Personal Narrative

Everyone loves a thrill. We watch movies that make us rethink what is in the dark with us, jump off of bridges and cliffs with our only savior being a bungee cord that may or may not be 10 years old, and we create gravity defying, speeding cars without motors and brakes. The crazy thing is, we do it all for fun. I, however, didn’t have a fun time when I went on a roller coaster that went upside down for the first time.
It was the first family vacation ever. We went to Minnesota; our main destination, Mall of America. This mall was the biggest mall I’ve ever been in. It had Legoland, an aquarium, and the best of all, an indoor theme park. I was in love with the rides. I had just become tall enough to ride all of the big kid rides, and I was using that privilege to go on every ride in the building. There were roller coasters that zoomed around the entire room, swings that

went up to the ceiling, and water rides that got you soaked no matter where you sat. After one day, I had rode most all of the roller coasters except for one; The Flaming Ax.
Now this was not just any sort of roller coaster. It was in the shape of an ax with the seats at the bottom. When you got on, you would pull the over-the-shoulders restraints down and click it in between your legs. Then the ride would start to move. It would swing around in circles keeping you upright in your seats until about the fourth time around. Then, when the ax would swing, you would go with it and end up upside down. Sometimes, you would just sit there for a few seconds and be righted again, other times it would go straight back up. It would swing for about five minutes and then, it was over. The scariest part about the ride was the pile of jagged, pointy rocks sitting right below the ride 40 feet down.
My brother was all for going on the ride. As a kindergartener, I didn’t want my brother to be braver than me, so I decided to go on too. We loaded onto the ride as a family. William sat by mom, mom sat by dad, and dad sat by me. I sat down, and dad clicked me in. I had tons of room between my body and the restraints. Dad then sat down next to me and tried to click himself in. The problem was, he was too tall and the restraints wouldn’t go over his shoulders. Because of this, dad had to get off the ride and watch. Mom decided I was fine where I was and didn’t ask to move me next to her. When everyone was settled, the worker started the ride.
Everything started out good.

The ride started to swing and go in circles. I could see my dad standing there waving at me while I was having fun. Then the fourth swing came. The ride whirled us upside down in a sweeping motion. I was already sliding in my seat before, and now I was being thrown around in the plastic seat. We dangled there for what seemed like an eternity to me. I was so small I started to slip out of the restraints I was in. My shoulders slid through with ease, and I started to panic. I gripped onto the handles with all my might trying to keep myself from slipping. I looked down at the pile of rocks below me. It seemed like they were inviting me down to crush me. I started to scream for mom, but she couldn’t hear me with all of the noise inside the room. I slid further down to the point where my ribs were almost past the restraints. My arms were giving out, so I tried to hook my legs onto the seat. I looked for Dad. I kept thinking that if he was here that he could save me. Searching for him, I felt myself slip more. I kept telling myself to hold on, that I would make it out

alive.
Then, with a jolt, the ride righted itself and I was back in my seat. With tears in my eyes, I screamed for Dad. I found him talking the the worker, telling him to stop the ride. Relieve flooded into me. The ride went around one more time and then slowed to a stop. I was safe. When the restraints unlocked, I jumped up and ran for my dad. I leaped into his arms as he talked to mom who was totally clueless that I about fell out of the ride. I was so grateful that I was off the ride.