23 Seconds

One summer in the early 1980s, my ex-wife Bonita and I took our young daughter Rachel to the Great Adventure theme park in New Jersey for a memorable day.

I remember being on a large water raft with many others as it navigated along a bouncy river, surviving getting splashed a bit.  I felt very energized at its conclusion.

I wanted another challenge.  I looked in the distance and noticed a sort of loop the loop ride.  Instead of being horrified, I felt a spark of an explorer who wants to discover something new.

I asked Rachel if she wanted to go on that ride.  She of course said, "yes."  Rachel was and is always fearless.  I remember her once going with her cousins (sitting between them) on the roller coaster at Coney Island.

Rachel and I started walking towards the loop the loop.  The closer we got the more I realized how stupid was my decision to go on the ride.  However, I did not want to back out after promising Rachel.

We got in line and followed it up a staircase toward the beginning of the ride.  From my vantage point I was able to time the ride.  The first phase going forward was 9 seconds.  Then the ride stopped for 5 seconds.  The last part was a reversal of the initial part for another 9 seconds.  The total ride lasted 23 seconds.

The closer Rachel and I got the more frightened I got.  My only way out was my hope she would be prohibited from the ride as being too small. 

Finally, it turned out Rachel barely made the minimum height requirement.  I was stuck.

Rachel sat to my left on the ride.  The bar in front of us was snug on me, but it seemed as if she could easily slip out.

I grabbed her hand tight.  I was her safety net.  

Rachel complained, "Daddy, you're hurting me."  I ignored her complaint.

The ride began.  It was the scariest 9 seconds of my life.  I closed my eyes as I could not bear to see what was happening.  I don't even remember Rachel's reaction.  

At the end of the first part of the ride I opened my eyes.  Rachel seemed fine.  I thought about a way to leave the ride, but we were so high up and I am also afraid of heights.  No way out except for enduring 9 more seconds.  

When the ride started again, I closed my eyes and started counting.  Finally, it was over.  Rachel was fine.  I was not.  Never again.