Why was I scared of rollercoasters? I don’t know. I’d always thought it was a combination of a fear of heights and my hate for butterflies in my stomach. Anyways, I’d never tried to conquer it, not until today…

 

I was still a little damp, but I changed quickly and ran out of the changing room. We always go to Batman & Bizarro at the end of the day when we go to Six Flags, and I didn’t want to hold my friends back. We met with other kids from camp at the entrance to Batman. They all seemed excited to go on, a stark contrast to me, who has never dared to go on any roller coaster with loop-de-loops and upside-down segments. The track was painted purple, and the supports were black. The steel rails shined in the bright sunlight. People sped by, locked into the coaster, laughing and screaming. They were obviously enjoying themselves.

 

“I wonder if I’ll finally go on,” I thought to myself.

We started riding. At first, I didn’t want to go on, as you could probably expect. However, as we neared the end, we were only gonna have one or two more waves.

 

“It’s either now or next year,” I thought.

I decided to go on. After all, I’d never tried it before, so why not? When the next wave went up, I joined in. There was no one in line because, it was extremely hot, and we had a Flash Pass™. We got in the middle of the coaster, and I pulled down the restraints.

 

“What did I get myself into?” I wondered aloud. My friend, sensing my fear, gave me some advice.

 

“If you’re really that scared, look at that number three in front of you for the whole ride.” He advised.

 

“Ok,” I replied. Suddenly, the floor opened up and pulled back. Whoosh! Soon, there was nothing under us but rail and air. We lurched forward. Click! Click! The chain caught onto the coaster and brought us up the initial hill. As we rose, so did my nervousness, getting larger with every click. Finally, we reached the top. We started to drop, but then it flattened out. “Hunh?” I wondered. Just then, we curved to the left, and plunged down into a loop-de-loop. I expected to feel butterflies in my stomach, but they never came. We sped forward, propelled by our plunge, and went into a smaller loop, followed by a corkscrew, spinning us around the track. At last, the ride ended, by slowing down and flattening out, before turning into the station. “That was awesome!” I thought. The ride was exhilarating, and I felt a cross between excitement & joy. I didn’t even see why I was scared in the first place. That gave it an even greater meaning, rather than just being fun. I conquered my fear of rollercoasters!

 

I got off, and walked down to the photo booth, showing our on-ride photo. I looked ridiculous, but you could tell that I was having a good time. I had a wide giddy smile, almost like I was laughing.

“So, what did you think?” my friend said.

“It was awesome!” I replied.

“Ready to go on Bizarro?

“Uh…”

 

My friend slaps me on the back, and we burst into laughter.