A few weeks later, Leora stood in the parking lot of Disney World's Magic Kingdom, surrounded by Toby and several of her other friends, each one sporting souvenirs from years past. The group chattered with excitement, wondering how much the park had changed since last year, debating which ride to go on first, and discussing when lunch would be. Most had driven themselves there, but for the few whose parents had supplied their ride, it was a struggle to get their parents to leave. Reassurances of, "Look, I have my cell phone. I'll call you the instant we even think of leaving. Don't worry, I'll be fine" were common among them, and repeated often. Finally all parents had driven away, waving out their windows.
"You'd think after this many years they'd just give it a rest, wouldn't you?" Toby stated, shaking his head.
"Yeah..." Leora responded, not really listening. "Everyone! Listen up!" she called out to the group. It had been her turn to organize this year's event, which put her in charge of everyone. She waited until everyone was looking at her, then continued. "Remember to keep your cell phones on, and to stick together. I know it seems lame, but it's the best way to keep from getting lost. You can split up into smaller groups, so long as you have someone with you at all times. We meet at the Funnel Cake place at noon for lunch, then at the gate when the park closes. Got it memorized?"
There was a collective laugh at her quoting Kingdom Heart's Axel, and shouts of agreement and excitement. As one, the group shouted, "And so we go!" and went dashing across the parking lot, headed for the tram to the ticket gate.
Not much later, they stood in line for the monorail to the Magic Kingdom park. "Nice day, ain't it?" a person was saying in front of them, gazing at the blue sky, his big black cowboy hat shading his face.
"Yup," his partner replied, following the first one's gaze. "Perfect Florida day to be in Disney."
The line moved forward, and soon the group of teens was next in line. Toby tapped the shoulder of an attendant, getting the woman's attention. She was heavy-lidded, with thick makeup and even thicker lipstick. "Whaddya want, kid?" she asked, sneering.
"I heard that people can ride in the front of the monorail. Could me an' my friends do that?" Toby asked, using his puppy eyes on her.
"Sorry kid, but there's already a full group for the next two trains. Tell ya what, I'll put you up here, an' you can wait for a few minutes. But there's only room for one of ya."
Toby sighed. "Fine. I guess just Leora here will ride up front." He turned away, informing everyone else of the slight change in plans, then waved as Leora followed the snooty woman to a separate gate. It wasn't long until it was her turn, and she piled in the front car of the monorail. The driver looked askance at her, but said nothing as he piloted the monorail forward.
"This is so cool!" Leora stated, gazing at the view provided by the wide window of the monorail. "Wait... wasn't the sky just clear?" she asked, a confused look crossing her face.
"Yeah. Why?" the conductor asked, staring straight ahead.
"Well, just look at it now! There's clouds everywhere! If I didn't know any better, I'd say it looked like it was gonna rain..."
"That's impossible! The forecast for this entire week was completely devoid of even the smallest cloud!" the conductor said, confounded. He and Leora fell silent as they continued to stare at the continually darkening sky, until it was blocked off by the hotel. Normally it wouldn't be such a surprise, but Leora had completely forgotten that the monorail went through a hotel on its way to the Magic Kingdom. She fidgeted around until the monorail emerged from the hotel, and gasped at the sight of the outside world. The sky was an interesting shade of purplish-black, and it was pouring buckets of rain. The darkness and the rain combined formed a visibility of roughly three feet.
"What in the name of Hades is going on?!" the conductor muttered.
Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding white light, followed instantly by an earsplitting crack of thunder. Leora yelped and ducked her head, covering her head with her hands. The conductor squealed like a three-year-old girl. The monorail buckled, shuddering violently. There was another crack of deafening thunder, and suddenly it felt as if the monorail was falling. Leora and the conductor clutched onto the handrails, screaming at the top of their lungs. There was a loud splashing noise as the monorail landed in some huge body of water. The impact threw Leora to the floor. She barely had time to register pain in her right leg before the monorail began to sink quickly, the water level rising visibly against the glass.
"Oh my god! We've landed in the lagoon! We're gonna DIE!" the conductor wailed, leaving his control station and stumbling over to the sliding doors. He frantically pulled at them, trying to wrench them open. It was no use. He started hyperventilating, pounding his fists against the doors.
"Stoppit! You'll use up all the oxygen! We'll die faster if you do that! Calm down, dammit!" Leora shouted, attempting to stand up. She glanced around, looking for an escape. "Hey, is there a button we could push to open these doors?"
The conductor's face lit up. "Of course! We're saved!" he yelled, pulling himself back to his podium. By now the water level was almost all the way up to the top of the monorail window. He flipped open a small box, and pushed a raised yellow button, then rushed over to the doors before they could open. He didn't have time to move before the wall of water rushed in, slamming him against the opposite wall. Leora gasped, covering her hands with her mouth. She didn't have time to worry about him, though, because now water was rapidly filling the monorail. It was cold, far colder than any Florida water should be. She shook her head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. She had to wait until the water started slowing down, then make her move: otherwise, she'd be dead in the blink of an eye. The waiting was torture, but finally the water began to equalize, and none too soon. Even Leora, at six feet tall, had to stand on tiptoe
to keep her chin above water. She inhaled deeply, then plunged beneath the ice-cold water, heading for the opening. She misjudged her speed and went careening into the side of the monorail headfirst before correcting herself and swimming out of the open door, kicking away from the monorail. She winced every time she moved her right leg; she fervently hoped she hadn't broken it. The surface seemed to be nowhere in sight. She began to panic, fighting hard to not start hyperventilating underwater. Finally, a thought occurred to her. She relaxed, and almost sighed in relief as she began to float upwards. Her lungs began to feel as if they were made of molten lava when finally her head broke the surface. It was still raining, but was now much colder than she remembered it. She spun around, trying to fight the current that wanted to pull her under. 'Wait, since when was there a current in a standing body of water?' she thought, puzzled.
She forced herself to calm down and think rationally. A warm flood of relief filled her as she saw lights—obviously the shore—not far away. She kicked off towards them, swimming hard. A few times she got pulled under, only to pop back up, gasping and spluttering. Finally, she crawled onto dry land, her head throbbing like mad and her right leg feeling as if someone had attempted to rip it clean off her body. She collapsed, barely able to breathe. It wasn't long before she passed out from the exhaustion, cold, and pain.
