Meeting the Jokers

Part 17

Me, Sal, Murr and Joe's anticipation grew like a balloon as we were pulled further up the rollercoaster; second by second we were getting higher and higher.

"I don't like this, guys," Sal covered his face with his eyes, holding the handrail awkwardly. He didn't want to touch it but he knew he should do.

As we reached the top, we were suspended onto a 10 metre drop, looking down at the vertical drop.

"Oh my god," Sal cowarded into the corner of the carriage, "I can't look."

I waved to Q quickly before grabbing onto the handrail which stopped us falling out.

We were slowly dangling further.

Then the balloon lost its air. We were dropped.

In a split second, we were racing downwards, our hearts beating rapidly and our screams were louder than our thoughts.

As we turned a steep corner, I got my breath back, before realising in front of us was a big farmers ban. A big red building made entirely from wood, but purposely huge and dark.

"Oh god," Sals eyes bulged out, and then tried to restore a safe breathing pace. "I hate this so much."

The ride quickly paced up and we were quickly into the barn. The doors shut behind us and we had stopped.

What was happening next?

The sound of a scream emerged from one of the passengers, and suddenly we dropped underground. The floor literally collapsed.

A hand clasped onto mine in fear. Sal's. My heart bested fast and I didn't shake him off. I reassured him we would be fine, and held my breath.

The black room was still pitch black, but now we were turning, and going up a track back up to the ground. Lights slowly flickered on as we came back up, and several people cheered as they made it out alive.

That was it, we were free.

Sal looked at his hand clasped onto mine and laughed, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I smiled, "I don't think anyone was more scared than you."

Sal laughed and watched as Joe got up into Q's face.

"You think that's funny?" Joe punched him jokingly, "You idiot. You can't even go on a ride at a theme park."

"At least I didn't scream," Q shot back.

"Hey," he threw his arms up in defeat. "I didn't scream."

"Right," Murr stepped in the middle of them both, "I think we need to find a ride for Q to enjoy... by himself."

Joe and Murr high fived and rushed to find the best ride.

Something childish I bet.

Of course.

Joe and Murr cheered as we followed slowly behind. Q surprisingly excited about all this.

"Water bumper carts!" They chorused in unison.

"What's so bad about this?" He said.

Q and Murr exchanged confused glances, "we can get something worse." Then they glared at each other slyly.

"How about that new ride they're showcasing," Joe said, "the one that hasn't been safety checked yet."

Q didn't notice the tv cameras rolling up behind him.

"I'm not going on that ride." Q protested.

"Well," the guys said in unison. The 'well' that gets higher as it ends; but never seems to end.

The guys swivelled round to the cameras filming their backs, "we're here for Q's punishment, which is hopefully a big surprise." Joe said.

"You guys!" Q yelled, "Well... I'm not going on the rollercoaster I'm telling you!"

"Cut!" Casey yelled from behind the camera.

"Look," Joe whispered. "You gotta go on the rollercoaster."

"No way," Q backed out, "I can't..."

"You have to," Murr joined in, "it's your punishment, you can't not do it."

"Wait!" Joe yelled, but still whispered into the huddle, which I wasn't sure whether to be a part of or not, "you can go on that rollercoaster or... you punch Sal."

"I'm not doing that!" he laughed.

"Well walk down to the rollercoaster then," Joe signalled the way.

Q turned towards the 12 stories high rollercoaster, then back Sal. Making a decision.