metal girders, beams, and grating surround you...
you have been herded into a maze of a pen with hundered of others, waiting - some patiently, others not so much...
the line, this endless line, moves forward, slowly, but ever forward - inching you closer to the attraction that seduced you here...
The sun is bearing down on you face, on your shoulders - while a misting fan cools you for the brief instant its sweeping pattern is directed towards you...
the line suddenly lurches forward again, and just as suddenly stops...
you occupy yourself with polite conversation with those around you, with games (challenging or silly or both)...
and then, behold, the staircase - you are almost there...
one step... the anticipation is building, before this point, the destination seemed so far, so distant...
tenth step... almost half way to the top - you can see the shuffling legs and feet of those that have been waiting before you on the deck above...
seventeenth step... you have just past the landing and are minutes away from the standby deck... the clanking of the metal on metal, the roar of wheels on their tracks, the screams...
oh...
my..
gosh...
the screams...
the deck... you can see it now... you can almost touch it... your excitement and the excitement of those around you is almost visible...
you bounce back and forth on your feet as the line shifts again, and you are the next to board...
the gate opens...
you move towards you seat on the metal vehicle...
you sit and move the belt strap into its receiver... the form fitted shoulder harness closes over you and locks with a click...
Now, there is no turning back...
ahead of you, the metal track climbs and climbs into the sky, its full length blocked by the roof of the control tower...
you hear the "CLEAR" from the technicians and attendants...
with the hiss of pneumatics, the mass of plastic and metal begins to move...
click-click-click-click-click
you being your ascent on the track in the open air...
click-click-click-click-click
the others in the line begin to diminish in size...
click-click-click-click-click
the entire complex has become the size of a toy model...
click-click-click-click-click
you are hundreds of feet above sea level....
click-click-click-click-click
and this upward climb is coming to an end....
click-click-click-click-ssssssssss
the vertical movement stops smoothly and the vehicle takes a life of its own.
you are now hurtling towards the ground at over 60... no... 70 miles per hour.
the ground rushing at you as your stomach drops, and the wind is rushing through you ears, but you can't hear it because all you can do is scream!
Except you can't.
The sound has caught in you throat and you feel the adrenaline flood your system... your pupils pop open and you force your arms up into the air.... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!! finally escapes through your lips, through your gaping mouth.
Twenty feet from the ground, the track sweeps you back up and now you are spinning upside down. Your orientation is shifted continuously as the track swerves in and out of seemingly impossible turns, the wind, forcing your eyes open, causing them to shed tears.
The track rises up again, only to rush you towards the ground a moment later - the roar of the track, the squeals from the other passengers, the thrill of the ride... the flashes of light... wha? flashes of light? Then another hill... and another...
and then...
EEEERRRRRRRKKKKKKKK - sssssssssssssssss
it's over....
your body relaxes, but you can't wipe the grin off your face, you begin to laugh with your whole body... as you sit back and wait for them to bring the coaster back into its home...
you disembark from the ride, stumbling and skipping down the steps - and before you - monitors with the faces of the latest vistors of the roller coaster...
and there is you... hands in the air, mouth and eyes wide open in a frozen scream...
for $7 bucks you could take that home...
nah...
