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Sleeping with the Lions in Calabria

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Arriving late in a small town in Southern Italy, my cousin and I found ourselves without a place to stay. In our desperation, we chose to spend the night on a park bench. As the night progressed, I was repeatedly startled by chilling screams. Despite my attempts to alert my cousin, he was more annoyed than concerned. The final straw came when I heard a lion’s roar right next to my bench. This time, my cousin heard it too, and we both decided to make a hasty exit from the park. 

Next thing I hear is the roar of a lion that sounds like it is in the bushes next to me. I peek out from my cover, and I see my cousin standing over me: 'I heard that. Let's get the F out of here.'

👇 TLDR

My cousin and I got of the train late, did not have accommodations set up, walked around but found everything booked, and decided to find a park to sleep on a bench.

My cousin immediately falls asleep. As I am trying to I hear a loud scream like a lady or child being murdered.

I loudly whisper: "Cousin! Did you hear that?" ... "You woke me up I didn't hear anything, go back to sleep!".

This happens 2 more times, and the final time my cousin says: "If you wake me up again I am going to beat the piss out of you. GO TO SLEEP!".

Now I'm under my sleep sheet like a 4 year old hiding in his bed from the monsters in the scary movie he just watched.

Next thing I hear is the Roar of a lion that sounds like it is in the bushes next to me. I peek out my cover and I see my cousin standing over me: "I heard that. Let's get the F out of here."

We quietly and slowly tip-toe out of the park, every step thinking a lion is going to pounce on us from the bushes.

Eventually we get back to the train station, spend the res of the night there, and in the morning have the brave idea to go back to the park thinking there would be police and a murder scene waiting.

When we get back to the park, we find the benches we slept on but no police, no taped off murder scene. What we DO find is that we ended up sleeping in an open zoo on benches directly between a peacock enclosure and a lion enclosure. Who knew peacocks sounded like dying people when they make sounds...

TL;DR

Arriving late in an unknown city, my cousin and I found ourselves without a place to stay, as every accommodation was fully booked. In our desperation, we chose to spend the night on a park bench. However, as the night progressed, I was repeatedly startled by chilling screams, reminiscent of a woman or child in severe distress. Despite my attempts to alert my cousin, he was more annoyed than concerned, threatening me with violence if I disturbed his sleep again.

The final straw came when I heard an unmistakable lion’s roar right next to our makeshift beds. This time, my cousin heard it too, and we both decided to make a hasty exit from the park, fearing for our lives. We spent the rest of the night at the train station, safe but rattled. The next morning, curiosity got the better of us, and we returned to the park, only to find that we had actually spent the night in an open zoo, sleeping between peacock and lion enclosures, and realizing that the eerie screams were actually the calls of peacocks.

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