The Ride of Doom
By: Ryan Baker
Once again, I see the green and orange serpent except this time, it’s after my dad and I.
"Are you sure you want to go bud?" asked my dad as we were sprayed with water from the last roller coaster.
"Yeah, I'm sure... but it- it- it- looks really scary, I mean with the water, and that humongous drop!" I replied tripping over myself as I walked towards the entrance of my very first roller coaster.
I'm about ten years old at the time and I had a deathly fear of roller coasters, especially ones with a big, steep, drop. The roller coaster which they called "The Ride of Doom" was part orange and part green with a lightning bolt like shape in-between each color. Along with what I thought they were pretty chilling colors, there was a humungous drop and at the end you got splashed into water. Also, it just so happened that I am terrified of heights.
As my Dad and I walk up the never ending steps to the top of the roller coaster he asked me over and over if I'm sure I want to do this, and each time I reply with "Of course I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?".
So we keep on walking up to the top, and when we is when I become the most frightened, I see the snaking line of people getting ready to go onto the coaster and when I look to the end of the line where they are boarding the coaster I see scared, happy, ecstatic, and death defying faces looking around for friend and family.
We inch closer and closer to the ride like a cat stalking it’s pray and I get even more and more frightened. I hear screams after screams, splash after splash, and then what gives me hope is that after those screams and splashes I hear laughter and excitement.
Once again I see the green and orange serpent except this time it's after my Dad and I. I want to be scared but I just can't. I need to face my fears and board the serpent with courage and excitement. As we are getting on, my Dad reassures me and does what a father should, then when everybody is on board the coaster, the bars come down and we are ready to roll.
"Chhhhh" the coaster made a noise telling me that we were about to go and before I could say the word, "WAIT!" I became squished under the bars as we were riding down on a steep angle screaming my head off as my Dad laughed next to me as if I were some kind of comedy show.
But the thing is, there was a part of the roller coaster that I hadn't seen before we got on. There was a part where it rocked side to side and by the time it was over I most likely had the face as if I had seen a murder, except with tears rolling down my cheeks silently as if they didn't want to be seen.
We climb back up to the top of the ride so others can ride and my Dad asks me over and over if I’m okay and every time I just nod my head.
When we get back to my Mom and Brother they say that they couldn't see me because I was so far under the bars. How embarrassing! Then my Mom asked if I was ready to go so again I just nodded my head and we were on our way back to our cousin’s house.
