Madame Tussauds! We went there one day. I was all excited! In the entrance, they had 2 wax statues of Pierce Brosnan as 007. One statue has a dynamic pose with him holding a gun and the other statue was him standing with a glass of martini (shaken and not stirred!!! :P) in one hand and the other hand in his pocket. And of course... he had the usual charming "my name is Bond, James Bond " look on his face. My dad and I took a photo with him (and i treasure it!!!) Hmmm.... again deviating from the topic... Not my fault that I'm a big James Bond fan!!!

After an exciting photoshoot with James Bond, they ushered us into another room. Not the museum proper. But kinda like an intro room of sorts. Before entering the museum proper, we were supposed to go through some theme thingy that they had. And just my luck! When we visited the museum, it was a horror theme called "Scream"! :|

I tried to get my dad to take another route into the museum. I mean... i am sure they have detours for heart patients and little kids or something. I really really did not want to go into this tunnel of horror just to see the wax figures of a few celebs on the other side. Considering Pierce Brosnan looked so real, I shuddered to think how scary the figures in the tunnel would be. But as fate would have it, we proceeded towards "Scream". And yeah... I was screaming silently in my head.

They let about 6-8 people at a time. And we had to walk in pairs (thank God!) My dad and I were the last pair in our batch. We entered the dark tunnel. Saying it was "creepy" would be an understatement. It was downright scary! Everything was dark, save for an occasional fake lightining. I hardly looked up. I was looking at the floor and walking. I was too scared to see what was around me. My dad noticed that I wasn't looking around and enjoying the thrill (read as: Fright). So told me "Don't look down! Things will be scarier! Look around you and face reality!". I did that. I guess it wasn't too bad after all.... The walls looked like dungeon walls with a few stones shaking as though they were gonna fall on us... there were a few cages with human remains in them and torture devices and so on and so forth... standard stuff...

Then... up ahead... there was a scary and pale-faced woman standing there.... in ragged clothes

At first I thought she was just a wax figure which could not move. I mean, how can wax figures move?!!! I decided not to be scared of her. The first two pairs ahead of us walked unharmed. Then just as the pair before us was about to walk past her, she raised her hand like a traffic constable and stopped them. That was seriously scary! I think I almost screamed! The pair ahead of me got the shock of their lives! Then they sorta shakily laughed it off and continued. Just when we thought this wax figure was done with her evil job of scaring the wits out of customers, she proved us wrong. We walked towards her... then walked past her... I thought we were safe.... then she turned back and hissed at me!!!!!!! She friggin hissed at me!!!! Stupid woman! Why did she do that??!! I nearly jumped out of my skin! Damn technology and damn the advances that are made just to scare poor kids like me!!!

As usual, the best part (read as: Scariest part) is left to the end. We approached a cage. There was something inside it. I dont think whatever "it" was, was human. I don't even know what "it" was. "It" walked on two legs. Thats all I know. And I have no idea what "its" skin was made of. It looked grotesque. It went around its cage, screaming and banging like a mad thing. Literally screaming its lungs out as though somebody was torturing it by... i don't know... pulling out its toe nails or i dunno.... can't think of any form of torture thats painful enough for a thing to scream like that! And so this thing was screaming and banging around its cage. I thought to myself "worst case scenario, it will put its arms out of the cage and try to grab us... maybe if i keep my distance from the cage, it will spare me". And i walked... bravely.

As fate would have it... all the other pairs passed the cage just fine. As my dad and I were about to cross the cage, the friggin' cage door opened and within a split second that horrible thing burst out of the cage screaming!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!! YIKES!

Saying I was scared out of my wits... would again be an understatement. I yelped and tore towards the exit door pulling my poor dad along (i am guessing by the time we passed through the tunnel, blood circulation to his forearm must have stopped. I had a really tight grip on his upper arm all through our scary little stroll :P)

After that... everything went on well... I said hi to loads of celebs and had fun taking pictures with them.

But damn that whole "scream" theme that they had going!!!!

Asking why exactly am I blogging about this experience? Its probably because its one of the most memorable experiences in my life. I can still remember every detail of it. Even though I was frightened, I was happy inside and enjoying myself to the fullest. I guess sometimes its just nice to share certain memories that remain fresh in your head after so many years. Just today my dad was telling me that anyone's life story, if compiled properly, could be a potential best-seller. He would write a book on his own if he had the time to jot down all the memories that he has. Well... I am starting young! I am jotting memories down so that some day I will write an autobiography and make millions!!!! (of what... i dont know... copies? maybe not... dollars? maybe not.... we'll see what i can do with this book!)

Lesson learnt from "Scream"......

If you choose to go to Madame Tussauds at a time when "Scream" is their theme thingy, then take a brave friend along and make him/her walk on the side where the scary woman and "thing" come. Why scare yourself when someone else can get scared on your behalf! :P