LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 26

Eric followed after Jack, slapping his sitting brother upside the head as he passed him.

"Cut it out!" Sam snapped as he stood to his feet and threw his backpack over his shoulder.

Ralph glared at Emma for a moment before he turned around and followed everyone else in. She sighed and ran to catch up after a second of thought; grasping onto Jack's arm as she joined them.

By the time they'd paid for their tickets, it was already after 1100 hours. Sam declared that it would be best to get in the shortest lines first so they'd have time to get on a good number of rides before they'd have to stop for lunch. Eric insisted on the flying swings first. So they stood in the line, waiting under the hot summer sun.

"You really have done this before, huh?" Jack playfully punched the twin on the shoulder.

"We did some time management planning to maximize the experience" Eric informed the others. "We made some fatal mistakes last time" he recalled, and Sam cringed at the thought.

"We were in line for Magma Mountain when they closed last time" Sam explained.

"What's Magma Mountain?" Emma asked the twins.

"It's only the biggest, and craziest rollercoaster in the whole park" Eric's eyes went wide as he talked.

"In order to get on it with the shortest wait time and a guarantee that the place won't close before we do is to get in line at exactly 1237 hours" Sam declared.

"That's oddly specific" Jack observed.

"That's the sweet time" Eric added, "most people start going for lunch between 1200 and 1210 hours, respectively. But there's still gonna be a good number of people in line for Magma Mountain by then, cause people really want to go on. But by 1237 hours, kids will start getting cranky and parents will start getting impatient. That's when the line thins out, just before the early eaters return and as the stubborn late ones decide on coming back after they eat. You see, that's where their error lies."

"Wow" Emma dropped her jaw a little. "That's an impressive observation."

"It's all in the math" Eric nodded proudly.

"Since there are five of us now, someone's gonna have to swing solo" Sam pointed out.

Jack glanced over at the sets of both double and single swings hanging from the base of the ride.

"I'm no coward, I'll do it" Eric declared.

"Who's gonna be my partner then?" Sam practically whined.

"I will" Ralph agreed, linking his arm around the light haired boy's.

"That leaves us, I guess" Jack said as he looked to Emma before glancing over at Ralph, staring at the way he locked his arm tightly around Sam's.

"No complaints here" Emma smiled warmly as she grabbed Jack's hand. Jack watched as Ralph subtly rolled his eyes while turning his head the other way.

Despite having been on this ride before, Ralph could tell that Sam was scared shitless when they were latched in and secured by a park staff member.

"You okay?" Ralph asked, concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sam's nervous voice was higher than usual as he spoke rather quickly.

"You're sweating" Ralph observed.

"It's like ninety degrees out" he panted as he turend to meet Ralph's eyes.

"You'll be fine, I promise" Ralph said as he reached over and squeezed the worried twin's hand.

And of course, Ralph was right. Though, much to Ralph's dismay, Sam did scream the whole time. He felt like his eardrum had been dislodged by the time they got off the ride.