We all knew it was coming.
The cool Lake Erie breeze
Caressed our faces,
The seagulls flying over the bay cawed to us
In some strange bird language
Only they could understand.

People, like little ants,
Waited in line to get on this horror train
Wanting to experience the thrill,
The anticipation coursing through my veins.
Panic paralyzed me, held me down
Against
The warm metal seat.

Screams before

I knew what happened.
Stomach dropped.
We plummeted down a steel track
Snow white knuckles
Gripping the handlebars.
My hair flew out
Tangling and being tossed by the wind
A turbo-speed tornado.

Falling through the air
Like a group of idiot daredevils
Who forgot their parachute
But jumped out of the plane anyway.

Up, down, around, upside down
Everything was happening so fast
I couldn’t
String
A Single
Sentence
Together

Slingshot upward
Towards another hill
The cascade of screaming people
Arms in the air catching the wind,
Mouths open in a perfect O of terror
Another plunge down a hill
Centrifugal force lifting me up
Fighting against the lap belt

I was flying
Cutting through the air
An arrow shot from a bow
A bullet coming out of a gun
A rocket leaving the earth

I could barely breathe
From sheer terror and excitement
Some strange combination of the two

Diving towards the ground
Towards a crowd of people
Who stopped to watch
The strong gust created by our passing
Ruffled their clothes
Blew their hair back

One more hill
Looming in the distance
I didn’t dread it
I was anticipating the thrill

We all knew it was coming.
The cool Lake Erie breeze
Caressed our faces,
The seagulls flying over the bay cawed to us
In some strange bird language
Only they could understand

People, like little ants,
Waited in line to get on this horror train
Wanting to experience the thrill,
The anticipation coursing through my veins.

I knew what I was getting myself into
And I loved every second of it.