It builds as the car moves up the first hill. Man. It’s that sound. That sound.

Click click click click - as I move farther and farther from the ground, laying my life in the hands of a bunch of pulleys and cables on top of a slick new wooden frame. The wooden behemoths always bring the biggest rush. Go figure.

I’ve already lost my head by the time I reach the bottom of the first hill. I’m not myself. I’m the air. I’m the steel rails. I’m the wood. And it is the biggest high I have ever encountered in my life, because I’m suddenly outside myself, I’m a part of the night, a part of the air, the stars and that shining moon.

Eeeeerrrrchhh!

Sparks fly from the rails as the car shrieks to a halt three-quarters of the way up the second hill. All of the lights in the park come on at once and I’m temporarily blinded. My euphoria is extinguished, just as a fire is when it’s doused with water.

What?

I can hear sirens off in the distance. This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.