Rollercoaster
The hot July air enveloped me as I waited on line with my brother and cousin. Their short brown hair shone wet in the sun. This rollercoaster was supposed to be the best one in the park, with three flips and huge hills. That was probably the reasons the line was so long, it stretched way past the entrance to the ride. We had been waiting for fifteen minutes already, but the excitement made the time go by faster. I had been looking foreword to this ride all day, the adds for it made t look amazing and judging by the attitudes of the people leaving the ride, it was just as advertised.
As I waited in line I looked around and observed the people in the park. Most of the people looked tired and sweaty, running after their kids and trying not to make a scene. The kids looked happier then ever, huge souvenir cups full of soda hung around their necks, their eyes filled with wonder and amazement. There where groups of teenagers laughing and eating cotton candy or french fries, trying to figure out what ride to go on next.
All of these people, except for the little kids, seemed to be thinking about the next thing, not what they were doing at the moment. They were so focused on what to do next; they were probably missing some great memories. That’s the problem with people, they’re too worried about the future, they have no time for the present. This makes life go by to fast to enjoy, and this is the difference between kids and adults. Kids don’t really understand the future enough to think about it, they only have the present moment, and that is enough for them on its own. You could see it in their faces, eyes wide open, smiles plastered over their faces, they where genuinely happy and full of life.
The line moving interrupted my thinking. It was finally my turn to ride. My heart jumped as my nerves grew, I always got this was before going on a rollercoaster. My brother and cousin were just as excited as I was, and shared a high five. I buckled my self in and got ready to have the ride of my life. I looked around at over people getting on the ride. One girl was hyperventilating and wouldn’t get on the ride, her friend was urging her to get over her fear and get on. She finally did but held onto the bar so tight that her knuckles turned white. A woman who was about 30 was riding alone; she had a peaceful expression on her face. I could never imagine going to an amusement park alone and not having anybody to shared my joy with.
The voice came over to speakers bidding us farewell. The cart lurched foreword and we were off. People started cheering and reaching their hands up in the air. The girl that didn’t want to get on was screaming at her friend for making her get on the ride. We about halfway up the first hill when it happened. The cart stopped and flew back. This happened twice more until the people running the ride realized it was no use. The voice came over the speakers once again, but this time to inform us of the technical difficulties. It would take a few more minutes and we’d be on our way. That didn’t happen. Five minutes passed and we were still on the ride. The sun beat down on me as I squirmed in my restricting seat. People were starting to get inpatient and voiced their complaints. The scared girl started crying hysterically and workers ran up to her to try to calm her down.
“We’re trying our hardest to get you off the ride” a worker said cheerfully as she walked up and down the stairs that ran the length of the hill. The stairs were tiny and did not look sturdy at all, I didn’t know how she was walking up and down the with a strait face. I looked away from them and up at the sky; it was an odd color blue that day, somewhere in between deep blue and baby blue, you couldn’t name the color. The clouds were making shapes as the floated by. One was a bunny that turned into a star. Another was a whale with a full spout of water coming out of the top of it. Looking at the clouds was kind of like watching TV, they changed a lot and the shapes they made were always different and entertaining. Birds flying by added to the show, some flew in huge flocks shaped like a V. Others were in pairs, flapping their wings furiously to keep up with one another. Then there where the ones that soared effortlessly through the air, getting ready to land and pick for food scarped dropped by the people in the park.
“This is so cool!” My brother said as he peered over the edge of his seat. A crowd was forming below the ride, peoples faces turned up at us. They looked so tiny, their tiny arms waved at us and their tiny heads shook in disbelief. I smiled for some strange reason, I don’t know how tiny people below me could make me smile but it did. After a while, the crowd dispersed, there better things for them to do. That made me jealous, the had freedom down there, they could get a drink of water, buy ice cream, or go to the bathroom. That reminded me of how badly I needed to pee.
I turned around and looked ahead of me, the man in front of m was sweating profusely and yelling at one of the workers. He was not happy at all and probably a little embarrassed about his sweatiness. The worker was a girl that looked to be around sixteen. She long brown hair that was tied back in a bun on the top of her head. Her blue eyes showed her anxiety, as she not only had to wait with us but get yelled at by scary people. She tried to calm the man down but he wouldn’t listen, she grew more upset and her face turned scarlet, she was being humiliated in front of all of these people. The man probably wasn’t even thinking about what he was saying because he said some awful things to the girl. It was as if he thought she had pull some switch to make the ride stop and it was her responsibility to make it work again. I closed my eyes, trying to tune the horrible man out.
“ I dare you to unbuckle!” my cousin said to my brother. Of course my brother being 100% boy, accepted the dare and unlocked the bar that came down over his head. My cousin soon after followed suit and they continued with their game of dare. There weren’t many things to dare someone to do when you’re sitting in a constricting seat hundreds of feet above the ground, so the game quickly ended and their was silence in our row.
Finally after two grueling hours, we got off. It was bliss to walk back into the air-conditioned waiting area around the ride. It was kind of sad in a way; what once was crowded and noisy with excited people was now deserted. Plastic cups, napkins, and other garbage littered the floor. A forgotten stuffed monkey lay somberly on the floor, left by a disappointed park-goer who probably won it at one of the over priced game booths that were sprinkled around the park. There was cheesey music playing that I had not noticed before probably because of the noise level of the crowd. The silence was eerie and made me sad, it was just full of life before and now all that was left was garbage and a cheap carnival toy.
My brother and cousin ran ahead of me, eager to get in line for other rides. I wasn’t to eager, my legs were in need of a good stretch from sitting for so long and I needed to find a bathroom. People passed by me trying to get back into the park and away from the ride. They noise level rose again and I couldn’t here the music any more. I stood there until everyone had left. More garbage cover to floor and the monkey was gone. I laughed to myself as I noticed its absence, someone actually cared about the pathetic thing enough to pick it up. After a few seconds I made my way to the exit shaking off the feelings of the day. It ook one more glance back at the waiting area, the workers were in a huddle talking to each other, the maintenance crew had already gotten there and were picking up the garbage. I turned around and kept walking, happy to be leaving.