Cedar Point-
One of my favorite times as a kid was going to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, so I decided to take Quorra there.
"Where are we going, Sam?" Quorra asked as we walked through the Cleveland airport. "I can't tell you or it'll ruin the surprise!"
We were in a rental car an hour later, heading for Cedar Point. Quorra was mesmerized by the new plants that she wouldn't see in LA. "Ooh! What is that, Sam, and that?" She would ask again and again.
In another hour we were at the gate of the park. "Sam is this one of those 'amusement parks' that you told me about a few weeks ago?" she asked.
"Yep. This isn't just a normal amusement park, though. This is the one and only, Cedar Point!" I said. "Wow! I can't wait to go in!"
As soon as we were in the park, Quorra was half- dragging me to my old favorite ride, the Demon Drop. This was a nerves- of-steel ride, but if Quorra was brave enough to fight the black guard, then she could handle a fifty foot drop.
"What is this ride?" she asked as we walked in the gate. "This, Quorra, is your first test to see if you can stand the one-and-only Maverick! This is a ride called Demon Drop. You are sitting in a car, and are lifted up to the top of that tower, and then you drop." I said. Quorra looked horrified. Oops, I think I over did it there… "Don't worry, you're on a rail!" She looked a bit more calm then. Luckily, it was a school day, so not many people were in line. This way the wait was short for most of the rides.
As we were strapped in and being lifted to the top of the tower, Quorra seemed to freak out. I reached out to hug her, but the bar in front of me didn't help the cause. "It's okay, Quorra, it's just a ride. Close your eyes, and don't open them until I say so." She did what I advised.
Whoosh! We dropped down towards the bottom. "Aahh!" Quorra shouted. "Hey that was not as bad as I planned." She told me as we walked out the exit gate.
"So, you want to try a roller coaster?" I asked.
"What is a roller coaster?" She asked.
"You'll see." I smiled. We walked to another great ride, the Mantis. This was a great, fast ride, and not as bad as the Demon Drop in scariness, but ten-fold what it was in thrill. It just screamed Quorra.
We entered the ride, and Quorra asked me, "Will this be as scary as the other one? Will we drop like the last one?"
"No," I said as I strapped in. "This is not as scary, but we will be going upside down." This seemed to unnerve Quorra as the ride began with the steep hill. She grabbed my hand, and squeezed. I looked over and her eyes were closed. "It's okay, try opening them." I said gently.
Whoosh! "AAAHHHHH!" We said in unison. Swish! As we did a loop. "Haha! This is not so bad as I thought it would be. Whoah!" She giggled with glee. As the ride ended and we were riding other rides, we finally came up to my all time favorite ride- the Witches' Wheel. This ride spun you around in a little box for a solid three minutes at an eighty miles per hour speed. Sweet, unless you ate just before entering the ride.
"Sam, I am not sure if this ride looks safe. The trajectory of the spinning almost ensures people flying out of the seats, even strapped in-…" I cut her off saying, "We aren't strapped in. We're actually locked in, with a padded ceiling. Don't worry though. We will share a car, and I will be with you the whole time." I ensured her. Quorra nodded uneasily. As we entered the car and the ride started up, Quorra held onto me. Her expression was terrified. "Quorra, just relax, this is just like riding on the Ducati, but a little bumpier and one thousand times more fun." I didn't let go of her grip though. I locked hands with her. As the ride really began to speed up, Quorra tensed even more. Something seemed wrong…..
"Quorra, what's wrong?" I asked concernedly. "I don't trust this ride. It feels off as if we were about to break loose from the arm and fall." She said, but I replied kindly, "It's okay, look, the ride is slowing down. I won't make you go on it again, promise." Quorra seemed to relax the moment we stepped out of the box.
As we continued going on rides, I finally decided to take her onto my all-time favorite ride, the Maverick. Ah, how I loved the coaster! The ride was almost a solid two minutes full of loops, twists, and maybe even a treat of repeating it backwards, if that is, the nice operators were on… hope it was a lucky day. As we boarded the entrance, Quorra was very impressed with the architecture of the ride itself.
"Sam, look at how they made this! The arches are perfectly angled, so that the trajectory will always make the feeling in your gut…." She went on about this during the whole hour we waited in line.
Anything that makes her happy, Sam. Anything- anything beyond the ends of the earth….
Quorra loved the ride. It was… just amazing to watch her enjoying herself on the coaster. Anything on the ends of the Earth to make her happy…. It was as if nothing else existed, but me watching her being happy. Anything on this planet, she can have as long as it makes her happy. I would die making her laugh if I had to.
As we were leaving the park, just as sunset came, Quorra pulled me over to a bench to watch it. "The colors are so beautiful, Sam. Look at how they blend! Thank you…" I kissed her. "You are very welcome Quorra."
On the plane ride home it was dawn. After watching the sun rise for a while, Quorra finally crashed, her head on my chest. She has so much energy…. I… I… I wonder if… if… she… I fell asleep with the thought.