Silverthorne Towers

One

Deathstalker. That's what they called it. The electrifying roller coaster newly opened at Silverthorne Towers theme park, equipped with just enough sickening inversions and death-defying speeds to guarantee riders the adrenaline rush that they specifically paid that ridiculous amount of money for.

To Matthew Sager, however, it was merely a hunk of metal just waiting to sever someone's limb or eventually get the park shut down for good with some accident or another.

Signs were plastered all over the park screaming "Dare to ride the Deathstalker!". Though they were everywhere, Matt had tried his damn hardest to ignore each one.

As the savage row of cars stormed past him, growling furiously and causing the tracks to rattle and sway precariously, he found himself feeling slightly ill. Not a chance, he thought. Watching the tiny heads of the riders as they were tossed and jolted viciously in all directions while their seats took them to heights and angles that no human should technically be able to survive made him realize that...no, no way in hell, absolutely no amount of money would get him to ride that thing, he wasn't suicidal for Christ's sake, just no.

Apparently no amount of persuasion from his siblings could do so either.

"Come on, dude. It's safe!" insisted David, Matt's brother, older than him by 4 years.

Matt responded to this with a shake of his head and an expression of distaste.

"You're more likely to die in the car on the way home than on a roller coaster." explained his sister, Caitlin.

"At least the car doesn't go upside down," Matt muttered, prying his gaze away from the metal beast as his stomach gave another nauseating tug.

"Well what do you think is going to happen anyway?" questioned David. "That it'll crash? That you'll fall out?" he laughed quickly and continued. "Please, that stuff literally never happens."

"Not true," protested Matt, "just recently some roller coaster in England crashed and two people lost their legs. All they did was forget to move the empty test car out the way, it was as easy as that. Now they'll never walk again. Sounds like fun, right?"

"You're making that up," David scoffed.

"Actually he's not," Caitlin interjected as she searched for a related news article on her phone. Once she had located one, she showed it to her brother. "See,"

David scanned the article quickly before rolling his eyes and handing the phone impatiently back to Caitlin. "That was an isolated incident," he stated, "I swear we'll be fine. I don't see any empty test cars here!"

"Don't care," Matt replied stubbornly, "not doing it-"

The ride roared them again, drowning out Matt's words with ease. That clanking sound it makes, he thought, that can't possibly be healthy.

"Come on!" David pleaded.

"Let's leave him," Caitlin suggested, "he doesn't have to. And besides, if he shits himself, we still have to drive him home with his smell in the car."

David chuckled and patted his kid brother heartily on the back. His smile was met with a casual side glare from Matt. Yet despite his aggravation and how uncomfortable he found the current situation to be, Matt also realized with slight amusement that he was now about as tall as his brother. After spending the majority of his life being the short one, this new found awareness of his height was very satisfying indeed. Maybe he'd finally be able to beat him in a fight.

David shook Matt's shoulder with his hand and said, "Alright, alright, you big girl, we'll go on without you. Stay here. Honestly though, you don't know what you're missing."