Cincinnati Apocalypse Part 4

The problem with Americans-one of the many, anyway-Giles thought, was that they had too much of everything, including too much money and too much time on their hands. What else could explain the vulgar extravagance of a place like Disneyland?

The staff at the entrance turnstiles-guards, really, the former Watcher mused-had given him a hand-painted map-well, a brochure containing a tri-fold photograph of a hand=painted map-of the gigantic amusement park, showing its division into various "lands": Opening off the Town Square, Main Street, a promenade between false-fronted buildings resembling a pristine small town's chief boulevard led, to the left, to an implausible Adventureland and, to the right, to an equally unlikely Tomorrowland. Beyond Adventureland was New Orleans Square (so, presumably the park was in Louisiana, not Anaheim, California, after all, Giles told himself) and, beyond it, Critter Country. To the right of Critter Country lay Frontierland, then Fantasyland, and, finally, the circular park came round, as it were, once more, to Tomorrowland. The vast size of the park was intimidating, even with the map in hand, especially when he had to find one person among the thousands who milled and strolled about the wide lanes, crowded the various people movers, and waited in long, serpentine lines that folded back upon themselves numerous times as the park's visitors waited their turn for the few minutes' thrill this or that attraction or ride promised to provide. Americans, Giles told himself for the hundredth time since he'd become a resident of the United States nearly a decade ago, were definitely insane, there was no doubt about it. No wonder the demons had chosen to locate not one but two (and maybe more) of the inter-dimensional portals between their realm and the Earth, the Hellmouths, in such a country.

As he sought the Chosen One, Giles' gaze met many an incredible sight. Horse-drawn streetcars and double-decker buses transported passengers through throngs of passengers as the vehicles passed streetlamps blossoming with a bouquet lights inside frosted-white globes; brick sidewalks that fronted manicured parks planted with trees, green lawns, topiary, and banks and tiers of bright flowers; and decorative Victorian mansions.