Miranda's stomach lurched as she craned her neck to see the top of the towering beast that ran seventy miles an hour on a metal track.
"No." she insisted, her blue eyes becoming dark with obstinance.
"Come on," her oldest brother, Matthew, coaxed, "I thought you were the physics queen here ... and you don't want to actually experience the effects --"
"No." she repeated herself.
"This thing's a baby, Miranda." Jonathan piped in, gesturing to the metalic monster, "You can handle it easily."
"Yeah, it's not that bad, 'Randy." Aaron said.
"You dare call me that again ..." Miranda said darkly.
"Just leave her alone, okay?" Jacob said. He was the closest to her in age, only seven years older, and considered himself her guardian.
"But little 'Randy needs to go on a rollercoaster at some point in her life." Jonathan said, earning an icy glare from Miranda. "Hey," he said in his own defense, "you only said *Aaron* couldn't call you 'Randy. You said nothing about me."
"I believe I can choose for myself which rides I want to go on." Miranda snapped.
"But we want to have fun, too," Aaron said, "and Mom said not to let you out of our sight."
"Oh, she wouldn't be able to *stand* it if her poor baby got lost!" Jonathan joked.
"I'll stay here." Jacob said.
"You're no fun." Matthew said in mock-complaint, "It's for your own good, Miranda, you never do anything fun."
"Yes, I do!" Miranda protested.
"Sitting in your bedroom with a two-thousand-page book in your lap doesn't count." Jonathan reminded her.
"You know, Miranda," Aaron said, "we're not getting off your case until you get on the roller coaster."
Miranda's blueberry pancake breakfast churned in her stomach as she chanced a glance toward the towering tyrant of a machine. She looked over at Jacob for support, but he looked back at her helplessly. She knew that there was no way out of this. She sighed. "All right." she said resignedly.
Jonathan immediately grabbed her hand and hurried her into the line for the roller coaster.
"Don't worry, Miranda," Matthew said encouragingly, "the worst part's at the beginning so you can just get it over with."
She continued to get helpful hints and encouragements from her brothers as she inched nearer and nearer to the "Corkscrew" as it was called. She watched uneasily as different groups of people screamed their lungs out while hurtling in all different directions.
And then it was her turn.
She tentatively stepped into one of the cars, her brother Jacob following her. A person talking into a microphone informed her that the coaster had a fifty-foot drop, reached seventy miles an hour, and went upside-down three times. She gripped the safety bar so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
With a cheerful, "Enjoy your ride," Miranda's car began to work its way slowly up the track. The constant click, click, click sounded suspiciously like a clock telling her that her time was running out.
As the car neared the top, Miranda closed her eyes because she didn't want to face the sight she'd see when she was just about to fall.
"Don't close your eyes," Jacob whispered to her, "that just makes it worse."
Miranda's eyes were suddenly wide open and she braced herself for the drop.
When the car did drop, Miranda felt like she had left her stomach at the top. It took a good five seconds for her stomach to catch up with her, and by that time, she was going through the first loop. She found herself screaming at the top of her lungs in spite of herself, and at the same time, willing herself not to puke as the rollercoaster zoomed on. She heard the laughs and screams of her other brothers in front of and behind her, and wondered how in the world they could be enjoying this.
The ride finally stopped and Miranda walked out on wobbly legs. Her head was spinning and her stomach was churning violently. She ran to the nearest trash can and threw up her pancake breakfast, cringing at the taste of pancakes mixed with stomach acids.
When her stomach was thoroughly emptied she let herself drop down to sit on the pavement. She was never going to let her brothers talk her into something like that again, and she certainly would never eat pancakes again.
~*^*~
Ahhh ... the joys of being the youngest in the family :) I'm glad I got this done before tomorrow, or I'd have had to wait 'till monday to post it!
"No." she insisted, her blue eyes becoming dark with obstinance.
"Come on," her oldest brother, Matthew, coaxed, "I thought you were the physics queen here ... and you don't want to actually experience the effects --"
"No." she repeated herself.
"This thing's a baby, Miranda." Jonathan piped in, gesturing to the metalic monster, "You can handle it easily."
"Yeah, it's not that bad, 'Randy." Aaron said.
"You dare call me that again ..." Miranda said darkly.
"Just leave her alone, okay?" Jacob said. He was the closest to her in age, only seven years older, and considered himself her guardian.
"But little 'Randy needs to go on a rollercoaster at some point in her life." Jonathan said, earning an icy glare from Miranda. "Hey," he said in his own defense, "you only said *Aaron* couldn't call you 'Randy. You said nothing about me."
"I believe I can choose for myself which rides I want to go on." Miranda snapped.
"But we want to have fun, too," Aaron said, "and Mom said not to let you out of our sight."
"Oh, she wouldn't be able to *stand* it if her poor baby got lost!" Jonathan joked.
"I'll stay here." Jacob said.
"You're no fun." Matthew said in mock-complaint, "It's for your own good, Miranda, you never do anything fun."
"Yes, I do!" Miranda protested.
"Sitting in your bedroom with a two-thousand-page book in your lap doesn't count." Jonathan reminded her.
"You know, Miranda," Aaron said, "we're not getting off your case until you get on the roller coaster."
Miranda's blueberry pancake breakfast churned in her stomach as she chanced a glance toward the towering tyrant of a machine. She looked over at Jacob for support, but he looked back at her helplessly. She knew that there was no way out of this. She sighed. "All right." she said resignedly.
Jonathan immediately grabbed her hand and hurried her into the line for the roller coaster.
"Don't worry, Miranda," Matthew said encouragingly, "the worst part's at the beginning so you can just get it over with."
She continued to get helpful hints and encouragements from her brothers as she inched nearer and nearer to the "Corkscrew" as it was called. She watched uneasily as different groups of people screamed their lungs out while hurtling in all different directions.
And then it was her turn.
She tentatively stepped into one of the cars, her brother Jacob following her. A person talking into a microphone informed her that the coaster had a fifty-foot drop, reached seventy miles an hour, and went upside-down three times. She gripped the safety bar so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
With a cheerful, "Enjoy your ride," Miranda's car began to work its way slowly up the track. The constant click, click, click sounded suspiciously like a clock telling her that her time was running out.
As the car neared the top, Miranda closed her eyes because she didn't want to face the sight she'd see when she was just about to fall.
"Don't close your eyes," Jacob whispered to her, "that just makes it worse."
Miranda's eyes were suddenly wide open and she braced herself for the drop.
When the car did drop, Miranda felt like she had left her stomach at the top. It took a good five seconds for her stomach to catch up with her, and by that time, she was going through the first loop. She found herself screaming at the top of her lungs in spite of herself, and at the same time, willing herself not to puke as the rollercoaster zoomed on. She heard the laughs and screams of her other brothers in front of and behind her, and wondered how in the world they could be enjoying this.
The ride finally stopped and Miranda walked out on wobbly legs. Her head was spinning and her stomach was churning violently. She ran to the nearest trash can and threw up her pancake breakfast, cringing at the taste of pancakes mixed with stomach acids.
When her stomach was thoroughly emptied she let herself drop down to sit on the pavement. She was never going to let her brothers talk her into something like that again, and she certainly would never eat pancakes again.
~*^*~
Ahhh ... the joys of being the youngest in the family :) I'm glad I got this done before tomorrow, or I'd have had to wait 'till monday to post it!