“….Don’t ride if pregnant or have back problems or spinal injury. You must be at least 48 inches to ride this ride,” Timmy reads aloud off the sign.
Why am I doing this? Is it even going to be worth it? I should just go back down. I’m only on the first floor.

“Oh come on Timmy,” says Sarah, “stop being a little baby and just do it.”

“But Sarah!” replies Timmy, “Mom said that I didn’t have to if I didn’t feel like it. And you keep saying all this stuff.”

While Timmy is saying this, his pulse starts racing even though he hasn’t even reached the second out of six floors. His breathing starts to sound hoarse and his hands start to tremble. His face starts to turn a little pale and a hint of green. His sky blue eyes are as big as can be and are moist as if tears are about to spill out. He knows that he doesn’t want to do it, yet he still keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

“But what if I fall off? What will happen to me?” cries Timmy.

“Well the worst that can happen to you is that you will fall off the tube and die.”

Timmy gulps as his sister laughs callously.

Ahaha just look at his face, Sarah thinks. Why is he being such a baby? It really isn’t that scary. He just wants all of mom’s attention as if he is always trying to get. I’m glad that mom has to go back down though. I can’t wait to have my new baby sister! It’ll be so much more fun than Timmy was when he was younger.

“Nah I’m just kidding. The worst that can happen is that you like break a leg or arm or something like that.”

Sarah is casually walking up the stairs with her hand lightly on the rail. She knows that she has ridden this ride enough times not be afraid anymore. She has a small smile on her lips and her brown eyes twinkle with the delight of teasing her younger brother.

“That’s not funny Sarah!” replies Timmy.

“Sarah, be nice to your brother. You know how he is around heights. Alright Timmy, I have to go back down now. You are going to be ok. I love you,” says their mom as she waddles back down the stairs with the help of the handrail.

But while his mom was speaking, he wasn’t even paying attention to her. His mind is somewhere else. Timmy’s whole body starts to tremble at the thought of being at least six stories off the ground. It was at the most 2 feet high the last time.



The day was a normal day. It was mid-afternoon and Timmy’s mom had been making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Sarah had been playing with Timmy in the living room.

“Mom! Why can’t me and Timmy play in my room?” cried Sarah, “there aren’t any toys for me in here.”

“No Sarah. He is too young to be in a room by himself. He is only four. You have to be a big girl and watch your younger brother.”

“Alright mommy,” Sarah reluctantly replied.

“Sarah, watch your little brother while I go answer the phone,” said her mom as she walked into the other room.

“Fine. Hey Timmy! Let’s climb on top on the table and play fire. Here, I’ll help you up since you are just a baby.”

As Sarah put Timmy onto the table, she pretended that the TV remote was on fire and jumped onto the table and started saying FIRE, FIRE. She kicked off the remote to prevent the table from catching on fire. Timmy saw the remote fly off and he tried to go get it.

“No no Timmy,” said Sarah. “I’ll go get it. You can’t touch it. Your hands will burn but I’ve got fire-proof skin on so I can touch it.”

“Hey why don’t me get fire-proof skin?” replied Timmy.

“Because you aren’t old enough to have it. Duh! Babies can’t have fire-proof skin.”

“I am four years old! You are only seven years old!” cried Timmy.

“Timmy, watch out!”

As Timmy was talking to his sister, he didn’t realize that he was getting close to the edge of the table. He tumbled over the side as Sarah tries to grab his arm. He screams as he landed directly on his head after he did half-a-somersault as he fell.
“What happened?” demanded their mother as she bolted into the room as she heard her son scream.

As Timmy recalls that day, he can still feel the bump on his head even though it was over 8 years ago.
Hmmm…I remember going to the doctor and him saying something about a concussion. I asked mommy what that meant and she just said it was an ouchy inside my head. I had to take some pills but I always got to drink them with milk. Mommy always told me if I want to be as strong as my daddy that I would have to drink lots and lots of milk.
“Oh Timmy. You were just exaggerating about it. I bet it didn’t even hurt that bad,” says Sarah.
“Yes it did! I had to take pills so there.”
"Oh wow Timmy. That's so cool," scoffed Sarah.
I am almost to the top, Timmy thinks. I can't turn back now. Sarah would never let me live it down. Oh god, there are windows up there. What if I look out of them? I would probably pass out. What if I fall off the inner tube? What if what Sarah said is true? I could break my leg!
"You guys. What if I break my leg? I won't be able to play in the soccer game on Tuesday!" says Timmy.
"You will be fine Timmy! Stop worrying about it! We are getting on the tube now. Just sit down and hold on tight," exclaims Sarah.
Wow, can he get any worse? Thinks Sarah. I can’t wait until this ride is over. I’m tired of hearing him whine! This ride isn’t even that scary. I’ve seen kids younger than him on this ride. He is already twelve; he shouldn’t still be acting like a seven-year old.
Welcome to the Tornado, says the sign in front of Timmy. As he reads the sign, he becomes more and more panicked.
"Little man, you will be okay. Hardly anyone falls off. You look like a tough guy so you could hold on," says the lifeguard.
Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god. Just breathe. Keep your breathing calm.
Sarah calmly sits on the tube and puts her feet up as Timmy shakes his way into the tube. Once the lifeguard gets the green light from the lifeguard below, he gives them a gentle push down the slide.
"AHHHHHH! This was a lot steeper than I thought!" screams Timmy. "I'm slipping! I'm slipping!"
"Hold on Timmy. Stop being a drama queen," says Sarah.
THUNK!
"Ahhhhhh!"
"What was that Timmy?" replies Sarah as she turns to looks at Timmy. "Timmy? Timmy!?! Where did you go!?!"
Sarah scans the entire ride looking for Timmy but she can't seem to find him. All of a sudden, she sees flashing limbs at the bottom mouth of the slide.
"Help! Help! My brother fell off! Stop the ride!" screams Sarah.
Oh god, oh god. Why did I make him come onto the ride? He didn’t even want to and now he could be dead. Mom is going to kill me and Dad won’t ever talk to me again. Oh, please let him is alive.
As she gets down to the bottom of the slide, she doesn't see Timmy anymore. At the end of the ride, she lands in a small pool. A lifeguard is there with Timmy and their mom.
"Mom! He fell off the tube and I couldn't help him! I'm so sorry!" sobs Sarah.
She quickly jumps off the tube and realizes that there is a crowd around where she last saw Timmy, her mom and the lifeguard. She hears the sound of someone sobbing.
Oh, please God. Please let that be Timmy. Don't let him die. This is my entire fault. I should've never made him come on this ride. He didn't want to but I kept pushing him and pushing him to come on it. But he didn't want to. Oh, please god let him be okay.
As Sarah gets to the middle of the crowd, she is almost bursting out in tears. She sees her little brother on the ground but his eyes are open. He has tears in his eyes from the pain of his broken leg. She almost starts laughing because she is so happy that he is alive but he opens his mouth to talk.
"I told you this was gonna happen. Now I can't play in the soccer game, and I was gonna be goalie this time," says Timmy through his tears.
Even though he is scolding her, she can't help but smile because her baby brother is still alive.