The top grossing movie of 1986 was Top Gun.

Oh, yeah...I'm going there. :-)

"I don't know about this, Shawn…" Gus mumbled hesitantly, looking over the edge of the steep hill. He couldn't even see the bottom over the treetops.

He was balancing his bike on the precipice, trying to work up the nerve to push himself over the edge. Shawn was next to him, ready to take the plunge on a moment's notice.

"Come on, Gus!" He urged with a grin, buckling his helmet on. "I feel the need…the need for speed!"

"I don't know…"

"It'll be fun!"

"But there's rocks…" Gus pointed out. "And trees…and no road…"

"There's a path." Shawn countered, pointing at the narrow, winding dirt path that snaked its way through the gigantic pines.

It wasn't exactly safe looking…

"But--"

"Gus! Come on!" Shawn whined, growing impatient with his friend's hedging. "How are we ever going to be jet pilots if we can't even drive our bikes down a hill?"

"I don't want to be a jet pilot!" Gus informed him. "You know I get airsick!"

"Fine." Shawn rolled his eyes, dropping his bike on the ground and going over to his backpack, which he had dropped underneath a tree. He unzipped it and pulled out a jump rope and an umbrella, bringing them back to Gus a few moments later.

"Here." He said, tossing the items to his friend.

"What are these for?"

"You tie the umbrella to the back of your seat with the jump rope." Shawn explained, clearly having given this a lot of thought. "It'll be like a drag chute. It'll slow you down so you can make the turns easier."

"Are you INSANE?" Gus shouted, throwing them on the ground in disbelief. "That's not a drag chute! Are you trying to get me killed?"
"It'll totally work!" Shawn promised. "Have I ever--"

"Whatever you're about to say," Gus snapped, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. "The answer is yes! You have!"

"Gus! I'm hurt." Shawn pouted.

"Not as hurt as you're going to be when you crash going down that hill." Gus muttered.

"I'm not going to crash! And neither are you!"
"You know that's right!" Gus snorted, taking his helmet off. "Because I'm not doing it!"

He started to walk his bike back towards the less steep of the hill they had come up, but stopped a few steps later when he heard Shawn's voice behind him.

"I think you dropped an egg."

Gus slowly turned back around, his eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"Nothing…" Shawn shrugged innocently. "…I'm just saying…I think you dropped an egg."
"I'm not chicken, Shawn!"

"Who said anything about chicken? Just because you dropped an egg…and you're growing feathers…and I'm pretty sure I see a beak starting to sprout…"

"Shawn…" Gus growled warningly, his fist starting to clench.

"Bwkaw!"

"Fine!" Gus shouted, marching his bike back to the edge of the hill. "I'll do it!"

Shawn grinned, already tying the umbrella to one end of the jump rope.

"Don't forget your drag chute."

Gus rolled his eyes and attached the other end of the jump rope to the back of his seat.

They both perched their bikes on the edge of the hill, looking down at the winding path before them.

"Ready?" Shawn asked, glancing at his friend out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah…"

"On 3?"

"No…" Gus shook his head, swallowing loudly, knowing he would puke if Shawn started to count. "Now!"

They pushed off, screaming at the top of their lungs as they careened down the hill. After three seconds of complete exhilaration, Gus was actually starting to enjoy the ride. He pedaled harder, still screaming and whooping.

"This is awesome!" He shouted at Shawn, who was about twenty feet ahead of him.

Suddenly, as Gus slowed down a little to turn around a bend in the path, the umbrella came flying at his head. He saw it out of the corner of his eye, but couldn't duck in time to avoid getting smacked. It hit him in the side of the head, knocking him clean off the bike and sending him sprawling to the ground.

Shawn saw him wipe-out and quickly pulled up, slowly pedaling back up the hill to Gus' side.

"Dude!" He grinned, reaching down and helping his battered and bruised friend to his feet. "That was awesome!"

"It wasn't awesome, Shawn." Gus groaned, wiping the debris off his khaki shorts. "I told you that stupid drag chute wouldn't work!"

"The drag chute worked fine!" Shawn snorted, clapping Gus on the back. "You just weren't going fast enough."