I am sipping iced coffee and eating a doughnut in a bakery in Oasis 21 shopping square. I am looking out of the window. About 12 meters away from my seat, which faces the square, stands a haunted house built as a summer attraction. I have a direct view of the exit.
A sudden curiosity seizes me: what faces do the haunted house visitors wear when they come out of the scary house? How amusing to watch them!
Some minutes later, a young couple appears hand in hand. They don’t look scared, but are giggling. I take another bite and sip coffee. Then a group of high school girls pop out. They are laughing. They looked relieved under the bright sky after their adventure into darkness. Probably they are saying, “That was scary, wasn’t it? I'm frozen with fear.”
I keep watching. I have eaten two-thirds of the doughnut. Then a woman comes out carrying a boy, about 2 or 3 years old, accompanied by another boy around 5. The little boy is crying. The big boy looks excited. Their mother notices the bakery and is now approaching me. The front door opens. Suddenly a loud cry resonates all through the shop. The mother tries to soothe the crying boy with a doughnut but he says he doesn’t want to eat any.
I don’t like you, Mom.
why have you taken me
to such a scary place?
ドーナツを 食べてやらない 怖かった
Isn't it interesting that people pay money to get scared? I guess horror movies work the same way. Why do we do that? I guess it's because we know that we will be safe in the end, since it is all fake. That's what differentiates reality from fake horrors, although I think life would be quite boring if we knew that we will always be all right in the end. Excitement and uncertainty work in tandem in mysterious ways in real life.
ReplyDeleteCharlie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. True, life is full of misteries and unexpected happenings, but they make life interesting and adventurous.
Matuoka