The Banzai Pipeline

In this story, some names of the incident will remain anonymous. Only certain traces of evidence, dates, and occurrences will remain as they were.

I'm sure some of you are familiar with the water park attraction called Waterworld California.

Before the water park was named after the state it was in, it was originally known as Waterworld USA Concord. It was Concord's first main attraction for decades, and had been providing family fun for almost everyone. People from all across the USA would come here to cool off during the summer. During winter, however, it would be closed down until next Spring. When it reopened, the park would always bring in a new attraction, which in turn would attract thousands of people.

On June 2, 1997, a group of high-school students from Napa attempted to break a world record for the most riders on a slide. The slide which they would ride on was called the Banzai Pipeline, and stood 6 stories high, right below the even bigger slide called the Cliffhanger. About 33 students marched up the wooden tower pushing and shoving through the tiny vessel, ignoring every liability and instruction made by the lifeguard on duty. One by one, they all slid down the closed pipe, creating a big plug trapping the students, but never made it all the way.

Halfway down, the slide burst open from the bottom, making a horrifying sound of breaking metal and fiberglass. It plummeted the 33 students, who were 40 feet off the ground, onto the concrete floor at full impact, spilling blood all over the water and concrete. All of the students got broken bones and severe injuries, except for one student; a 17 year old girl, who was the last to go on the Banzai Pipeline. As she was sliding down the tube right when it was breaking, she fell and hit concrete head first. She died on the way to the hospital.

After that whole incident, the area near the pipeline was covered in the blood of the 33 students that fell. That's when people began questioning "Are water slides safe?" From there on, Waterworld USA Concord took a turn for the worst. Sales went down, and something had to be done. But after another season, things softened down for the park. People began to worry less and take more precautions and by that time, so did the park, because they put up more descriptive signs and added more vigilance to the park. The park got off good, besides having to change companies three times and their name along with it.

May 2011 was the month I applied at Waterworld California. It was a pretty good job. The monthly pay I got was alright, but there was too much work. Everyone that works there doesn't really get along too well at times. It always has to be someone not liking someone just because they are assholes. By the mid-season, mostly around June–July, my co-workers and I would start to see and notice some strange things. Since me and my friends are the only ones that closed the park, we would always be told about the incident, knowing that we walked near the same slide that the girl had died on. The pipeline was the same as it was before the incident, although it was rebuilt and renamed.

It was on a regular scheduled weekday when I noticed the first strange thing. After a busy day, the evening fell with a strong wind. I was helping a co-worker with a trash run in the Luau Cove. We emptied 6 trash bins, each filled to the brim with garbage, put new bags in and headed to the dumpster. There was a lot of wind coming in from all directions, except in the cove. Since there are four pavilions, most of the wind that comes in doesn't go through as much. The garbage cans nearby were standing straight and stationary, even with slight wind pushing against them. By the time we walked back from the dumpsters, we passed by the luau, only to see the four bins tipped over and the rest still stationary. I looked at my friend in some disbelief, since the only people working during that time in that area was us and no one else.

We checked the kitchen and it was empty. The wind around that whole area was going in every other direction different from the one outside of the park. We checked with our other co-workers, but they were busy with other duties as well. A couple days later, we started noticing even stranger things. I was by the tube rentals on our lunch break with my co-workers when we heard a distant scream from a teenage girl. It wasn't a joyous or horrified scream, but a painful scream. A scream so painful that it gave me chills up my spine. I just couldn't move or say anything at all. We all heard it and just went back to work scared. Little by little, things began to occur. The showers would turn on randomly and stay on for long periods of time even when we were around.

We would feel a strange presence among every corner, ride or secluded spot we would go to. These things had to happen for some reason. One day, when I heading out from my shift, I managed to speak to one of the managers, explaining what was going on. He told me it was just the spirit of the girl who had died wandering around the park by herself. She was going around the park screaming in pain, knocking on walls and windows, turning on faucets and showers, and even knocking things over. He even said that some doors open on their own, and it was during the night when she usually does all those things. Could it be that her restless spirit still roams the park because of us? Or could it be something else?

All I know is that she comes back only during the month of June and mid-July around closing time. The night shift security and other people that have been in the park during the night time have also claimed of hearing painful screams from far away, and other odd occurrences throughout the park. The very same painful screams and occurrences still haunt the park to this very day. Since the park has a lot of security, I wouldn't recommend staying around after closing times, but if you do, stay alert and go at your own will.