A Strange Day at the Amusement Park | Teen Ink

A Strange Day at the Amusement Park

December 17, 2015
By Anonymous

Luke walked through the beautiful fall red leaves. The sun was shining bright with a few small clouds, an average California day. This is the perfect day, Luke thought. He carried his turquoise backpack with a grin on his face. He had been released early from school and he now headed to the amusement park, Four Banners. He agreed to meet his good friend Jeff there at the front gate. He walked through the trees and eventually they opened up to showed a massive front gate with tons of roller coasters in the background. He sniffed in the air of amusement park atmosphere, and thought, this is going to be a great day.
Luke went in line to enter the park, and he walked through the metal detector to enter. He saw a small figure in the distance waving.
“Hey, Luke!” Jeff shouted.
“What’s up?” Luke replied. He heard screaming. Luke look back and saw a  massive structure staring down at him.
“A 300 foot beauty,” marveled Jeff.
Beauty, Luke thought, more like a terror. Luke tried to simulate riding the coaster in his head. It was too much for him to process. They entered the park and walked through the metal detectors. Today’s a busy day, thought Luke. There were so many people, it was hard to to move around. They pushed through the crowd and looked for the ride that they saw. Jeff insisted, but Luke was frightened.
“Why don’t you want to ride?” queried Jeff.
“Why do you?” retorted Luke. They carried on and finally found the entrance to the roller coaster. They entered under a massive banner saying, “MILLENNIUM FALCON”. They went in only to discover that the line was 1 hour long.
“We can wait,” observed Jeff. Luke sighed. There was no convincing Jeff. Luke followed Jeff reluctantly. They got in line, only to hear an announcement saying, “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but this ride is temporarily closed. Expect the Millennium Falcon to open in 10 minutes to an hour. Luke sighed as Jeff stomped his foot in anger. Right when Luke started walking, another announcement came on saying, “We have now fixed the Millennium Falcon, and it is safe to ride.” Secretly, Luke was disappointed, while Jeff exclaimed in relief. By now, everyone had left and they were first. Luke reluctantly walked into the empty station and boarded the train. Luke could feel his body shaking. He pulled down his harness as tight as possible, while some other people walked into the station. Before he knew it, the operator spoke.
“Check 1, check 2,” announced the operator, “All clear, enjoy your ride.” Luke took a deep breath. Jeff cheered with many others on the train, while the train started its incline. The train moved up at a terrifying speed, and the sunlight blinded Luke. The train started to cruise over the hill. Luke was grabbing on to the handlebar with all his might. Just as the train started to drop, it abruptly stopped. Murmurs of confusion filled the train.
“I didn’t wait 2 hours for this!!” one exclaimed.
“I want a refund!” said another. Even Luke looked confused.
“Maybe the chain snapped,” Jeff said dejectedly.
“How long will we have to wait?” asked Luke.
“About an hour, maybe two,” replied Jeff. Luke sighed. He shouldn’t have got on in the first place.
“At least we’re alive,” said a voice behind him. It was the most beautiful voice Luke has ever heard. Her voice was like a song, so melodic and pretty. He looked behind him, and saw a beautiful blonde woman whose eyes widened when she saw Luke’s face.
“What’s your name?” asked Luke.
“Heather,” she replied in her heavenly voice. What should he do? Should he ask where she’s from? How old she is? He settled on the latter.
“What age are you?” asked Luke, hoping she doesn’t take offense. To his excitement, Heather’s eyes brightened at the question.
“Why, I’m 16. What about you?” replied Heather.
“Hey! I’m also 16!” said Luke with happiness. He had a chance! They talked for what seemed like just a few minutes, which in reality was an hour. Right in the middle of a question, the Millennium Falcon started back up. All Luke’s fear was washed away. Now, the only emotion inside him was joy. They cruised at high speeds across hills, overbanked turns, tunnels, and Luke did nothing but enjoy. Before he knew it, he was back in the station. Jeff was cheering loudly as we got off. I walked to the exit and got ready to say bye to Heather, but remembered something.
“Where are you from?” Luke asked Heather. At that question, Heather’s eyes dulled and she looked away.
Avoiding his gaze, she said, “New York.” Luke was lost for words. After a moment of slightly awkward silence, Luke replied.
“Can we at least meet one more time, maybe at a restaurant?” Heather seemed extremely troubled by the question. She replied, but with conspicuous hesitation.
“Sure.”
“Ok, bye then,” said Luke excitedly. Luke turned around and started walking away. He looked back, but Heather was gone. He met Jeff outside the exit.
“What took you so long?” demanded Jeff.
“I was just observing the ride,” replied Luke. Jeff appeared to approve of Luke’s doings as he nodded. They walked for a little more, towards a smaller ride named Demon.
“Can I go use the bathroom, my stomach is acting up,” asked Jeff.
“Sure, I’ll wait here,” answered Luke. He saw Jeff go, and pondered about tonight. I can’t believe it, he thought, I never thought this day would come so soon. As he thought, he glanced back to see if Jeff was back. Instead, he saw Heather. In the corner of his sight, he saw another man talking to Heather. He was handsome, muscular, tall, and pretty much every trait Luke could use a lot more of. Heather was talking urgently with him, and a sense of alarm went through Luke, followed by a wave of confusion. Are they both from New York, then?, Luke thought. A surge of anger went through him and went up to the man.
“Who do you think you are?!” demanded Luke. Heather’s eyes widened with dismay at the sight of Luke.
“My name is Mark.” his voice was eerily cold. “Who is this, Heather?” he asked. Heather stood as still as a fox waiting to pounce on his prey. “I said, who is this?!” demanded Mark. Heather stayed silent a moment longer, and Mark slapped her hard without hesitation.
“This is Luke,” Heather muttered silently, recoiling from the hit. Suddenly Luke realized that Heather is only attracted to Mark through his handsomeness. Now that they were a couple, Mark was constantly mean to Heather. Luke filled up with anger and consulted Mark.
“What are you?” demanded Luke. “Only a monster would do this!”
“And what do you think you are doing with my future wife?!” exclaimed Mark.
“Saving her,” answered Luke simply. At that statement, Luke’s jaw was smashed with his tongue in between. Pain filled his mind and his vision blurred. Luke stumbled forward and threw a punch back at Mark. Mark stepped back, but laughed.
“That’s all you can do?” said Mark with amusement. At that point, a crowd was starting to shroud them. Luke punched Mark once more, with all his might, and Mark fell down. Luke walked over to him.
“My job is done here,” said Luke, and walked over to Heather, who was sulking on a bench. Luke bent down to help Heather, but suddenly had extreme pain on his eye. His vision blurred further and looked back in the direction Mark had been laying. The crowd was going crazy, calling 911 and taking pictures. Mark was right next to him, laughing as he punched Luke once more. Luke fell to the ground, and he could only feel pain, as his eyes started to drift into darkness. Then something very unexpected happened. Luke watched in awe as Heather got up, and triple roundhouse kicked Mark, knocking him out. Luke was about to fall back into darkness, when Heather took his hand, and helped him up.
Luke summoned up the strength to say, “You were good back there.” Heather was solemn, but replied.
“I’ve taken Judo for 10 years,”
“Ah,” Luke said.
“Hey, what happened here?” asked a strong, condescending voice. Luke looked up to see a police official in full uniform. Luke explained, with difficulty, the fight, but deliberately left out the real reason why Luke and Mark started fighting. When he finished explaining, the police officer replied.
“Where is Mark?”
“There,” Luke said as he pointed to a motionless body. Luke was worried that he was in trouble, but his fear was washed away when the police officer handcuffed Mark while he was knocked out.
Luke asked Heather, “What are you going to do now?” She was silent for a while.
“Well, I’m probably better off without him,” answered Heather. When she saw that Luke was not completely satisfied with her answer, she added, “That is, better off with you.” At that statement, Luke was overjoyed. Just at that moment, Jeff came out of the restroom.
“What happened,” asked Jeff in complete confusion.
“Well, let’s just say I found myself a date,” Luke replied.
“Good for you!” exclaimed Jeff in joy. Luke, Jeff, and Heather walked down the path of the park.
“I think that was enough for today,” stated Luke.
“Yes, definitely,” agreed Heather.
“What, I only rode one ride!” objected Jeff.
“It’s not my fault you missed all the fun because you had a stomach problem,” Luke retorted. They all laughed together and headed to the entrance of the park. The massive front gates came into sight, and Luke was both glad and disappointed about their trip. Heather seemed in a very good mood. Jeff, not so much. They walked back to their houses and something came into Luke’s mind.
“Where is your hotel?” asked Luke.
“Oh,” Heather nervously laughed, “I don’t actually live in New York, sorry.”
“Then why did you say that you did?” questioned Luke.
“Well, let’s just say I didn’t want what just happened to happen,” explained Heather. Luke was satisfied with the answer.
They walked out of the front gate, with mixed emotions, but they were not disappointed with the outcome. Well, maybe not Jeff.



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