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Friday, August 1:

Normally the month of August is depressing for me. The first day of said month? Doubly so. There's no doubt about it, I hate this month and the 1st day of it.

That was, of course, until today.

At 9am sharp (or, to be quite frank, a few minutes after that), dad pulled into Michael's drive way. We picked him up and, while playing our DS gaming systems in the back, we headed up to King's Island.

Now, to those who are not familiar with Ohio or it's famous "King's Island", it's a fairly nice sized theme park that has made itself known for a ride or two (one being the tallest wooden coaster around). Anyway, it's a rather huge park. I only go there once a year, if that. Dad is on vacation, you see, and all this week he wanted to do something to celebrate that. He bought tickets- three adult admission- and Michael got to go!

Beautiful day for this sort of thing. When we were there (from 10am to around 6:30pm), there wasn't a hint of storms on the horizon. The clouds were whirling in as we were leaving, but besides that it was a gorgeous ninety-degree day.

We were both excited. Right away we got some of the more "family traditional" rides out of the way. Getting tradition out of the way... now was the fun part.

Let me tell you outright something. Me and heights. Not a good mix. I will get on some rides... with a limit. I've never been on the rides Son of Beast, Drop Zone, Delirium, Nighthawk, Crypt, Vortex... and a few others. Reason? Either too high... vertical straight drops... or loops.

That all changed today.

Not even an hour into the park we were walking along when the tall tower of Drop Zone appeared before us. This sucker... let me give you some information on it. It's taller than Son of Beast (which is 248 feet at it's highest point). You're sitting in a seat, around a ring, and you're suspended that high. 10-30 seconds go by... and you drop. Straight down.

I had never gone on it. I was terrified! Michael suggested going on it. I wasn't sure. To be quite honest, I was petrified.

"It'll be alright," he said. "I'll be right next to you."

That did it. Hearing that, I agreed. Those words, right there, was the courage I needed. I heard that and I knew everything would be alright.

Strapping into the seating, Michael reached over and clasped my hand. Squeezing it lightly, as we rose he was talking me through it. I could tell he was a bit nervous himself. He was telling me how many seconds there would be.

It...was beautiful. The height... it was beautiful! The world around us stretched before our eyes. The trees? Mere dots, as were the cars. The ground was far below. Us humans- all 38 of us on the ride this time around- were defying the gods and touching the heavens.

And then we dropped.

It's a strange, horrifying and almost sensational feeling to falling. Through most of the decent you're not even focused on screaming or crying out. You're silent, just letting yourself be controlled by gravity's force. It was only about 60% done, through the fall, did I start screaming. However, that screaming burst into spouts of laughter after we had landed, and my feet could safely touch the ground.

I want to do that again.

We rode on the Racer (a fast little coaster that doesn't go too high), The Beast (famous wooden coast of old time), Adventure Express (coaster that has speeds that... I can't even calculate! Indiana Jones-esque theme), and Flight Deck (which was named Top Gun in the past. This is a suspension ride that whips you through the trees at extremely high speeds). For Flight Deck I have to say we chose the back seating for that ride. I've never done that, and now I know why. The "suspension cars" swing from side to side, so to speak. Normally it's slight. For us, in the back? We were vertical at one point. It was EXTREME.

The big moment of the day came when I conquered my second biggest fear of King's Island. This fear is huge. When I mean huge, I'm talking a fear of a gigantic wooden coaster. How big, you say? Well, imagine high. How high? 248 feet to be exact.

Yeah. I mean it. Son of Beast.

Once again, I was terrified. I was near to backing out, but, once again, Michael's words brought up some much needed courage. Why am I getting worked up and scared over this? I thought. I can be braver than this! What am I afraid of, dying? If I died, I'd only be happy, so why worry about that?

I finally agreed to go on it.

Waiting in line was short. Well, it was MUCH shorter than both of us expected. It only took a max of 20 minutes or so (guessing) to get on the ride. My body was going numb (from shock), and I kept telling myself it would be alright. Michael and I, well, we kept cheering each other on, trying to get each other to relax and laugh about it.

Here's some facts on the Son of Beast. It's a wooden coaster, 248 feet. It takes roughly five minutes to ride through. The speeds? They're extremely fast. Let's try talking 78 mph. Hell yeah. We're talking FAST. This ride used to have a loop, but it was taken down due to too many people getting "extreme, painful whiplash" in a few accidents. Well, I'm grateful they did that.

Let me put this straight, also. My half-sister wanted me to ride this. My nephews begged me to. Dad once said I should do it; same with my half brother and my half-sister's husband. Even two of my friends, years ago, literally (and I'm not exaggerating here) DRUG me, by the arms, towards it. No one could get me on that ride.

Michael did.

We had chosen the back. The big hill descent was agonizing (because we knew what was coming). I was a stupid idiot and looked at the ground far below me. BAD IDEA. I spazzed but, quickly, I recovered.

As we saw the first dip coming, watching the other cars ahead of us disappearing over the edge as we made our descent, the only thing Michael and I could do was both scream and cackle at the same time.

It was glorious.

The corkscrew turns, the sudden drops-- we were literally lifted out of our seats from time to time. We were flying by, racing on tracks that, at times, were at a degree tilt (so we were ALMOST sideways). It was fantastic. We couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't stop screaming. We couldn't stop enjoying it.

Michael did something for me today that I don't think I could ever thank him enough for. He showed me something that I thought I never had-- or, at least, never realized it's depth.

He gave me courage.

We're hopefully returning for the Scare Hunt Fest thing for Halloween. I want to ride Delirium and Nighthawk with him (two rides we couldn't get to before we left). Delirium is like Drop Zone, but different. Yes, you sit around a ring like thing, suspended. While spinning you're lifted in the air (swinging back and forth), at 90 degree angles (OR MORE). Nighthawk is where you lie on your back, but you're flipped over, so you stare at the ground. You're suspended, so to speak, and there's even a loop in that one. Damn. That's got to be fun.

I did manage to pull off one nice thing tonight, and that was win him a Tails stuffed animal (from the Sonic series). It was during one of those water gun games, and the first round I lost (because I didn't line up the gun correctly before it started). I lost to a guy who was just hanging around, constantly winning the same game. You know the types. Hogs the victories, right? I smoked him on the second round. I was shaking a bit, because in all the excitement of the "chase", so to speak, I was still close to loosing.

When the guy asked me the prize I wanted, I raised my hand triumphantly and, grinning, I said, "Tails!!!". That's all I wanted. I got Michael a Tails stuffed animal, something I've been trying to do for two years coming to the park. The last time I went, no one had Sonic anything as prizes. I wasn't about to walk out of that park without him getting that. I was hellbent.

I'll close with one small tidbit. We actually saw a wolf furry at the park. She had a wolf tail, just like I do, but she was wearing hers proudly in the park. Me? I have my tail at home. I thought that was just interesting to see a furry in the amusement park.

Tonight was brilliant. It was divine. It was a blessing and more. I loved today. I loved everything about it. There isn't a thing I would change. Michael gave me courage, and for that I'm not sure even five hundred years of me saying "thank you" to him would be enough. He was my hero today. I couldn't have done much of this without him.

heart Peace out, ya'll! heart