Page 34 of Arranging Ayra
“A little?”
The shaky and bumpy ride was almost too long for my liking, but I was nonetheless pleased to have tried it.
“Where to next?”
“I think you might like Th13teen.”
“Hmm... sounds ominous.”
But the cars looked like old-school roller-coaster cars. The ride was enjoyable, nothing new, but far, far too brief.
“Is that all?” I said as the car came to a stop in a darkened tunnel.
I barely had time to see the knowing smile on Barn’s face before the tunnel went completely black.
“What’s going on?” I said, suddenly concerned.
I let out a light screech as the car shook and shook some more. The car fell and my heart jumped up to my throat. I screamed as I reached out to grip Barn’s hand. I had no idea what was happening and suddenly the car whipped backwards and pulled out of the dark tunnel and back to daylight.
“Oh, my God,” I whispered. “What was that?”
The curved track we had emerged on switched to a straight one ahead and the car slowly moved forward and returned to its starting position to welcome new riders.
“Impressed yet?”
I couldn’t very well deny that I was. “I don’t even know what to say about it.”
We made our way to our next ride. The Spinball Whizzer.
“Spinball,” I said as we waited in line. What could a Spinball roller coaster do?
“How are you liking your day so far?” Barn said, smiling down on me.
“I think it may very well be one to write home about.”
“Good.”
“And I certainly am glad that I opted for shoes and not the flip flops I initially considered.” Remembering my choice of footwear reminded me of the hat I had also put on and I instantly patted my head to find the hat was gone.
“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I’ve lost my hat. I loved that hat!”
“Worry not,” Barn said with cool calm. “You lost it at Galactica, and I’ve made sure an employee will hold it for you until we collect it later.”
Oh, how sweet of him. He really was such a sweet and kind man... so... Mr. Darcy.
Our turn came up.
The cars of the Spinball Whizzer were peculiar; small individual cars with patrons facing the front and others facing the back. Barn and I got into the side facing the back.
“That’s not fun,” I said with a pout. “I’d rather sit facing the front.”
“It won’t matter. You’ll see.”
And, indeed, it didn’t. Once the ride took off, I realized why it was called the Spinball Whizzer, as the car periodically spun around all while whizzing down the track.
“Who in the world thought of such a thing?” I said as we got off. “I’m not sure I can take anymore.”
“Just one more, and we’ll take a breather.”
