It was to be the final fright night rehearsal yesternight (friday). However, the cast was given the fright instead.
Guess what? The venue for the night disappeared! It’s not that they had made a mistake/wrong turn somewhere along the road. The entire place was torn apart and in the words of the chair, “had new grass growing all over it.” Amazing how a place can change in a little over a month. Now, at the eleventh hour, the race is on to find an alternative venue to host the all-important fright night for the freshnmen orientation camp.
But the above wasn’t really that frightening, was it? The scariest part of the night came later when everyone was gone, leaving him and another fellow actor waiting at a deserted rural road. Not that they were afraid of the supernatural or the fact that it is the lunar seventh month. In fact they were more bothered about the dog shit on the floor and mosquitoes swarming around them. And, of course, the discussion about whether to play mahjong after that.
After finally declaring that the suspicious pile (bloob/splat whatever) was indeed doggie poop, they decided to move down the road, towards the supposed exit of the damned place. What a wrong decision it turned out to be. As they walked, they realised from the high frequency of barkings, that there are plenty of dogs around. Now that is not strange, given the agricultural nature of the area. What worried them was the intensity of these barks. Thus they agreed that upon seeing a dog in front of them, they will stop all movement and observe its movement before deciding the next course of action.
They really did see the dogs. Behind a rusty gate, barking and growling. They turned and slowly retreated. He remembers these movies where by there are scenes depicting a chase. There would be a person trying to escape and a group of people trying to catch him. At the beginning both parties would be running around without knowing the whereabouts of each other. Then by wicked fate they would stumble across each other. Then there would be this surreal moment of stillness when neither party would move (to absorb the presence of each other). Then the spell breaks and the pursuit begins.
That was what happened here. There were these two dogs in a distance crossing the road. He paused, in adherence to the prior agreement. His friend stopped ahead of him. The dogs stopped too. And as the dogs turned, adrenaline started to course through their bloodstreams, slowing all motion. There was this briefest of peace before the lead dog started barking. The trailing one started to run towards them. And he turned to run. Followed by his friend. And the pursuit began.
He used to think being chased by dogs is something very funny. Something to laugh about. Not anymore. It’s actually quite frightening being chased by two ravening dogs. And they were almost cornered too. If the dogs never gave up, he and his friend would have ran into another pack of dogs. Surrounded by dogs is way, way, way worse than being chased by dogs.
Phew. Good thing that didn’t happen. As they huddled there in the dark, trying to keep as quiet as possible, they thought of an idea for the fright night: throw a pair of freshies in this area and let them make their way out of this doggie-infested hell hole. Hmm.. Wonder if the guy will abandon the girl…
