It had been a fun day. My parents had surprised us by suggesting that, since we were in Atlanta and had some time to kill, we could go to Six Flags over Georgia. We were all very excited, since this was about the first time we had ever gone to a real amusement park. After finding parking, we started to walk towards the park. As we entered, we saw a ride called the Ninja, where the people were being thrown around, sideways, upside down, and every other way possible.

It was October, so there was a whole bunch of Halloween decorations all around. After promising my mom that we would be careful, my little brother and I ran off to go try out some rides and see the sights. After some cotton candy and a few "kiddie" rides, we joined back up with the group. There was one ride that I was a little reluctant to go on, being the wimp that I am; it was a roller coaster called the Great American Scream Machine. After my first turn, I wanted to keep going on it. Soon, we tired of it, and went in search of some other rides to challenge us. We would be leaving soon, so I thought that maybe I'd try something a bit more daring. Just as I was thinking this, my sister's friend, Melissa, who had come with us, asked if I wanted to go on something called the Free Fall, because no one else would. I agreed, I mean, how bad could it be? As long as she wasn't talking about the Ninja, or some freaked-out roller coaster like that, it was fine with me.

Or so I thought. The Free Fall, it turned out, was the tallest ride in the park. The general idea of it was to drag you up in an elavator-type contraption and then drop you like a rock. After I saw it, I was a bit shaken but tried to keep my cool and said, "Wow, this one looks like fun!" It was a bold-faced lie. The line seemed never-ending, and I felt like a death row inmate waiting for the execution . The elevator continued to take people up several stories and then let them go as if they were not of any importance anymore. It sloped off at the end, so you would not crash straight into the ground. Not my idea of fun.

My terror grew with each passing moment, and I barely heard Melissa talking about this one episode of Rescue 911 she had seen, where some lady fell out of a ride (a lot like this one) and got her foot caught in the mechanisms. That was not encouraging. Sooner than I had thought, our turn came, and I was expected to actually get on this ride. So I did what anybody in my position would have done. I turned to the couple behind me and said, "You can go in front of me" they said sure and Melissa, the couple, and a kid who looked about nine all climbed in the basket and were pulled upwards and out of sight. I let the next group go in front of me, and the next. One of the people working the controls took notice of the scared-looking teenager and started talking to me.

"You know, I wa s once really scared of these sort of rides too, until I realized the secret to becoming unafraid."

"What is that?" I asked, not really wanting to know.

"Well" he said, "the secret is to learn how the ride works, so then you won't think that every aspect of it is terrifying."

"Could you tell me how this thing works?" I asked.

"Sure" he said, "I'll tell you all about it. Hold on one second, though. Hey Joe! Could you take the controls for me? Thanks!

"Where were we? Oh yeah. This gigantic piece of steel and mechanics is actually a whole collection of simple machines and some basic science principals put to work. You know how the passenger basket gets pulled up on those cords? Well that is just a real big form of a pulley. We have a machine that pulls on the rope, which goes through the pulleys, which pulls the elevator to the top. Then, the elevator has to be moved forward some so it could be dropped over the edge. To do this, we use some gears that turn and push the car forward. A ty pe of wheel and axle is used here also, because there are some wheel-like things that it goes forward on. Also, if you think about it, the whole shape of the ride is kind of a curved inclined-plane turned on its side."

By this time, he had completely lost me, so I just nodded my head and smiled as if I knew what he were talking about. Unbelievably, he actually had more to say.

"As I mentioned earlier, some pretty basic scientific principals are also used. The Law of Gravity makes the ride go, and one of Newton's laws are used to stop the ride, because we have to use an unbalanced force (the sloped off curve at the end) to stop it.

It's also very interesting to note that in Einstein's theory..."

I cut him off there, and said, "You know what, all that really makes me feel better. I think that I'll go on the ride after all! Thanks!" Anything to get away from that guy. Man, he had never shut up! It took me awhile to realize what I had just done. In my efforts to try to get away from him, I had gott en on the ride with the next group of people.

So here I am, being pulled upwards by this monstrous pile of steel. In a way, I felt like a fish being drawn up out of the water on a fishing line. The other two people in the car were talking excitedly. I grabbed the protection bar that was keeping me strapped in. As we slowly rose to the top, I thought that I could see my life flashing before my eyes. We rose up several stories, and then with a lurch, we reached the top. We screeched to a stop and stood p toised there for a moment, overlooking the entire park. The car moved forward a bit, and for a split second, we hung motionless in the air with nothing between us and the ground. Then, suddenly, gravity took hold and we rushed towards the earth. The car and everything in it were streaking downwards, everything, that is, except for my stomach, which I think was left somewhere near the top. My body was no longer touching the seat, and my hair felt as if it were getting pulled from my head. In what seemed like eternity, the ride sloped off, and slowly came to a halt.

It was over. Though it seemed as though it had taken a lifetime, it had actually taken a few seconds. Shakily, I got out, and walked to where Melissa and my family were waiting.

"Sorry I'm late, guys." I said, "You see, me and this guy got involved in a really interesting conversation...."