A LIME-GREEN BLUR
So there I was, standing in line at
Great Adventure on a furiously hot summer day.
The line for the Extreme wrapped around the whole park. Yet I waited,
curious on what was so extreme about this ride.
Two hours dragged on before I got to the start of a never ending
line. I was the last rider, riding
solo. “I'm brave, I 'm brave,” I
whispered to reassure myself.
The sun started to set; and the sky
darkened with every minute. The coaster gates shot up after five terribly
boring minutes. I eagerly leaped onto the car-like seats. The black rubber seat
belts floated down. Clink! They locked close. As I sat there, my
horrified heart pounded inside me like crazy.
I almost died from fright when the park employee unexpectedly pulled down
a green lever. Then I was as quiet as
dreaming trees while I waited for the Extreme to zoom off. Three…two…one, I
froze. Blast off!!!
The roller coaster sprinted
with so much force I nearly fell out of it.
It zoomed straight and made a quick sharp right turn. The Extreme moved vertically towards the
sky. Click! Clack! The tracks were screwing up! By now I had
passed the atmosphere and was heading into space. I thought, Why am I going into space?
As I sat at the peak of the tracks, I glimpsed
down 2,000,000 miles for only one second.
I closed my eyes in anticipation of the roller coaster taking the 180
degrees drop in order to return to Earth.
Then I said something that I shouldn’t have. I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Stop!” The
roller coaster immediately hurled.
My body shivered uncontrollably as
I stepped off the roller coaster. I couldn't believe I was standing
in outer space. This was not possible
but there I was. Scary thoughts chomped away at my brain. I sat speechless and
motionless for hours. Finally, I
turned my head and noticed all the planets.
The sight of the bright and beautiful planets calmed me. Mercury burned fiery red. Venus was mustard yellow. Mars looked exactly like the clay my brother
and I used to dig for. Jupiter flashed
especially huge and reddish. Saturn
shone beautifully in the dark. Neptune was
glowing shades of aqua blues. Pluto, my
favorite planet, couldn’t be seen in the darkness of outer space. I stared at my planet Earth and was quite
certain I saw my tiny big house far, far away.
Suddenly, I heard a whizzing in the
far distance. The unexplained whizzing came closer and closer until I spotted a
turquoise flying spaceship halted right next to me. I peeked into the crystal
clear cockpit of the UFO. And there it
was - a lime-green alien. The alien had
three red frightening eyes, four small arms, and five squirmy legs. An alien was standing in front of me?! Suddenly, the alien blurted out something
that I couldn't understand. It sounded
like HimynameisWreckingElf,whoareyou?Areyouastrangerfromearth?
“Why are you in space?’’ the alien
said in a slower voice.
I screamed, breaking the outer
space silence, “Ahh…An Alien!”
“It's okay. Calm down.
My name is Wrecking Elf,” the alien began. “Tell me, why are you stuck
in space?”
“I-I was afraid to go down the
steep roller coaster drop. I didn’t want
to get that weird feeling in my stomach.
So I stopped the ride in midair and got off the Extreme,” I answered
cautiously.
“Well, I will help you return to
Earth but you must do exactly as I say.”
“What shall I do?”
“You must be confident,” Wrecking Elf commanded.
I hesitated, “I-I am ready to start.”
“Keep your confidence until the
roller coaster stops. Has anyone ever
encouraged you to do something daring?”
I told Wrecking Elf my daredevil
brother Ryan always nudged me to do the daring.
“The next step will be simple. What were the words Ryan used to encourage
you?” Wrecking Elf asked.
“I don’t remember.”
“Think! Think! Think! Think all the way to the
back of your brain!”
I dug through my messy brain, and
at last, recalled this one memory.
“Well, there was the time when my
brother encouraged me to go on this 300-foot water slide. Ryan shouted, ‘You can do it! You can do
it!’ I did finally make it down the
slide. I always cherished this
memory," I said as if I had known all along my brother’s chant.
“Now, sit in the roller coaster and
repeat your brother’s chant.” These were Wrecking Elf’s last words. In the next second, he flew into his
spacecraft and up and away into complete darkness.
“No, don’t go! Don’t!” I called
after the UFO, hoping Wrecking Elf would turn around and come back. He never did.
I sat there motionless for what
seemed like days thinking how in the world I encountered an alien. I thought they were non-existent! All of a sudden, a rush of energy
overcame me. I sprang up. My feet automatically stepped toward the
roller coaster. I jumped into my seat
and sat still.
I announced confidently, “I’m
ready!” My words echoed in outer
space.
I gripped firmly on the handle
bars. The roller coaster rested at the
peak of the tracks. “You can do it. You can do it,” I chanted. “I can do it!” I
repeated to myself one last time before the devastating drop.
The nose of the Extreme pointed
downwards. The roller coaster and I plummeted back to Earth. As the Extreme
approached the ground, all that extra speed threw it into ten upside down
flips. It kept rolling on the tracks and
then slowed down, stopping where the ride began. I dreamingly stepped off the Extreme, my chin
lifted up with pride. I marched back home,
grinning from ear to ear under the dim moonlight.
Exhausted,
once home, I threw myself on the family couch.
Whizz. Whizz. I squinted and noticed a lime-green blur
whizzing around. Could it be…?
