Summary: Why does Grisom ride roller coasters?
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. No silver has crossed my palm, either.
A/N: Post CSI Season 6, Pirates of the Third Reich. Originally posted on GeekFiction at Live Journal.
OCEAN VIEW
The sun was warm on his back and the breeze soft – redolent of sea, salt and cotton candy. This was a rare moment for him; for the first time in what seemed like years, he could simply be. No office. No paperwork. No responsibilities. And for once, he wasn't tormented by that just below the surface itch to get back to work. Grissom closed his eyes and tilted his head back so the sun could catch him fully on the face. Peace. This is what peace feels like.
The amusement park sounds he loved were at the edge of his awareness: children laughing, the clatter of rides, that slightly clashy mix of aggressively cheerful music from ten different places. The dreams had finally stopped. Odd that he had chosen an amusement park as his place to decompress when the nightmares held the same too bright colors and surreal imagery. But Heather was not here and she surely did haunt his dreams: anguish, rage, and a frightening mindlessness he knew he would never forget.
He got up from the bench where he had been enjoying the sun and walked along the midway. Ocean View Amusement Park was one of his favorites, a vintage park dating from WWII. It had an uncertain air: the rides were old, the operators were usually unshaven, dangerous looking men half in the bag, and the old wooden rollercoaster looked and sounded as if it might come to pieces in the middle of your ride. There were rumors that a couple of sailors had died on the Rocket.
As far as he knew that was untrue, but it made for great gossip and added to the seedy atmosphere of the place. Grissom considered how peculiar it might seem to others that this worn out place would be the exact spot he chose to relax – he'd been intimate with the underside of life for so many years it called to him even when he wasn't on duty. He lived in the dark.
He had one ticket left. Even though it was late in the afternoon he decided to have one more go on the Rocket. Fortunately there wasn't a line and he was able to sit in the front car. The attendant double-checked the safety bar then pulled the lever that set the cars creaking up the first rise. Grissom had time to admire the view of the Pacific before he crested the hill and went into sensory overload.
Gravity forced him back in the car and slightly out of his seat, the air was pulled from his lungs as he was slammed from side to side when the cars took the turns – he felt the familiar exultation as everything but raw sensation was forced from him. In his mind's eye he saw himself from a distance, a long black smear trailing behind him as the car carried him forward…oh he loved roller coasters. For a few minutes darkness was wrung out of him and he could see beyond it, just a little.
FIN
Author's Note: Liberties...I have taken liberties. Ocean View now exists only in memory as it was demolished in the late 70s and on the right coast, at that. The Rocket was a classic wood coaster; I can attest that its age added to my certainty that I was going to die every time I rode it. Ocean View, located in Norfolk, Virgina where I grew up, was featured in the film "Rollercoaster" and another film, "Death of Ocean View Park." They tried to blow up the Rocket several times for the movie but it would not fall, much to the delight of locals who hated to see a landmark destroyed. In the end they had to pull her down with bulldozers. I managed to get on-site one night after filming...my childhood leariness of the place was reinforced by the sight of a blood covered rubber hand peeping out from under one of the overturned cars.