She never understood the urge to willingly turn one’s world upside down and put one’s fate in the hands of minimally-maintained machines in the hands of minimally-trained college students who were likely more intent on ogling potential mates than on guaranteeing an in-one-piece return to gravity for riders.
Life was plenty adventurous enough without deliberate topsy-turvy.
And yet, there they were. Lining up to shell small fortunes for misery.
She stood at her window, nursing the weak tea that would have to do till the end of the month, and watched the roller-coasters hurl a screaming world around.
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Photo prompt © Mr. Bink
Na'ama Yehuda 
Going on rides is not for everyone, that is for sure!
Best she keep to her tea and avoid the area 😉
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Yes … and I think she’s a tad bit jealous and also probably needs to hold on to what control she has in her life …
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Yeah. Methinks you are correct.
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I think we probably all know some peeps who are a bit like that.
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Oh yes. Most definitely.
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I do suspect her disdain may be rationalisation
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I do suspect you are correct … 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
As I’ve said a few times today, Coney Island cured me of ride thrills. I nearly strangled my son on the first hill of the roller coaster. Not on purpose, mind you. Just clinging to his scrawny little neck for dear life (He was in his late 20’s at the time, so not child abuse. In fact he was laughing maniacally the entire time 😉 ) Then there was twenty minutes on the Tilt-A-Whirl. Yep…that’s it…for life.
So I understand her reasoning. But there are those thrill seekers who don’t mind frivolously tossing away their shekels and putting their lives in the hands of college students. Good one.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Yes, I am of those who don’t enjoy their innards being made into milkshakes … but at least one of my sisters (and her progeny, to the one), adore the whole process. So I’m happy to go along, hold the purses, bags, strollers, and water bottles, and be the camera person to take photos of said persons being tossed about and twirled in the air like a bag of confetti. They love it. I’m happy to feel the ground under my legs. 🙂
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The carnival is good metaphor for the chaos of life. Creative writing, Na’ama.
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Thank you, Li! I was hoping some of the analogy would come through 🙂
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You’re welcome. I can never remember the difference between metaphor and analogy so I just went and looked it up:
“A metaphor uses imagery to evoke an emotion, to feel. An analogy uses comparative imagery to lead to a logical conclusion, to think.” I see a little of both in your story.
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I think a little of both were intended in my little story! 🙂 Love this comment!
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🙂 ❤
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Oh these are my feelings exactly. 👍🏼
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You and I can sit and have a nice cuppa while others become milkshakes on rickety tumble-all-around-things! 😉
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Hahaha! That’s such an apt description. 😂😂😂
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😀
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Your sentences were jam packed with information and left no detail unaddressed. A well-written and well-told piece about the jaded park employees who have our lives in their hands.
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Thank you for this very generous comment! I’m so glad you found it a good piece, and I am gratified that the character came through. Always delightful when it comes together and is communicated, too. Thank you! 🙂
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Weak tea and pessimistic thoughts. It is hard to accept other people’s enjoyment when life is kicking you up the backside.
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That is so very true! And some do better than others in finding light versus seeing shadows.
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That first line is a perfect summary of my feelings about these rides! Guess I better go make a cup of tea… 😉
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LOL! I’m usually holding everyone’s bags and minding the strollers (and babies in the strollers) and taking photos of all those who are milkshaking themselves … And often doing all that with something yummy in hand that I know won’t come hurling outta me because I’m firmly on the ground … LOL
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Lol! That sounds like a good life to me!
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Yep, me agree! 🙂 I can join the fun without joining the bone-rattlers!
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I just love this line: ‘Life was plenty adventurous enough without deliberate topsy-turvy.’ And I say amen sister!! I’m with her, although I note many of your commenters think differently. I recently found out (on Ancestry.com) that risk-taking is genetically determined. Fancy that. And I don’t have it. I wasn’t surprised.
This story really appealed to me. I love her cool appraisal of the riders, the description of the ride itself, and that line I quoted. Terrific stuff.
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Yay! Thank you for this lovely comment! I’m not sure how much of risk-taking is genetic and how much is environmental, and how much is a combination of the two … but I can attest to the fact that I’ve had plenty more adventure (unasked for) than I wanted to have in my life so far, and that I’m happy to have less drama and more routine and lot less risks, let alone any deliberately taken … 😉 Glad you liked this little story and that the writing resonated! 🙂 Fab comment! Thank you!
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This story nails it with the minimally maintained and trained, and those operators are eyeing up the potential mates…very well said. I thought there was a tinge of sadness and regret in her thinking. Maybe she wanted to but didnt dare for fear of something going wrong. Anyway I support anyone who nurses a cup of weak tea…that’s just the way i like it! and I also like my feet on the ground! Well told!
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Thank you! I think you picked up correctly on the note of moroseness in the character and I do wonder if there’s wistfulness in her description, and a bit of “who’d want that anyway”, because of knowing one cannot, not necessarily because one does not actually wish to try … And yet, in the real world, I totally am of the opinion that two legs firmly on the ground and the tea resting comfortably in my belly is FAR better than being shaken like a rattle and the tea sloshing upside down in my gut … 😉 I’ve done zip-lining and I don’t mind heights, but I will say no to anything that tosses me around like a roller-coaster does. No thanks! 😉
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Such a sad story, nothing better to do than watch from her window with disdain and weak tea.
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There is a misery to it, isn’t there? A bit pitiful, perhaps. Or, for we do now know her circumstances, it may be all she can manage to do, at this moment. Hopefully this is not her everyday-all-the-time demeanor. Perhaps it is a muddle she’ll come out the other side of. Great comment!
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You really built a world and sympathetic character here.
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Thank you! It’s always an attempt, to introduce a sliver of a world in 100 words. Glad some of it came through! 🙂
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