Musically Yours, Ben

Chapter Two - A Quick Carnival Mishap

One story that is share worthy to start this 'book' off is a little story I like to call, A Quick Carnival Mishap. I like to start this story off by saying that I don't like to attract attention to myself and even though this mishap might have been a quick one, doesn't mean that it made the situation any better.

It was a warm and humid night this past summer. Every year our town holds a carnival in the back of the high school. There are about ten rides in all and even though they can't fit a super fast roller coaster in the backyard of the high school, they always manage to get The Ring of Fire. If you don't know what The Ring of Fire is, it is a ride that basically looks like a giant Ferris Wheel with out the carts that rotate around it. There is a roller coaster like cart that goes around the wheel like a track. It is quite fun, but after what Ben did last year, I don't know if I can like it anymore.

When we arrived at the carnival together, we had both saw The Ring of Fire. Wondering what it was all about, we quickly rushed to the ticket stand to by our wrist bands. To be clear, the wrist bands costed thirty bucks! What a freaking rip off. After the nice lady had wrapped the band around our wrists, we headed over to The Ring of Fire line. The ride was all the way in the back of the carnival and the line stretched out about ten feet. Now depending on how many people the guy could fit on the ride at once, we may had to stand for a little bit, and that's what happened. It took us twenty minutes to actually ride the ride. I don't think it was the space issue, I think it was more the guy running the ride who told every single person to not touch their seat belt until he came around. That took some time. Then he went back around everyone's seat a second time to push the harness and a last time to seat belt them in. Couldn't he have done it all at once? Not sure, the guy was a lunatic. Once we finally arrived to the front of the line, he let us step on and get seated. Just as we sit down I hear a raspy voice yelling.

"Don't touch the seat belts!"

It was the guy running the ride. I am pretty sure I saw a young boy buckle himself in and the guy running the ride (let's call him Greg so I don't have to keep writing, 'the guy running the ride') darted to him in a aggressive state and kicked the little boy off of the ride. I looked at Ben nervously.

"This guy is nuts!" I whisper while leaning over to tell Ben.

"I know, just keep calm and we will soon be off the ride." Ben whispered back with a smile.

I moved myself back into my seat and waited for Greg to come and seat belt us in only one step at a time. I soon noticed that there was a pair of empty seats across from us. Then before I knew it, a giant muscle man dad with tattoos all up and down his arms and what looked like to be his seven year old son stepped on and sat right in front of us. Now this was awkward... We all played staring tag until Ben decided to open up his big mouth!

"So...have you ever been on this ride before?" Ben asked nicely to the dad who literally looked like he hurt people for a living.

I looked at Ben with a nasty look to make him stop, but he didn't and soon I heard the dad begin to speak. His voice sounded similar to Greg's but more harsh.

"Oh, a bunch of times!"

Ben and I glance at each other with an uneasy feeling. I then try to ignore the fact that they were there. Soon, I heard the guy's kid say something.

"It's so fun! Right dad? Killer!" he yelled in excitement while making eye contact directly into my eyes.

"You bet little man!" the dad said, again in a harsh voice as if he smoked five packs a day.

"Get me out of here" I thought. I couldn't wait for Greg to actually run the ride and get me off in a matter of two minutes.

Finally the ride had started and I hung on for dear life. The cart started slowly up and down the circle. It gradually got faster and faster and soon we were making full 360's around the ride. As the ride was at its full speed, Ben and I noticed something. As both of us were screaming our heads off with the rush of adrenaline in our blood, the man and his son were completely relaxed and closing their eyes. How? I am not sure. They said they had been on the ride multiple times, so I am going to take that as the explanation. When Greg stopped the ride, Ben and I quickly exited and made sure that the guy and his son were far away. It may sound stupid that a guy and his son would scare us, but if you were there to see it, you would understand our pain!

Afterwards we decided to find somewhere to sit and get something to eat. We had gotten a thing of fries to share and a couple of bottles of water. As we ate I questioned Ben on why he would ever talk to a guy like that.

"Why would you ever talk to a guy like that Ben? It's dangerous."

"Hey! I was just trying to rid us of the awkwardness." Ben replied rapidly as he took a fry.

"Still. Let this be a lesson." I said chuckling.

"Agreed. Never again." He said with a smile.

I gave him a little push on his shoulder to play around. We had finished our food and then we left after a long night of rides. Let's hope this won't happen again... Seriously. The embarrassment of my friend talking to potential drug addicts and the fear of being mugged or killed isn't fun.