I spent the long weekend in beautiful Edmonton, Alberta, attending a big event.
While there, I had a few spare hours so I went to West Edmonton Mall for some shopping and nostalgia. I took a stroll down "Bourbon Street", a section of the mall dolled up to look like an evening street scene, with each restaurant and bar along the way done up to look like a street front. It's dimly lit.
As I neared the far end, there was a dark figure before me. It wore a dark hood, a dark robe, and was brandishing a FREAKING LIGHT-SABRE.
Honest truth, I was 100% convinced that it was THE DARK LORD OF THE SITH standing before me. My heart stopped.
A few moments later, as I stood there with my mouth open, my eyes adjusted to the light and my brain finally processed what was going on.
It was a Muslim woman, with a black hood and robes. The "light-sabre" was actually a long brush with a shiny metal handle that reflected the light brightly. She wasn't brandishing a light-sabre at me, she was removing dust from some glass panels. Never the less, for about 15 seconds I was
**** terrified.
Intentional or not, it was a great Star Wars "cos-play".
-k