The Roller Coaster
This is written for linebyline. The line was "if only".
As an added note, roller coasters are among my biggest fears, too, but I haven't actually conquered that yet and ridden one.
She stood near the front of the line; only three people were in front of her. The cheerful, excited faces around her did nothing to change her own expression, which was one of apprehension mixed with true fear, and most of all determination.
Her eyes wandered skyward, but she quickly pulled them back to the ground. No use psyching herself out, because she knew she’d take any excuse she could get not to do this. In fact, she even pulled her cell out of her pocket and turned it off. That eliminated yet another excuse she could have used.
The screams from overheard suddenly intensified, becoming louder and much harder to block out. Quickly, before her mind could really interpret the screams and convince her not to do this, she said rather loudly to her friend in line behind her, “So, what do you wanna do after this?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We can go get some lunch, or maybe check out the water park.”
“Lunch sounds good… although it probably won’t for long. We can go check out that concert your brother was talking about.”
“OOH, sure! That did sound really good. And we can probably get food ther, too, if it does still seem appealing.”
“Great. Have you ever heard them before? They sounded-”
Just then the clacking of brakes could be heard, and she abandoned that sentence and turned back around front to see the car just coming to a stop. The passengers all looked exhilarated, windswept, triumphant, not at all scared or traumatized. Even the little eight-year-old girl was smiling and laughing. This can’t be that bad,`she thought.
The people exited the gleaming blue car, and her resolve began to waver. The first person in line got in the front seat, and her mind flashed to the story she’d just heard on the news about a roller coaster breaking when passengers were on it. The second person in line got on, and she suddenly thought of the TV show she saw where a different coaster, similar to this one, stranded the occupants high up in the air, upside down, for nearly an hour. The third person got on, and she thought of that movie were everyone died from a roller coaster going off the tracks.
She was at the front of the line, and her anxiety level couldn’t have been higher. She was frozen, unwilling to move, her hand on the rail and body half-turned away.
“Are you ready for this?” her friend whispered anxiously.
She nodded, suddenly resolute, and stepped confidently into the car and began to strap herself in.
She was going to ride a roller coaster, if only once in her life. She was going to face her biggest fear.
And she enjoyed the ride more than anyone else in the park that day.
As an added note, roller coasters are among my biggest fears, too, but I haven't actually conquered that yet and ridden one.
She stood near the front of the line; only three people were in front of her. The cheerful, excited faces around her did nothing to change her own expression, which was one of apprehension mixed with true fear, and most of all determination.
Her eyes wandered skyward, but she quickly pulled them back to the ground. No use psyching herself out, because she knew she’d take any excuse she could get not to do this. In fact, she even pulled her cell out of her pocket and turned it off. That eliminated yet another excuse she could have used.
The screams from overheard suddenly intensified, becoming louder and much harder to block out. Quickly, before her mind could really interpret the screams and convince her not to do this, she said rather loudly to her friend in line behind her, “So, what do you wanna do after this?”
“Oh, I don’t know. We can go get some lunch, or maybe check out the water park.”
“Lunch sounds good… although it probably won’t for long. We can go check out that concert your brother was talking about.”
“OOH, sure! That did sound really good. And we can probably get food ther, too, if it does still seem appealing.”
“Great. Have you ever heard them before? They sounded-”
Just then the clacking of brakes could be heard, and she abandoned that sentence and turned back around front to see the car just coming to a stop. The passengers all looked exhilarated, windswept, triumphant, not at all scared or traumatized. Even the little eight-year-old girl was smiling and laughing. This can’t be that bad,`she thought.
The people exited the gleaming blue car, and her resolve began to waver. The first person in line got in the front seat, and her mind flashed to the story she’d just heard on the news about a roller coaster breaking when passengers were on it. The second person in line got on, and she suddenly thought of the TV show she saw where a different coaster, similar to this one, stranded the occupants high up in the air, upside down, for nearly an hour. The third person got on, and she thought of that movie were everyone died from a roller coaster going off the tracks.
She was at the front of the line, and her anxiety level couldn’t have been higher. She was frozen, unwilling to move, her hand on the rail and body half-turned away.
“Are you ready for this?” her friend whispered anxiously.
She nodded, suddenly resolute, and stepped confidently into the car and began to strap herself in.
She was going to ride a roller coaster, if only once in her life. She was going to face her biggest fear.
And she enjoyed the ride more than anyone else in the park that day.