It’s the climb that I wait for.

The climb, the anticipation, the buildup and the suspense- because the second it all

snaps

and you’re caught in limbo, the “no g-zone”, the free-fall, that’s where the food comes back up. That’s where, time and time again, the regret of two hot dogs and a hamburger come to haunt you.

It’s the moment just before all of that, just before your mind at night says, “Yes, well, here’s all the times in life you’ve ever messed up.” The moment just before it all goes wrong, or it all goes right, because the drop may seem like a blur, but you know and knew exactly what is and was happening. You can physically feel the forces coming down on you as you plummet downwards. But on the way up, you have nothing but a building sensation and a wonderful view.

The way up is also the time to make jokes

“Hey, can I get down from here now?”

“Is it too late to go to the bathroom?”

“So how’s your day going?”

before all of your voices dissolve into screams. Or pukes. I don’t judge.

But who wouldn’t enjoy that? The serene moment before it all breaks loose? The bump of the coaster climbing and climbing, seeming to be all by itself, but you know there’s still machinery below you. The feeling of, “Well, this isn’t so bad, now is it?”

Who wouldn’t enjoy that?

That’s why

it’s the climb that I wait for.