Thoughts after the fair

I’ve never enjoyed the feeling of being sick to your stomach on a fair ride. Maybe I just don’t have the iron-willed intestines that all of my friends seem to have, because I get sick from going on the teacups at a normal speed. However, the Thunderbolt feels a bit different.

Maybe it’s not even called the Thunderbolt. It’s simply a ride that’s always been at the fair in good ol’ Essex Junction. You hop into a small little car that’s attached to the center of the circular ride. If you pick a yellow one, you can rock back and forth. I always pick the blue ones- I have my limits.

You’re with one or two other people in the little car. I always fight to be on the inside, but most of the time it doesn’t end up happening. Then, you go. Fast.

The first half of the ride is fine. The ride isn’t completely flat, no. There are dips and curves. Ups and downs. Your stomach swoops a bit, but you can see where you’re going. Forwards. Then, the ride slows. I always forget that after, you go backwards.

This is where I start to regret going on the ride. My stomach twists, and I get an odd sense of being outside of my body. Vision blurring around the edges, everything feels a little fuzzy. I can’t scream anymore. It just feels like everything is moving, but also like everything has stopped.

My friend went on a ride with the boy that she liked. The Claw. Afterwards, she said her stomach hurt when, normally, it doesn’t hurt at all. She seemed surprised.

During a cross-country race, someone puked on the course. People seemed confused.

Life feels like the Thunderbolt. When I like-like someone, my stomach twists at the thought of them. I feel like I want to puke every time I see them talk to someone else. Before a race, a test, anything that anyone else will care about besides me, my stomach turns into knots.

Maybe that’s why the Thunderbolt feels different. That massive guitar ride? That’s just swoops, back and forth. The Claw? I don’t even want to think about what that feels like.

But the ride where everything goes as you expect it to, then it slows down… and then blasts you into a direction you weren't expecting? And, after all the intensity is over, and you’re left dizzy and confused, when everyone expects you to keep going?

We’ve all experienced that… even if you haven’t ridden the Thunderbolt.