Rollercoaster
One of the longest moments of my summer was also one of the scariest. And one of the most suspenseful. And one of the most exciting. I had been waiting for this, my first rollercoaster, for an hour in line. But in a way, I had also been waiting for it my entire life. I was well ready. So why was I so terrified?
We had just recently finished going through the long, hot line with a million people around us, talking, laughing, and some freaking out. Like me. I watched the excited people starting the ride, the screaming people at the peak of the rollercoaster, and the satisfied and/or traumatized people coming off while I was in line. I remembered that you could hear those screams, of everything from pure joy to insane terror, from the parking lot. That night in bed, the sounds of the TV in my parent’s bedroom turned into those screams. The sound of every car that passed outside my window became the rumbles and clicks of a coaster. But that was later. Right then, I was way too caught up in the moment to even think ahead to the next ride.
When our set of cars came, I walked up to the nearest one and strapped into my seat, the one on the end (this was my first real rollercoaster, I didn’t want to miss anything), with my sister Virginia directly to my left, and my other sister Lucy next to her. At least they were there to give me moral support, unlike the last ride. It was a small thing called Skull Mountain. Just a warm-up coaster, to get ready for the actual thing. It didn’t even go upside down, although I hadn’t been on an upside-down ride yet. The rows only had two seats in each, instead of four. There was a guy already sitting in the first seat, so I could either wait for the next ride or ride with a stranger. Well, I had waited long enough. My sisters were nervous that I’d be terrified, but I loved it. It was an inside coaster, completely dark, so it didn’t even matter who I was with. Although, this was a real rollercoaster. I needed them here, so it was good that there were four seats per row instead of two.
After we strapped in, the floor beneath us slowly fell away, and I practically wet my pants. My sisters explained this was standard, having a floor so people could get to their seats, taking it away so that the coaster could go. But it still made me nervous. The coaster started with a fast, short drop, and then we started to go up.
And up. And up some more. Just how long was this ride? We had to walk up steps to get to the start of the ride, so we were already maybe 20 feet up when we started. And we still had a long way ahead of us.
As we got higher (and higher and higher and higher), there was a great view. I could see the surrounding rollercoasters perfectly. Then I could see the entire park perfectly. Then I could see that, and Hurricane Harbor, and the Safari place too. I started to hyperventilate. My sisters held my hands.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Virginia with concern.
“Well, it’s too late now, isn’t it? We can’t exactly turn back!” I started breathing faster and heavier.
“We’ll be fine! You loved the last coaster!” Lucy yelled. We neared the top. We had been going up for probably over two minutes. I remembered at this exact moment that over 6500 people got injured on rollercoasters every year.
“I’m freakin’ out now. I’m really really freakin’ out now!” I said. Definitely hyperventilating. We were insanely high now.
“We’ll be fine!” Virginia practically shouted, just as we were going over the top. I tried to scream like you should on rollercoasters, but I couldn’t because we were going so fast, it took my breath away.
There, now remember, this is my first time writing a proper memoir, so don't judge. You know how I hate the judging. (if you don't, read this post.)
Here is you're funny picture:
picture copyright of "the Confuzzling Life of Me", another blog, by my friend Sarah, inspired by ME of course, that you guys should definitely check out.
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