The Destroyer

The sedan carrying the double date eased into the parking spot. It might be the gentlest part of Grant’s day. His nerves were palpable. Adrenaline coursed through his body like ants slowly gnawing away at his stomach before making their way to his heart and throat.

They hadn’t even entered the park yet.

The torrid mixture of his anxiety and the August sun beating on the concrete beneath his feet was already causing beads of sweat to run from Grant’s scalp through his gray T-shirt – an admittedly stupid wardrobe choice in retrospect. Lucy met him in front of the sedan, her shoulder-length brown hair bouncing with her every move.

“You ready for this?” She said to Grant.

Even though he said very little to her about his desire to be anywhere but Lightspeed Park, she could read the emotion of the lines on his face perfectly after a few wonderful months. Though she sensed his tentativeness, Grant was still very much in the I-am-a-strong-and-impressive-man-with-little-to-no-fear phase of their relationship and in life. Vulnerability is hard when you’re trying to impress someone. After all, being 20 years old meant being somewhat invincible. Though one is far less invincible when helplessly sitting in a metal box careening to inevitable death.

The couple held hands as they walked up to the box office, where an annoyed teen scanned their tickets. Tickets that Grant worked several hours of minimum wage landscaping that summer to buy, as the pair totaled $180. He could have raided a fast food menu for weeks for the same price as his impending doom. The janky turnstile instilled no confidence in the park’s overall construction as far as Grant was concerned. He broke through it as his dread appeared in front of him in high definition.

Twisting metal stretched to the horizon and crashed into the atmosphere. Cars sprinted up and down the track on the ride to his left, with screams of terror or happiness echoing from every direction like bullets in his eardrum.

He had been briefed on the place during the two-hour car ride, learning about each of their favorites with names like “Battering Ram” and “Spindrome.” Though all four of them had grown up within a few hours of Lightspeed, he was the only one to had never been, astounding Eli and Mallory. In being Lucy’s friends, they both jokingly questioned her choice of a partner. Grant was a little concerned about how much of it was serious. He had to prove to them that he was game for this, and worthy of Lucy.

“We’ll ease you into it,” Lucy said as they walked into the park. Her hushed tone was so the others could not hear her as she looked up at him with a warm smile. She turned her head and yelled up ahead to Eli and Mallory, “Grant wants to start with Rigor Mortis!”

Rigor Mortis rapidly earned its name. Rather than sit down in the traditional roller coaster sense, the willing victim was strapped onto what could only be described as a vertical gurney with padded blocks above the individual’s shoulders and between their legs to prevent excess movement. Seeing this process from a few feet away, Grant could understand why the line was so short. Unfortunately, that only expedited their time to the ride.

Eli reluctantly stood at the head of the group, mentioning a few times on the walk over that they were wasting valuable time on this ride – better coasters had longer lines. Mallory jabbed her pointy elbow in his ribs, saying, “We’re all getting our bearings to start.” Which was met by a pained smile from her boyfriend.

The line of gurneys let out a mechanical exhale as the riders of all ages began their ascent up the slope. Standing on the platform, Grant could not see much of the ride, but he could hear the cacophony of shouts and turning gears crystal clear. The ride was over in a little under two minutes. The participants exited with smiles on their faces and eyes as wide as saucers. Am I the only one not excited by this? Grant thought to himself.

The couples were in the next group to walk up to the gurneys, boarding the track in pairs. Behind him were two kids, a boy and a girl, who seemed to have snuck past the height requirement. The smiles radiated off their faces. It was as if they were sitting atop new ponies on Christmas morning.

A shaggy-haired man in a grease-stained Lightspeed Park polo shirt walked down the line. He jostled the full-body seatbelts to ensure their safety along the way. When he reached Grant’s station, the man tapped the right shoulder block with his index finger and pulled the belt like he was snapping the world’s lightest rubber band and then moved on. Safety check complete, apparently.

Lucy turned to her right and flashed a toothy grin at Grant like it was Christmas morning for her as well. “Are you ready to rip off the bandage?”

“Definitely, I’m ready.” He was not.

The uniformed man who performed the safety check clicked on the intercom on the platform. “All right…who’s ready for a bout of…Rigor Mortis?” He said in a monotone drawl that did not move a decibel, and yet everyone who wasn’t Grant applauded or cheered.

Trying to diffuse the tension in his brain – and get ahead of any issues – Grant turned his head to his left and said, “I’m really sorry if I curse.” He could not tell if he was apologizing to the kids, to Lucy, or to the world. He did not have time to contemplate that as the gurneys lurched forward. Grant shut his eyes, let out a deep, staggered exhale, and held onto the straps with every ounce of strength he had.

The ride began with a slow, steep climb up to the first hill. Grant could do nothing but stare into the cloudless sky in front of him. There was a brief pause when the car in front made it to the apex, and Grant was hoping that they didn’t get –

“OH GOD OH NO HOOO MY GOD!”

Grant yelled as the gurneys took off, speeding down the mechanical slope. The force of gravity partnered with the wind to contort his face into an abstract painting. The track came to a plateau at breakneck speed, bowling into a turn to the right, then a turn to the left, winding back and forth. The frenzied movement caused the lower block of the gurney to slam Grant’s genitals into a neighboring zip code.

“Ugh, WHY?! What the HELL?!”

The ride had enough momentum to carry the riders over a smaller hill, only to gain more speed leading into the loop. Grant’s brain only had a millisecond to itself and all he could think was, A loop, really?

The gurneys flung up as Grant’s neck snapped in each direction. He was able to see the entire park in seconds even though everything was a colorful blur. The loop’s descent caused the mechanized death trap to somehow speed up. The bobbing of two more hills, the whipping of two more turns, and then a rise to a straightaway where the gurneys braked, crawling back onto the platform.

Grant’s heart felt like it was beating through his chest. He could have swam the Pacific Ocean and his heart rate and breathing would still not be at their current levels.

“Whoo! Not bad right?” Lucy said. When she spun to find Grant nearly hyperventilating, her face showed a bit more concern. “You ok?”

Grant offered a slow nod. He put his left thumb to the sky to signal he was ok, though actually being able to muster words would have given her a little more confidence.

She smiled. “Good, I’m really glad. That was just the appetizer if you’re up for it.”

Was he up for it?

——————

After being smacked around by Rigor Mortis, Eli got his wish, and they walked over to Spindrome. Grant could tell that they were leveling up beyond his grasp. Dozens of legs dangled from a steel tower hundreds of feet in the air. They flailed around with every jutting, robotic spin that had a horrible rigidity even from a football field away. Grant declined to go with the group, using the soreness from the previous ride as an excuse for his apprehension. Lucy and her friends returned nearly an hour later, still energetic and amazed despite waiting 45 minutes for a three-minute experience.

The morning turned to afternoon with Grant only riding one more ride. They spared him with the kid-friendly “Mastodon” that was half the speed, hills, and pain of Rigor Mortis, designed to attract dinosaur-loving youth. It was nothing compared to the five roller coasters enjoyed by the other three in his group. He was often trailing them like an aimless pack mule, holding bags and drinks and waving from the solid ground as Lucy, Eli, and Mallory continued to soak up every second of the day. Grant was beginning to have some regret in his choices while watching their fun. But there was nothing he wanted to do less than be hundreds of feet in the air or hurtle toward loops and turns like sitting in a race car he couldn’t control.

The trio only had one more ride left on their itinerary: “Destroyer.” The marquee roller coaster at Lightspeed was the fastest, longest, and tallest ride available. It was also the northernmost in the park, meaning it had gorgeous views of the lake and landscape from the top of the main hill. To 99% of those in attendance, it was a dream. To Grant, it was one loose screw away from him flying off the track and into the abyss like those women off that cliff in a movie his mom liked.

“I’m sorry you’re not having more fun,” Lucy said to him as they walked over to Destroyer. She was looking into the distance when she spoke. Her tone was a mix of disappointment in herself with the Lightspeed trip being her idea, and in him for seeming to throw in the towel so soon. “I know this might not be your thing, but I was hoping that you would give it a chance.” She paused, slowly came to a stop, and turned to face him with sadness in her usually bright green eyes. “For me.”

Lucy sighed, then kept marching toward the ride without any expectation he would follow her.

Grant was deflated and, if he were honest with himself, embarrassed. Lucy was trying to make sure he had a good day, knowing that amusement parks were not his thing. Not only was Grant bringing himself down, but he was also bringing down the group. His fear of heights, of the less-than-microscopic chance of dying at this park, was getting in the way. He was missing the chance to live life and enjoy time with the person he loved.

They had not said it, but he felt every ounce of it for Lucy every day.

That made how Grant felt about his day at Lightspeed Park so transparent. He felt stupid. Stupid when realizing that his greatest fear was never even roller coasters, heights, dangling feet, or whiplash. It was why he had to ride the Destroyer.

“Wait up!” He shouted as he jogged up to Lucy.

“You really want to do this? The Destroyer?”

“Absolutely. I’m ready to do it with you.” And he was.

After another painstaking wait in line, the moment had come. The bright yellow cars of the Destroyer were in view at the platform, clashing with the dark blue of the track. The ride already scored points to Grant for being a traditional setup of seated cars with a normal belt. The group of riders made their way into the cars two-by-two. Before Lucy could ask him about his apprehension again, he turned to her with a nod and said, “Let’s do this.”

The right side of her mouth perked upward followed by a silent nod and a tight squeeze of Grant’s left hand. It was all he needed to keep going.

A more enthusiastic pre-ride announcement took place, and then they were off. The cars rolled forward to begin the tallest climb at the park. As the ride rose, Grant’s terror soared with it. Though the seconds of climbing felt like an eternity, it gave him time to see the vista of the lake with the backdrop of a nearly setting sun. It was the first moment all day that he began to see what the hype was abo–

“AHHHHHH!” Grant wailed.

There was no pause of relief like Rigor Mortis had given. The Destroyer dropped Grant’s stomach into his head where his brain used to be. The cars descended like an avalanche of snow down a mountain. They were going as fast as anything he had ever felt before. The website said the ride got up to 100 miles per hour at its top speed and it felt like 200. Barreling down a series of turns, the cars embanked left, right, left, right, until they got to a tunnel. Then everything went dark.

Blurred vision turned to no vision. The only senses Grant had left were the sounds and smells of metal thundering along the friction-hot track. Only it was a series of tunnels, which was more disorienting than just one. Dark turned to light but only briefly until everything went black again. Shooting out of the final tunnel, the cars jumped up a hill and back down, swaying horizontally right to left like a rhinoceros drawing the number six backward while on skis. Reaching a valley, the cars slowed up to the climb that completed the ride, the end in sight. Grant exhaled all the oxygen that filled his lungs and caught the breath he failed to do for the entire ride.

Lucy let out a joyful shout of celebration as Grant looked into her eyes. They glistened with bliss as she laughed, realizing that his eyes seemed to be doing the same. Neither of them was thinking about the Destroyer. The coaster had the opposite effect of its name as he reached over to squeeze her hand. In fact, he could have gone on the ride a second time because he conquered it, and he was glad that he did.

Though the only thing that mattered to him was that he would never have to face his greatest fear again. He would never have to take on any other Destroyers without her.