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In the Company of Death
By AlanGrant5
In the Company of Death
THEN: December 21st, 1999
Coaster Kingdom: Valencia, California
“Life is like a roller coaster,” someone had once told me. I had always believed that to be a cheap analogy, but when given some honest thought, life truly was like a roller coaster. Like the roller coaster, we begin our journey of life without knowing what lies ahead. As the car begins to trail up that metal track, much as we do in life, a sense of fear overwhelms us, for we know something treacherous awaits our presence. When we finally reach the pinnacle of our journey, our hearts freeze and we find it hard to swallow, as looking at how far up we’ve gone has caused us to do so. At this time we feel a sense of regret and question ourselves, “What am I doing? How did I get myself into this?” We stop asking these questions once the car prepares to launch us into a dark abyss, at which point we begin to realize there is no turning back. The car rockets downward and you are left with two choices; go through the ride with your eyes closed, or leave them open, collecting the sixty mile per hour winds which slam against your face. When closing your eyes, the ride (life) seems to go a lot more quicker, not fully grasping the situation in which you now find yourself in. With your eyes open, the ride itself becomes a visual wonder as you get to experience what others fear to. As the car comes to a stop, we sigh and because the ride was such joyous experience, we say, “Let’s go on it again!” Here is where the analogy ends and the reality sets in. Unlike a roller coaster, we do not have the privilege of going through life a second time, all we have is a first, and when realizing that, life becomes all the more dear.
It’s funny how we come to terms with how life works at such awkward times. Standing before a wooden roller coaster, its pinnacle towering two hundred and ten feet above a cement platform, I stand contemplating the mysteries life has asked us to solve. Just minutes previous, my friends had tried to persuade me in riding the death-defying coaster, but I declined, instead, deciding to use the restroom as they ventured off without me. I don’t know what it was, but something had told me to stay back. As a roller coaster tycoon, declining to ride any coaster was a bit unlike myself, but I did that night, for reasons I am still not fully aware of.
The theme park, Coaster Kingdom, located in the open valleys of Valencia, California, contained eleven roller coasters, each of them progressively daring and ominous. The one which stood before me was given the name “Sonic Boom”, which sent its passengers down a two hundred and ten foot drop into a darkened tunnel consumed in mist at seventy five miles per hour. Once emerged from the clouded tunnel, the car was sent down numerous spirals, until it climbed a tower which stood a hundred and ninty-seven feet high. As the car reached the tip of the tower, the passengers were sent backwards, rewinding the situation just as fast as it had been fastfowarded.
It was cold that night and if memory serves me correctly, was the coldest night of the year, hitting thirty seven degrees. Screams of fear and excitement filled the night air, while the smell of hot dogs was thick, as a food stand was placed just feet away from my current position. As I stood in front of the marvelous roller coaster (it was lit with orange lights traveling along the metal spine), I took note of a man, also admiring the coaster. His presence was about as eerie as his appearance. He was an old man, wearing a black trench coat and matching hat, resting on a cane, which looked to be about the only thing keeping the guys balance. What I found odd was the fact that no one else in the park noticed him... at least that’s how it had seemed. With the parks population consisting mostly of teenagers, such as I, the man was a stand out and beyond suspicious. But, like the rest, I decided to ignore the strangely familiar man, giving my full attention to the coaster in which my friends were about to ride.
“We’re almost on,” a voice screamed from the walkie talkie. In order to keep ourselves aware of each others locations, should our group of ten decide to split off, Derek Sommers was kind enough to let us use the radio communicators that day. He would of gotten yelled at upon our late arrival home that evening, but other things would happen to cause father Sommers to forget about the stolen walkie talkies.
“Okay, I’ll be watching,” I replied, gazing at Sonic Boom, as she rose majestically into the darkened sky. Sliding the walkie talkie back into my pocket, I looked around and found the old man to be missing. I had turned away from the stranger for just a few seconds when answering the call, only to find the portion of ground in which he once stood, empty. He had vanished within a few seconds of having my back turned.
Something bad is going to happen, a voice within me whispered. We all have these mental cautions at one point of our lives and only often are they ever right. Weeks previous I had the same voice utter the same words when boarding a flight to Texas. Something bad is going to happen, it had told me. In a sense, the voice was right, for the movie being played on the flight was A Tour of the White House , a rather tedious two hours of former president and scandal, Bill Clinton roaming around his estate, introducing the various rooms of the house. I’m not one to be asked political questions, for I have no interest in the topic of politics whatsoever, and even though the film wasn’t about politics, I still found the people involved to be boring, robotic humanoids, missing what makes every person unique. To me, they all seemed so identical.
The feeling of something bad happening hadn’t left me. Something bad is going to happen, it whispered repetitively. The voice couldn’t be overpowered by the thoughts I tried so desperately to create. The feelings were omnipotent... nothing could stop them from haunting my conscience.
At that moment, something happened... something bad. For just a few solitary seconds, I had lost my vision, staring into complete darkness. While in the darkness, images began to flood my perception. I was in the car, rocketing down a steep dive into a pitch black tunnel, the wind pushing me the opposite direction. Sitting beside me was Daniel White, a friend going back to the second grade. The high speeds of the roller coaster and the sharp twists and turns had caused him to scream with joy, only to be silenced moments later by a fallen piece of wood. From then on, the images began to flicker, like a light bulb does when running low on its consumption of electricity. Screams of laughter had morphed into ones of terror, as Daniels face had caved in beyond recognition.
The coaster would continue to move, having another minute to go, leaving no escape for the passengers who witnessed the horrific ordeal.
Seconds later my vision had returned. I found myself standing in front of the roller coaster, as I had remembered being moments before the vision. Never before had I experienced something as terrifying as the glimpses received that night. By now, my feelings felt more like certainties.
Fumbling the walkie talkie around nervously, I spoke into the receiver,
“Derek? Derek, don’t go on! There’s something wrong with the coaster.”
“Yeah, I know,” Derek replied, “Your not on it. Get your ass over here. Don’t be a pussy.”
“Derek, I’m serious. There’s something wrong with the ride... it’s not stable.”
Derek laughed, “I think the ride has more stability than you do at the moment.”
I didn’t expect him to listen to me. Very rarely was I ever serious about anything, and when I was, it was as if I were crying wolf. “I’m serious Derek, if you do, Daniel–”
“We’re goin on right now... thanks for the warning Miss Cleo,” Derek stated, turning the radio off.
Several emotions were plaguing me at that moment. I was angered, worried, scared, anxious. How do you know when to act on your feelings? When something deep within you whispers, something bad is going to happen, how do you react? Do you simply brush it off, thinking the warning is just like all the rest; warnings with no ultimate truth behind them? Or do you take these warnings into consideration and act on them no matter how absurd or random they may be? The answer to me was clear, as my warnings were accompanied by visual horrors.
Dropping the walkie talkie onto the ground, I darted into the building which housed legions of guests awaiting to ride the death machine.
“Excuse me,” I yelled politely, nudging those in my way to the side. Surprisingly, I hadn’t run into much difficulty getting to the loading area. Running up the stairs, I viewed the train of cars departing. Daniel, having seen me, waved farewell... if only he knew.
“DANIEL, WAIT!” I yelled.
It was too late. They had already taken off, leaving me behind. Am I just paranoid? It’s not like I haven’t had these type of feelings before... but those images.
Three minutes later I received my answer. An ambulance, along with two other fire trucks arrived on the park premises. People gathered around the roller coaster in awe. I wasn’t paranoid... I was right, wishing I hadn’t been.
Copyright © 2002 by Devin Da Graca
10/19/2002 5:24:31 PM
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