“But Mom,” whined Tom, “this is the only day I can go to Six Flags. I’ve had these plans for, like forever.” He flipped the bangs he was trying to grow out of his eyes.

“Well, that’s too bad. Your family is coming over. The last time we were all together was-I can’t even remember the last time. This reunion is very important and you need to be there.
Tom recognized what his mom was doing. She was using the guilt factor, again. Tom reluctantly accepted defeat. “Fine, I guess I’ll just have to cancel EVERTHING.”
“Thanks for making the right decision, Tom.”
“Not like I had much of a choice,” muttered Tom to himself as he sulked away to his room.
An hour later, after Tom had canceled everything, his mom knocked on his door. She stepped in before he could even answer. “Tom, your father and I are going to pick up all of the food for the party tonight. We’ll be back later.” His mom didn’t wait for an answer. Tom just nodded. He waited until he heard the front door slam and then with a grin on his face, he grabbed his car keys.
On his drive to Six Flags, Tom called his friends to let them know he was coming. As he was on the phone, he glanced up at the sky and saw dark clouds moving in. Tom reassured himself. “It’s probably just a little rain. It’ll pass quickly.”
Tom pulled into the half empty parking lot and then met his friends at the park’s entrance. They all paid for their tickets to get in and headed straight for the Raging Bull. The lines were always shorter the earlier they got there, and this was Tom’s favorite ride. They had to wait no more than ten minutes to get on.
The cars started climbing to the top of the track. As soon as they hit the top and Tom had braced himself for the giant drop, he felt a ton of raindrops pelting him on the face. The car lurched forward and Tom’s stomach dropped. The rain that fell against his face felt like pieces of glass were falling from the sky. Still, it was very refreshing in the summer heat. The coaster completed a few more twists and turns and then it was finally over.
As soon as Tom stepped off of the ride, a huge bolt of lightning crashed through the sky. This was followed by a massive clap of thunder that shook the ground. A worker came over to the group and informed them that because of the storm, the park was closed for the day. The group headed toward the exit as the wind picked up. “This is going to be a tough ride home,” thought Tom.
Tom had been driving for about ten minutes when the engine of his car started to sputter. Just as he pulled over to see what was wrong, the car stopped moving completely. Tom slammed on the pedal, but the car wouldn’t budge. “Now what do I do?” Tom angrily asked. “I can’t call my family.” So, he called a company to come tow his truck.
Tom had been waiting for around fifteen minutes when he began to feel the summer heat and humidity from the rain fill the car. His car was busted, so he couldn’t turn on the air conditioning. He couldn’t even open the windows. He waited another five minutes and finally gave in. The heat along with the humidity was too much. Tom stepped out into the downpour of rain and it cooled him off.
In ten minutes, Tom was soaking wet from the rain coming down in sheets. The tow truck had just arrived. The driver hooked up his car and Tom was finally headed home.
When the truck pulled up to Tom’s house, his stomach dropped just like he was on the roller coaster again. He slowly walked up to the front door. He had walked through this door so many times, but for some reason, this time it was so hard. Soaking wet, Tom opened the door. He heard all of his family inside. Tom cautiously stepped into his house and saw his parents standing right across from him. Tom didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to say anything though, because the looks on his parent’s faces said it all.