The Tempest

The Tempest. It was the tallest, wooden, roller coaster for miles around in some little rundown amusement park in Nebraska. Walking into the park any eyewitness could see the trash strewn about on the ground. The countless cigarette butts and flyers from years past scattered. In walked two best friends, Kyle and Dale. They had no intention but to ride The Tempest. It was a hidden gem amongst a pile of crap. In the distance, a storm began to brew. The wind picked up to gale force blowing the trash into small dust-devils, but Kyle and Dale took no notice.

“There it is.” Kyle said to Dale while pointing to the endearing precipice in the sky.

“I know. Let’s hurry up; we’ve got to get back to the house soon.” Dale responded.

            They rushed to rollercoaster. They ran past the goofy clowns with smeared make-up and sullen eyes while they held on to balloons in assorted colors. They sped by the cotton candy machines that no longer worked. They pushed pass the dumpy popcorn machines with acne ridden teenagers trying to make a quick buck during their Spring Break. Eventually, they arrived to the staircase.

            “Here we go.” Dale said to his friend.

            “Are we sure we should do this? I mean, I heard something about a storm rolling in.” Kyle replied.

            “Don’t be such a pussy Kyle. We got this far and we aren’t going home without riding this sucker.” Dale spat.

            Kyle looked into the sky and had second-thoughts that he didn’t express to prevent further harassment about femininity from Dale. They ascended the rickety stairs that were haphazardly nailed to each other. Each step creaked under the weight of their feet. In a moment of giddiness, they raced to the top and arrived to their destination. They looked down below into the abyss that was the park 12 stories below. In the distance, the sky swirled above the parking lot. The dark, beaten underbelly of a nimbus cloud twisted and churned, spitting the sun’s light into an array of directions. Their eyes widened at the sight.

Then without warning, the riding attendant shouted, “Riding today?”

Jumping at the startling noise, the two boys whipped around to address the attendant, “Yeah we’re riding.” they replied in unison.

They sat down in the wobbly, wooden, two-man cart. The attendant lowered the safety bar and strapped Kyle and Dale in tight.

“No going back now.” Dale said to Kyle.

Kyle just gave him a look.

In a monotone voice, the riding attendant droned on about rider safety and then activated the switch. Tink! Tink! Tink! The cart went. It clicked and jerked as the hoist under the seat pulled them up. With each click, the view of the park rose into perspective. The cart slowly arrived to the top and sat to wait for a moment. Over the parking lot, the sky churned so violently it touched the ground. Cars were picked up and thrown about as if they were children’s matchbox cars. One was flung so violently that it struck the riding attendant’s room for The Tempest, and exploded into an orange ball of fuel and shrapnel. The cart holding the two boys dropped below, speeding across the wooden tracks. Another car crashed into the ride, and shook the entire rollercoaster. Kyle and Dale held their jaws open, but no voice came out. The gray twisting funnel approached them slowly. It marched across the park as the workers scattered. Some were crushed under the wreckage of carnival tents and food vendors. Others stood and filmed the carnage with their phone. All the while, Kyle and Dale were strapped into the cart on The Tempest way high in the sky. They hit a bend in the tracks and turned away. Kyle and Dale were temporarily relieved until they realized that the ride would turn back to face the tornado. Another piece of debris slammed into the ride directly underneath of them. The ride groaned as braces under the tracks collapsed. A hole, in front of the speeding cart with the occupants, developed. The cart raced off the tracks, while Kyle and Dale screamed obscenities and held each other tightly. They sailed in the air, slamming down onto another section of the ride. Now facing the tornado once again, the boys attempted to rock the cart. But to no avail. She may have looked run-down but the engineers got something right when they put her together. Instead, one of the wheels folded under the cart. They screeched to a halt and watched in horror as Mother Nature’s Hoover vacuum bee-lined for them. Kyle and Dale worked at releasing themselves from the cart. They were pulling the clips apart when they should have been pushing the button for the release. The tornado reached the far side of the roller coaster and picked up the wood. It seemed to lift up the tracks with the greatest of ease. The massive funnel added the newly acquired debris to its collection of cars, people, tents, popcorn machines, cotton candy makers, and trash. When its presence was almost on top of the boys, it began to wither. Debris began to drop and scatter the ground. Then, the tornado returned to the sky from whence it came. They sat above a cliff of wood, peering into the trail of destruction left by the tornado. The wood began to crack and split. The cart tipped forward off the tracks.

Kyle and Dale screamed, “No…no…NO NO NO!”

The cart dropped some 5 stories and crashed into the ground. The dilapidated safety bar squealed and popped open. The men spilled out onto the dirt and laid there for a moment.

“Holy shit! What just happened?” Kyle asked.

“A fucking tornado just ripped up the ride we were on.” Dale replied.

“Thanks, I didn’t notice. Well, there it is. We got to ride The Tempest.” Kyle said.